Gus doesn't like paying overs and he doesn't like mercenaries. He wants players who want to play for the dogs. Also AFB will be nudging 30 before he laces on a boot for his new club.
I think he has no problem paying the right $$ for players we need i just have a feeling afb is a bit of a prima donna has he seen out a contract of late?
Funny though Gus didn't mind paying overs (outbidding others) for Kikau, Crichton and Burton (when re-signed). Maybe because they were around the 800K mark. He doesn't like going to 1M it seems for any player
$800k+ is the market rate for high quality centres and 2nd rowers, whilst $800k is cheap for an NRL 5/8, the market rate for a high quality prop should be $600k to $700k. The problem is the current rate for high quality props is inflated by 20% to 30% at the moment due to the supply/demand equation. That's manageable if you are only paying the inflated rate for 1 or 2 seasons, but when it comes to 4 or 5 seasons then it becomes far more difficult. The question is do you pay the inflated rate and suffer for a number of seasons or wait for the supply/demand equation to turn around, which it will given time.
Gus has always mentioned he doesn’t prioritise money when signing. He doesn’t want a player to come to his club purely based on money. He will pay over if the attitude is there. He has proven that. AFB has baggage to go with his Million. The QLD based guys were never leaving their clubs & he stated that on the podcast he won’t even talk internally about them because they aren’t leaving. Just because a player is off contract it doesn’t mean offer the most and they will come. Most players have options and unless the dollars are significantly more they won’t leave clubs or states. They don’t need to.
Lol well if thats the case (which it seems to be) then gould needs to realise its now 2024 not 1984. If u want the best talent u need to pay a premium for it. Even more so to come and join our shit show. The key is tho to spend the money on key position talent. Not centres and second rowers and wingers. And we will continue to be a cellar dwellar club until we land that key position talent
Correct. And paying overs based purely on money is a sign of desperation. Look at the Tigers and Luia. Thats just stupid. When players look to go to the Tigers they will know they can get more now.
Every club is limited by the salary cap, assuming no cheating (which is a huge assumption), and the salary cap is the same - to the cent - for each club. If you pay overs for any player, you are going to end up short of money for the others. The only legitimate way you can get an advantage is if you recruit young players on the way up, because there is a bit of a lag between peak performance and peak earning capacity.
Source? I’m sure he probably outbid Panthers for at least 2 of them, but you usually have to, if you want to attract them to another club, especially when their current club is the best in the NRL at the time. Did he outbid other clubs?
Bumping this one as the clowns are replying to everything but this..
No clown you build a club by developing your own talent and keeping the cap in check. When you have the talent than you buy the missing pieces . Not break the bank out of desperation, fans like you are pushing the panic button . Why now? Because you expected a miracle because it’s Gus or it’s because it’s Gus is why you are pushing. This rot started back in the Hasler days , why not start your agenda back than? This was never going to be a quick fix with not junior development so why expect change over night. Gus has been her 2 years and revamped the rosters without having anyone on the cap for more than 3 yrs . We have options just open your eyes.
Expanding just a little on my earlier comment, AFB had a break-out year in 2023 at age 28. He might have taken his play to a whole new level, or the rest of his 2023 team might perfectly complement him. Sometimes the stars just align.
Also, I got confirmation from a Souths source from within saying that AFB desperately wanted to get to Souths and that they were his stand out first choice, but Souths couldn't afford his million dollar price tag under the cap and had to knock him back.
Yeah in 25 most of their current squad will be over 30 some well over, Shaun Johnson will be 35 and tohu Harris will be 33 Dylan Walker is pretty old, and DWz, CHN, jazz Montoya will all be getting past 30. Not so old but both have had significant injury histories. Team probs has about 1 more season in it before players start retiring and could be a bit of a lottery who replaces them. Personally I think warriors overperformed last year and will struggle to make the 8 next year.
If I were him, I would have gone to Penrith for a premiership. Not the sharks.
He wants the Premiership & the 1 million dollar pay packet..... he won't get that at Penrith.
Thought he wanted to come to Sydney for personal reasons.
He’s already on $1m a season with the Warriors and a AUD1m goes a long way in NZ. A whole lot further than it does in Sydney.
