Barrett left a position with a contender to come and sort out a truck wreck. I’d give him next season and if we are in the battle for a spoon again then I’d help him pack his stuff. But 8 weeks is hard to perform with what is it? 11 players leaving? About 7-8 coming in?
This isn’t an established team. They have had 4-5 coaches in the past 3-4 seasons (including caretakers). They pretty much have 2 wooden spoons in a row (only avoiding last year on for and against) and only now are able to recruit with an aim of a top 8 spot (but still have handicapped contracts like Elliot, cotric, Jackson, Waddell). I think anything above 10th is an improvement. Anything below 10th is a sacking. We aren’t on the storms, roosters, eels, Souths, manly, penrith level. To be honest raiders are a better squad too. We are in the mix with Newcastle, sharks. Should be better then cowboys, titans, warriors, but we lack a elite spine to compete with the heavyweights.
Top 8 will be awesome, top 10 is more or less what’s expected, bottom 3 isn’t good enough.
In reality we lack another decent bench prop, we lack quality back rowers (not sure if TPJ is slotted out wide or in the middle). If RFM can stay on the field and be consistent (no shirt grabbing, no dumb offloads, no turn overs) then we do have some quality in the back row, but if Waddell is a mainstay we are fucked). We lack a halfback and a hooker. We will never be a realistic contender for the title without solidifying those positions. But with our cap stretched more then a street workers box at the end of a 10hr fully booked day, we do need to reset our roster again (unfortunately) before we wont be able to compete with a fully fit roosters, storm, manly, panthers.
In all honesty too much money is held up in players that aren’t vital for our success (cotric, Jackson, thompson, Waddell, Elliot, Flanagan, even addo Carr).
Probably best bang for the buck we have are Vaughan, Ava, burton, (possibly dufty if he is on a small contract). Every other player is on a sizeable contract, but their return is not of value for the club.
8 games won’t prove much. But I will fully support the club sacking Barrett if by the end of 22 we are not in the mix for an 8th spot with 2-3 games left. Anything above that is an overachievement. If we are still where we are then it is a gross underachievement and I am sure that will not be accepted by the board and the club.
