So what up with that Crichton signing? Must read.

[Nasheed]

Nasheed here,
For those of you that don't know me, I'm the author of the popular thread naming our best team from 1996 until today. https://www.thekennel.net.au/forum/...ogs-team-1996-2020.115708/page-7#post-3716173

the reason I created this thread today was to explore a rabbit hole. Explore a mindset.

we signed Christian crichton to a three year
deal, why?
An unproven winger with no real name who had played 8 games.
Three years?
Why not two?
Even one?
Why at all?
We had limited funds at the time, remember it well, and this is how we spent it?

you see, this is what worries me about Pay.
I think he has done a good job getting
The boys to dig in and play for each other. And he can't really be fairly judged on results when he has a cheap team of nobodies, but for me, this is what I look at.
Decision making skills.
One day we will have the cash. Mad cash. Rich like drug dealer rich, and how are we going to spend it?
800k for another winger in Semi as rumoured?
More Crichtons?

the strategy of recruitment I've seen so far worries me.
Crichton aside. I was semi reliably informed that If Pay got the gig, his first priority would be to re sign Lichaa.
This came true, so I have to believe this was Pays priority.
And AGAIN, why was he signed for two years? Why not one? Who were we competing with?

I'm hoping I'm starting to communicate my concern here. I'm seeing bad recruitment decisions and a bad eye for talent (a big issue under Castle, Dib and Des) and what's changed?
Thommo was good, but who knows what we did to get him.

I'm worried we sent strategically looking at the type of player we need. Just because a player is good, doesn't mean he's good for us. Like Hoppa.
Anyway, just wondering your thoughts on these random signings and the length we signed for, and if this is foreshadowing the future under Pay? Nasheed.

 

[Baby Blues]

Nasheed here,
For those of you that don't know me, I'm the author of the popular thread naming our best team from 1996 until today. https://www.thekennel.net.au/forum/...ogs-team-1996-2020.115708/page-7#post-3716173

the reason I created this thread today was to explore a rabbit hole. Explore a mindset.

we signed Christian crichton to a three year
deal, why?
An unproven winger with no real name who had played 8 games.
Three years?
Why not two?
Even one?
Why at all?
We had limited funds at the time, remember it well, and this is how we spent it?

you see, this is what worries me about Pay.
I think he has done a good job getting
The boys to dig in and play for each other. And he can't really be fairly judged on results when he has a cheap team of nobodies, but for me, this is what I look at.
Decision making skills.
One day we will have the cash. Mad cash. Rich like drug dealer rich, and how are we going to spend it?
800k for another winger in Semi as rumoured?
More Crichtons?

the strategy of recruitment I've seen so far worries me.
Crichton aside. I was semi reliably informed that If Pay got the gig, his first priority would be to re sign Lichaa.
This came true, so I have to believe this was Pays priority.
And AGAIN, why was he signed for two years? Why not one? Who were we competing with?

I'm hoping I'm starting to communicate my concern here. I'm seeing bad recruitment decisions and a bad eye for talent (a big issue under Castle, Dib and Des) and what's changed?
Thommo was good, but who knows what we did to get him.

I'm worried we sent strategically looking at the type of player we need. Just because a player is good, doesn't mean he's good for us. Like Hoppa.
Anyway, just wondering your thoughts on these random signings and the length we signed for, and if this is foreshadowing the future under Pay? Nasheed.

If it leads to us getting Stephen then it’s all worth it

 

[Nasheed]

If it leads to us getting Stephen then it’s all worth it

If that's the plan, whizz I doubt, that's crazy genius or crazy mad which I doubt.

 

[Baby Blues]

If that's the plan, whizz I doubt, that's crazy genius or crazy mad which I doubt.

It was a strange signing considering how many backs we have at the club. We have a history of too many mid tier instead of marquee signings which doesn’t make recent performances surprising

 

[TwinTurbo]

Crichton is member of a 30 player squad, a minor member, on a small value contract. He was signed as an inexpensive back up for the back up and as such has done a pretty decent job when required to fill in.

Another wasted thread NoSheen, you can do better.

Go Dogs

 

[GA45]

Another wasted thread NoSheen, you can do better.

