Barrett's a good talker in interviews. By the way he talks and looks alone we've become more of an attractive destination (he also has a lot of connections). Also actually having the money to spend helps.
Almost all the negative noise in the background at the club seemed to go away after Barrett's appointment (probably a coincidence, but it has to be mentioned).
I like Barrett's recruitment targets. I think we've always had a good leadership group in the team with Jackson, Elliott and Hopoate so I'm all for targeting young guns (Cotric, Burton, Flanagan, Allan, we also went for Leniu, I'd have Hetherington and Waddell just outside this category). Barrett's also brought in JAC who's a leader (we did lose Foran and Tolman so it's still good to bring some leaders in, another at hooker would be great, Hopoate's future is also up in the air). There is still a little way to go with hopefully 2 more good signings at hooker (currently an inexperienced spine, I've heard Allan is an old head on young shoulders) and prop.
I'd need to wait until we play to judge Barrett's on field performance (which the players will play a major part in, we need to make sure we're criticising the right people). I don't have high expectations for this year (due to the roster when comparing to other teams, I do think we're starting to build a team with potential, a top hooker would change everything, Panthers finished 9th before they signed Koroisau). I think it's likely we finish in the bottom four with a possibility of finishing 9th-12th (we're currently wooden spoon favourites). We need to make sure we're not only using the ladder to judge Barrett's coaching ability.