To be honest, whilst he may be a great star in the future, there are a lot of deficiencies in coates' game that won't be solved overnight or even in a season.
The storm using him on the wing will suit them fine. If they pick him up we will have a little more to spend on some of the other spots (wing isn't a priority to our squad sign ons).
In a season or two he might be ready to play centre, but the storm will probably still have him on the wing.
In the end we need to get used to losing some of our "eye candy" players so we can build a solid team.
New players will come through our development, and new stars will find themselves surplus (aka Brandon smith).
In the end our priority should be putting out a competitive team first and then refining it, not trying to rear a premiership from the cradle.
Bearing in mind we still have Haas locked in, and I consider him to be THE find of this generation.
Come 2022, we will ready to spend. Provided we look at players that don't necessarily stand in the spot light, but yet are quality, we will put ourselves in a position to chase and retain fiffita's, coates', and staggs type players.
Rather than the storm and their like though, I'd be targeting the clubs that have hit the heights and are on the way down (2022 roosters or perhaps even a Smith less, Bellamy less storm) that has an understudy type player tucked away in the squad.
This is where we need to improve, and understand our new position on the ladder of recruitment. We are now THE club a young rising (but unrecognised) star can come to try his chances for big time, unimpeded by "locked-in" celebrity footballers.
In short make this situation work for this club.
We might need to pay good dollars for regular first graders but we should also being able to pay unders for young talent chasing that chance.
All good in theory but it isn’t in reality. We currently have those kids who we can give the chances to and they mostly seem to want to leave. We are coming of a wooden spoon under a terribly run management, a likeable but unproven coach and already having to pay overs to recruit or retain players because we are overexposed into the media.
Bennett was always a drawcard and was able to shield the players to an extent, even if his coaching had seemingly been left behind somewhat. We now no longer have a massive drawcard to play at the club other than facilities. What we do have is a wooden spoon, players telling the media they want to leave, players in the media meeting rival clubs, players crying on the field, disharmony and massive pressure on an overpaid, woefully underperforming side.
We are also paying a considerable chunk of our salary cap to players and a coach playing and coaching somewhere else. This club is the definition of a shambles and other than inflated salaries, there is nothing else to entice quality players to the club.
I know it is a negative view and I don’t want to have this view but it is the current reality of the situation and no amount of a poster telling us it isn’t all doom and gloom will change this until ACTUAL change happens.
We’ve been told there is a new CEO incoming and who he is but until he is announced and at the club, it is still just status quo. We have a current CEO who is on Cullen levels of incompetence who just won’t leave. We have a coach who is preaching unity while kicking out a player/s, we have young guys wanting out, we have senior players who are worse than unproven young guys. We have a captain who apparently is one of the biggest problems with cliques and we have an injured unwanted player returning on big money for a second year in a row.
What is there to be excited about? Another Milf is the fittest Eva story? Another the club is training the house down story? Another Alex Glenn wants to win a premiership before retiring feel good piece? Another this is a new page in the club story? Dale Copley? John Asiata?
It is understandable fans like me feel disillusioned and good on those of you who can see past the doom and gloom, you are seeing something the current facts do not allude to until something other than rumour and hearsay happens.
Also, we have the guy we targeted as coach again embarrassing us by trying to entice one of our best prospects away...again. The club is a deadset embarrassment.