Go Dogs

I really don’t think he can

 

[BELMORE]

He’s a good backup player. Hopefully he’s paid as such. He’s kind of like Sam perrett. Good metres out of dummy half due to the low centre of gravity. He makes more metres and crate more go forward than reimis smith

 

[Nasheed]

Crichton is member of a 30 player squad, a minor member, on a small value contract. He was signed as an inexpensive back up for the back up and as such has done a pretty decent job when required to fill in.

Another wasted thread NoSheen, you can do better.

Go Dogs

Why would you sign a backup winger for three years?
And even a player who's happy to be a backup for three years (backup money) lacks drive and ambition

 

[Nasheed]

I really don’t think he can

I am respected in the kennel.

 

[bricktamland]

I am respected in the kennel.

You are the fleas of the kennel

 

[Dingo]

Signing Crichton probably helped us get CHN onboard.

 

[GA45]

I am respected in the kennel.

Probably but can you point me in the direction of where you created a better sensible thread then this? Thanks

 

[Alan79]

First point I look at is that the new board were elected very late in the schedule of recruitment. By that stage the bulk of recognised talent and even the best of the promising junior talent had been nabbed. So I think the options available were by that time very limited.

The other main factor was available cap space or more appropriately a lack of the aforementioned cap space. So from a limited talent pool we had to chase value for money. From memory the players that were signed in the early days of the new board we picked up CHN (quality in my opinion), Meaney (who I think will prove to be a good long term investment), Cogger (also a potentially good long term investment), Sue (still a signing I can take or leave, but an aggressive but not overly talented forward) and Chrighton (who had a decent year at the Panthers).

In summary I think a good analogy for our signings would be like saying that after an auction, anything that didn't sell went to the op shop. We had to scour the op shop for value. In CHN, Meaney and Cogger I think we found that given that our cap space was limited. Our other signings have some qualities that might have been useful, in Sue that's aggression (his downside is that he's error prone), in Chrighton he's pretty quick (his downside is that he's small for an NRL player these days).

So overall I think that judging the recruitment has to be done as a whole for that time. I don't think highly of Sue and Chrighton, but I do think that the other three were good signings given that limited talent was on the market and we had peanuts to buy it with.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

It was a strange signing considering how many backs we have at the club. We have a history of too many mid tier instead of marquee signings which doesn’t make recent performances surprising

We sign so many bit part players that have limited growth and pass on experienced players that would walk into the 13 and help develop the players around them or youth with high potential.

 

[Baby Blues]

We sign so many bit part players that have limited growth and pass on experienced players that would walk into the 13 and help develop the players around them or youth with high potential.

It’s just poor planning and an obvious lack of a coherent recruitment and retention strategy. Are guys like Crichton, Sue & Britt that much better than our juniors?
Surely there’s a benefit from promoting cheap juniors and seeing how they perform? If they suck then they are easier to offload than a recruit on $200k-$400k a year. You do that a few times and we can start to afford true stars(no guarantee they’d want to come anyway).

 

[Spoonman84]

Crichton was signed for 3 years, signed before he made his NRL debut at the Panthers and started Round 1 in 2019. That tells me he wasn't signed as a back up.

It's a failed signing for sure.

 

[Bob dog]

Will only improve, still rate him, nothing wrong with a bit of depth.

 

[Turvey Chip and Chase]

You probably rate him higher than Brett Dallas

 

[Delta]

He’s a good backup player. Hopefully he’s paid as such. He’s kind of like Sam perrett. Good metres out of dummy half due to the low centre of gravity. He makes more metres and crate more go forward than reimis smith

Would say Sam Perrett is WAY better than Chricton.

 

[bradyk]

It was a strange signing considering how many backs we have at the club. We have a history of too many mid tier instead of marquee signings which doesn’t make recent performances surprising

We must have some pretty shiz backs if Crichton is able to find his way into the starting side...

Crichton showed some promise at the Panthers (before we signed him) and was a cheap signing with the cash we had available but we were tricked. That's how it goes sometimes.

It's time to start getting some of the best available (even if it's the best young talent) no more same same.