That's bullshit. The vlub has never stuck up for itself. It's always allowed the player to dictate the terms
Can i interject ?
Actually ... f*ck it, imma interupt anyway.
The four we lost each came with their own reasons.
It's a little simplistic to simply label it 'poor management by club'.
More a case of mitigating circumstances.
Mason -> Led a revolt against Folkes. Successive off-field indiscretions. While he 'smashed us' once only in the aftermath (and yes it sucked), his demise has continued. Years later he's admitted the error of his ways. Club did stick up for itself. It dug it's heels in and demanded better of him. HE left.
SBW -> Walked out on a deal that our club successfully negotiated. 5 years later, he's returned a more complete athlete (credit where it's due), and played well to beat us twice (yep, they sucked too). Club stuck up for itself and pursued our rights to ensure no-one else saw a benefit from his change-of-heart.
Idris -> Subject to a higher offer from Titans (with the promise of a career in kids TV). He declined our offers. Club stuck up for itself, in that we were not willing to offer more than we believed he was worth. His form at Titans since, and their success compared to ours, justifies our stance back then. If not for that, we'd not have Morris.
Barba -> A highly unique situation where the games best player has simply burned all of his bridges at the place that moulded him, through his inability to cope with the highly unique demands. Now, with the clock ticking on his 'earning window', he must lie in the bed he's made for himself behind the scenes, and return to the sanctity of home and family in order to have any semblance of a meaningful relationship with his kids once his NRL career if over.
In this instance, we're not 'sticking up for ourselves'. We're using foresight, and evaluating contingencies to minimise our losses ... much like we've been forced to do in the three cases listed above.
It's entirely possible Barba will have a good game against us when he faces us ... and just like the others, it'll suck if he does. But that's not a reflection of how we perform as a club. Furthermore, "demanding" players stay and honour their deals, but with that you run the risk of getting a Sandow in your squad, which I argue is worse management.
