Hypothetical if we’d kept Asotasi and O’Meley instead....

c-b-b

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I never felt O’Meley was that upset about leaving. The club did a lot for him personally.

As to whether it would have made a difference keeping those 2 who knows, we’ve been on a roller coaster since 2009.
 

_G-Dog_

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We just needed to keep Thurston.. dud decision of the century regardless of any excuse they have for it..
 

bulldogsmyte

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I agree that we lacked a good halfback in that period you mentioned but please don’t forget the stellar season Kimmorley had in 2009.
BK played ok during the year but couldn't step up in the finals and from memory we got knocked out in 2 straight losses. He's nowhere near the level of Turvey and Baa.
 

B-Train

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Asotasi leaving hurt the most. He was great for Souths for years and help turn their club around. I won't lament losing any player that chooses to sign for the scum Roosters, especially as they were our main rivals during that period..

It's hilarious that Myles, O'Meley, Mason, Anasta and $BW all ended up at the Roosters. It shows how envious they were of our talent and how much they tried to steal our culture..

Hopefully one day soon we can get back above them again where we belong. The view is much nicer from the penthouse than the outhouse.
 

bulldogsmyte

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Nothing changes
Only thing that would’ve changed history is if we kept JT over Anasta and Shifty
No sane person in 2004 would have chosen JT over Anasta or Shifty. JT was a part time bench player/reserve grader in 2004. In 2005 he was given free reign by coach Murray at Nth Qld who built the side around him. JT would not have been given that freedom by Folkes with his forward heavy and defence orientated coaching and it's improbable that he would have become the player he was at Nth Qld.
 

bulldogsmyte

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Asotasi leaving hurt the most. He was great for Souths for years and help turn their club around. I won't lament losing any player that chooses to sign for the scum Roosters, especially as they were our main rivals during that period..

It's hilarious that Myles, O'Meley, Mason, Anasta and $BW all ended up at the Roosters. It shows how envious they were of our talent and how much they tried to steal our culture..

Hopefully one day soon we can get back above them again where we belong. The view is much nicer from the penthouse than the outhouse.
That's why I still remind my brother that his beloved Chooks is in fact the "Eastern Bulldogs". O'Meley and Mason were well past their peak when they left us and I'm sure the Chooks let them go early. SBW was the big loss as he turned the Chooks from last to first when he came back in 2013. The problem with our star studded side after the 2004 GF was their egos, they took our club for granted and self interest took over. It was Mason who started the rot when he walked out when still under contract after the 2007 season. We had to let Anasta go to keep Mason and he responded by insisting on taking up boxing which our club refused. SBW took a huge pay cut to try to keep our side together under the cap but when Mason took off ... we all know what happened after that.
 

B-Train

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That's why I still remind my brother that his beloved Chooks is in fact the "Eastern Bulldogs". O'Meley and Mason were well past their peak when they left us and I'm sure the Chooks let them go early. SBW was the big loss as he turned the Chooks from last to first when he came back in 2013. The problem with our star studded side after the 2004 GF was their egos, they took our club for granted and self interest took over. It was Mason who started the rot when he walked out when still under contract after the 2007 season. We had to let Anasta go to keep Mason and he responded by insisting on taking up boxing which our club refused. SBW took a huge pay cut to try to keep our side together under the cap but when Mason took off ... we all know what happened after that.
I don't regret losing Money Bill. He walked out on us and the club gave him big money at the time. He's a mercenary.

I never wanted Anasta and even back then wanted us to keep Thurston instead to play with Sherwin as I knew Anasta was headed to Souths, the Roosters or Waratahs.. Plus Thusto was better even then and I always thought Braith was overrated. Which he was..

Shrek left when his best footy was behind him. Myles left when he was young.. Like the others, Willie played his best footy with us and I didn't care about losing him as he was talking so much shit about Folkes and not performing well his last season or two with us.

Asotasi was the only one who kept playing at the same level after he left (aside from $BW) and was the biggest loss. Aside from Thurston obviously...
 

gee333

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Willie mason was a Churchill medalist and one of the best forwards to ever play for the club. SBW is a legend in both codes and if the club had let him go amicably, we could have had him play for us again down the track and probably contributed to another premiership. Staggs was a dud btw. We've got to get out of the mentality of praising pluggers who offer no go forward. We've also got to get out of the habit of bagging club legends like mason
Stages was no dud... he was solid, consistent and reliable. Every team needs 1 or 2 staggs in their pack.
 

bulldogsmyte

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I don't regret losing Money Bill. He walked out on us and the club gave him big money at the time. He's a mercenary.

I never wanted Anasta and even back then wanted us to keep Thurston instead to play with Sherwin as I knew Anasta was headed to Souths, the Roosters or Waratahs.. Plus Thusto was better even then and I always thought Braith was overrated. Which he was..

