Worst recruitment move of all time? 1996 onward

[Mak Dogs]

Hands down Tony Williams

He was terrible but imo Thompson was even worse

 

[gbrussell]

Signing the big wuss TREX.

 

[T DAWG]

Sorry bro, that was Jim Dymock who implemented the forwards passing game style. Des adopted it and added some extras to it and sweeping plays. This is fact

Nope Des was a great footy coach, he changed the way forwards played with a stellar James Graham. Our halves were hard working talented but not Cronk/Cleary like (they did win NSW Origin). If we had won 2012 / 2014 or at least one of them we wouldnt be that unhappy. Des is still getting coaching jobs now and better than most, our juniors got fucked but thats not entirely his fault.

Simple answer is Raelene Castle and the board that hired her.

 

[OldDogFan]

This is not a bona fide thread, it falls into the "would of, could of, should of" category and is full of "what ifs" and speculation. In 2004 Thurston wasn't exactly setting the NRL world alight, we knew he had potential but no one foresaw that he would become an elite player. And what about Munster?, who knows he may have been average if signed with us. By all means collect what you can but the past is immaterial, it has already happened... let's just embrace the future.

 

[Marki]

There are mistakes and there are monumental mistakes that take years to recover from.

Thurston leaving wasn't as bad as many realise as we still had good years after he left.

The monumental stuff up that had repercussions for many years after it was done was NOT signing Tedesco and Moses by Des.

This one decision single handedly stuffed us for years in 2 spine positions and to compound the problem, it made 2 of our rivals premiership contenders.

There is not a decision as bad as that in living memory of watching rugby league.

 

[OldDogFan]

Nope Des was a great footy coach, he changed the way forwards played with a stellar James Graham. Our halves were hard working talented but not Cronk/Cleary like (they did win NSW Origin). If we had won 2012 / 2014 or at least one of them we wouldnt be that unhappy. Des is still getting coaching jobs now and better than most, our juniors got fucked but thats not entirely his fault.

Simple answer is Raelene Castle and the board that hired her.

Unfortunately Des was a one dimensional coach. He was only interested in stacking first grade so he could add a few premiership wins to his resumè. He didn't do anything to ruin our lower grades (Greenberg did a good job of that one) Des just didn't promote or have any interest in the lower grades.

 

[ILiveForDib]

Thompson spent his time down at the Westmead ICU getting paid 60k a game on average.

 

[Geoff Chambers]

Ciraldo signing Reynolds for me really stands out above all else.
This one is above some other shockers listed above and takes the cake as an inevitable failure.

 

[TABOO]

Appointing Raelene Castle. She fucked Rugby Australia as well and they still haven't recovered.

Would you ever recover if grimace fucked you?

 

[TABOO]

There are mistakes and there are monumental mistakes that take years to recover from.

Thurston leaving wasn't as bad as many realise as we still had good years after he left.

The monumental stuff up that had repercussions for many years after it was done was NOT signing Tedesco and Moses by Des.

This one decision single handedly stuffed us for years in 2 spine positions and to compound the problem, it made 2 of our rivals premiership contenders.

There is not a decision as bad as that in living memory of watching rugby league.

That's a very big call.
Chances are if we had signed them both (and let's say we didn't sign Sharon), we would've had to let one of them go anyway.

We were basing those signings off an increased salary cap that didn't eventuate. As much as I would've loved to have them, it would've crippled us even more.

 

[Marki]

That's a very big call.
Chances are if we had signed them both (and let's say we didn't sign Sharon), we would've had to let one of them go anyway.

We were basing those signings off an increased salary cap that didn't eventuate. As much as I would've loved to have them, it would've crippled us even more.

Both players have gone on to be one of the best in their respective positions.

Teddy has been one of the best players in the game while Moses is in the top 5 halfbacks.

Hardly a big call. The big call to not get them on a package deal was already done and we have suffered in these positions since and come 2024 we still haven't resolved them.

Monumental fuck up I tell ya.

 

[04 Dreaming]

Appointing rookie coach Ciraldope on the back of successive failures with rookie/inexperienced coaches

 

[04 Dreaming]

There are mistakes and there are monumental mistakes that take years to recover from.

Thurston leaving wasn't as bad as many realise as we still had good years after he left.

The monumental stuff up that had repercussions for many years after it was done was NOT signing Tedesco and Moses by Des.

This one decision single handedly stuffed us for years in 2 spine positions and to compound the problem, it made 2 of our rivals premiership contenders.

There is not a decision as bad as that in living memory of watching rugby league.

And then choosing to pay the unproven Moses Mbye 900k per year as our halfback instead

 

[TABOO]

Both players have gone on to be one of the best in their respective positions.

Teddy has been one of the best players in the game while Moses is in the top 5 halfbacks.

Hardly a big call. The big call to not get them on a package deal was already done and we have suffered in these positions since and come 2024 we still haven't resolved them.

Monumental fuck up I tell ya.

Don't disagree on the value they would've added, I just don't think it was realistic.

 

[Berries]

Keeping Josh Reynolds for way too long, not seeking a legit game breaking half to compliment one of the best defensive teams in the comp. 2012-2016 will always break my heart

 

[Berries]

Losing Thurston easily. He became one of the best halves of all time. We would have won 2-3 more comps if we kept him..

Hard to believe we crumble in 06 with him around

 

[D.O.W.]

Recruiting Sam Perrett and later Kristian Inu changed our season, we made the grand final… his recruitment from Roosters was a huge plus, shouldn’t be on this list.

 

[Kelpie03]

Nasheed here,
Self explanatory.
What was the biggest botch?

Looks like you forgot the biggest stuff-up of all ie. turning down Bennet not once but twice.
The other big stuff up was made by the board for not keeping their eyes on Hasler and Cleal, IMHO they both hated our club and only came for the BIG money, offered to them.

 

[1967]

Looks like you forgot the biggest stuff-up of all ie. turning down Bennet not once but twice.
The other big stuff up was made by the board for not keeping their eyes on Hasler and Cleal, IMHO they both hated our club and only came for the BIG money, offered to them.

Hasler also knew all the chit he’d hidden under the carpet at Manly for years was coming back to bite him on the ass, the timing was perfect for him to get out of there.

I always feel for Toovey, he was left holding the bag, copped all the crap, cleaned up after him, saved the Turbo boys from signing elsewhere and then was punted … for a club legend Toovey was treated very poorly ..

Punted for Barrett of all people, who admittedly had to work with a heavily reduced cap because of Hasler’s 5 years of cap breach fines, plus Fulton was behind the scenes controlling everything …

 

[axeman23]

Already been mentioned, but appointing Raelene Castle as CEO. Roughly half those moves came on her watch, if I remember correctly?