It's all very much academic anyway. I'm really of the opinion that even the best coaches are only as good as the players they can field.
Not saying Bennett is a myth, but he had a really shit roster at Newcastle and did SFA with it before quitting early in the piece to save his reputation. People can argue that his roster at the dolphins isn't great. But he's at least picked up a strong forward pack and up and coming spine players. He just simplifies the roles players have to follow.
The reality is that there isn't a super coach tree around where we could just pluck quality from. There's a handful of clubs in recent years that have needed to try rookies.
I'm just going to hope that Ciraldo can keep our squad improving and keep luring in talent where we need it. Until we have that foundation of talent we'll struggle.
Right now we've got the strongest 2-5 we've had in years, next year it'll hopefully be better again. Burton is still going to offer a lot, but right now is working behind a beaten pack. Oloapu still has a lot to prove at NRL level where he's finally meeting players that he's not generally stronger than. Our forward pack definitely needs improvement. But given that we saw a new team enter the comp with a full salary cap to fill, it was slim pickings on the player market and I think it will be for a couple of years to come.