Shrek left when his best footy was behind him. Myles left when he was young.. Like the others, Willie played his best footy with us and I didn't care about losing him as he was talking so much shit about Folkes and not performing well his last season or two with us.

Asotasi was the only one who kept playing at the same level after he left (aside from $BW) and was the biggest loss. Aside from Thurston obviously...
Anasta didn't want to leave. Under the 2 "marquee" signing limit back then the club naturally chose SBW as 1 signing. They then chose Mason over Anasta for the 2nd signing and the club couldn't fit Anasta under the cap.
 

B-Train

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Anasta didn't want to leave. Under the 2 "marquee" signing limit back then the club naturally chose SBW as 1 signing. They then chose Mason over Anasta for the 2nd signing and the club couldn't fit Anasta under the cap.
Yes he did. I remember exactly how it went down. There was no such rule back then.... You could sign whoever you wanted under the cap, but obviously we were under more cap pressure due to the previous fines and reduced cap..

They chose to re-sign Mason once they knew Anasta was likely gone.. Anyway, it's ancient history now and none of those players are considered club legends in my eyes as they all went to the Roosters and other clubs and Mason himself had so many bad thigs to say about Folkes, even years after he left..
 

simmmo

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Stages was no dud... he was solid, consistent and reliable. Every team needs 1 or 2 staggs in their pack.
No I'm sick of this crappy attitude towards blokes who have little to offer like staggs.
Doggies now have Jacko, Elliot, Stimson in the team now... all undersized with no mingrel. the mentality of praising plodders is getting us smashed in the forwards week in and week out. We need some true grunt and firepower upfront to lay the platform. We need some fear factor back in the pack.
 

Rodzilla

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if we did then the kennel would mock folkes for letting go of SBW for the next 20 years like they did about thurston
 

Rodzilla

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Anasta didn't want to leave. Under the 2 "marquee" signing limit back then the club naturally chose SBW as 1 signing. They then chose Mason over Anasta for the 2nd signing and the club couldn't fit Anasta under the cap.
what is this marquee signing limit you are talking about? are you sure you arent confused with A League soccer?
 

Rodzilla

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No I'm sick of this crappy attitude towards blokes who have little to offer like staggs.
Doggies now have Jacko, Elliot, Stimson in the team now... all undersized with no mingrel. the mentality of praising plodders is getting us smashed in the forwards week in and week out. We need some true grunt and firepower upfront to lay the platform. We need some fear factor back in the pack.
there is also the need of a couple of glue guys up the middle to soak up all the defense, it wasn't all just firepower when we had the dominant forward pack, we also had the Tony Grimaldi and he was sorely missed when Brisbane sliced us up and ran over the top of us 37-20 in 2006
 

Mr Beast

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This could get deep, real deep butterfly effect situation.
 

bulldogsmyte

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what is this marquee signing limit you are talking about? are you sure you arent confused with A League soccer?
I remember back then the NRL gave each club 2 "marquee" signings where a certain amount (TPA? etc) was exempt from the salary cap or something along those lines. SBW was 1 and the club chose Mason over Anasta for the other one. Mason at the time said he thought the club would choose Anasta as Mason was injured for most of that year.
 

Rodzilla

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I remember back then the NRL gave each club 2 "marquee" signings where a certain amount (TPA? etc) was exempt from the salary cap or something along those lines. SBW was 1 and the club chose Mason over Anasta for the other one. Mason at the time said he thought the club would choose Anasta as Mason was injured for most of that year.
it was a tiny amount and shouldn't be brought up at all
 

alchemist

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Anasta had a contract offer on the table from us which he delayed signing and so, the club looked to secure Mason instead... and unsurprisingly, Anasta signed with the Roosters and then disingenuously argued that the club prioritised Mason over him making him leave... all the while knowing that we had offered to extend his deal and had lost Thurston the year before to accommodate him
 

hackenbush

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No sane person in 2004 would have chosen JT over Anasta or Shifty. JT was a part time bench player/reserve grader in 2004. In 2005 he was given free reign by coach Murray at Nth Qld who built the side around him. JT would not have been given that freedom by Folkes with his forward heavy and defence orientated coaching and it's improbable that he would have become the player he was at Nth Qld.
That year JT killed it in Reserves. When Anasta was injured for an extended period, JT replaced & performed great for a player so young. The team performed even better with a young JT at 5/8. Yes he did not want to leave & was willing to take a pay cut. It was obvious that JT was special, eventhough at the time noone realised how special. A sad day I'm Dogs history.

The club should ensure that no other potential great players leave the club wherever possible. In JT case he came to the club not wanted by QLD clubs & developed through the lower grades. This is how you maximise your salary cap. Identify raw talent & having the pathways for development & patience to enjoy the rewards in the future.
 
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