I don’t mind your comments you’re usually fair in what you have to say ..
But I have to mention we’ve never once pillaged your team, we’ve offered what’s fair to a player coming off contract & unfortunately your club either hasn’t wanted to, or been able to, afford to match it due to current successes and wanting to keep up and coming talent ..
It’s a shame that success like this is not rewarded more …. but we’ve been down this path ourselves, if they didn’t choose to come to us it would have just been another club …
Pillaging generally means stealing, even using violent to take it … we haven’t done that .. we haven’t even offered ridiculous overs like the Tig’s .. as I said it’s the unfortunate part if success that we ourselves have encountered .. so please lose the word we’ve pillaged players .,
Pillaged is just down to perspective. I did add a lol after it to try and convey tone. 100% if it wasn't you it would be someone else, I just get a chuckle when you hear quotes from Ciraldo along the lines of not offering deals to anyone we want to keep. I'm not mad about it, he did everything and more to earn his pay while with us, now he has to do the same for you guys and part of that is recruitment.
I agree with you that success should be rewarded more, the NRL doesn't have the appetite for that though. It also keeps things interesting to a degree, there have been some gems unearthed by filling holes left by those that move on, for us Scott Sorenson is a classic example.
And as you said, it's not like you guys haven't been through it. The Parra raid in the 90's, Roosters mid 00's. Even us late 80's, not sure if that was really a raid or you guys putting a few oldies out to pasture, either way we benefited from that immensely. I think I've mentioned it on here before, but I rate Chris Mortimer as one of the most important signings we have ever made. Imo if he didn't come we don't win it in 1991, even though he retired the year before.