Tedesco backflips on the Raiders

[I bleed Maroon]

James Tedesco to stay at Wests Tigers despite signing with Canberra Raiders

Canberra’s marquee recruit James Tedesco has abandoned his lucrative deal with the Raiders and wants to remain at the Wests Tigers.
It is a devastating blow for Canberra who over the past this week have missed out on Penrith winger Josh Mansour, Canterbury hooker Michael Ennis and Melbourne forward Kevin Proctor.
Raiders chief executive Don Furner was furious at the development on Wednesday night.
When asked about whether Tedesco had turned his back on the club, he responded: "Yes and we are bitterly disappointed at the way it was handled... that's our only quote."
Tedesco approached the club on Wednesday evening and advised chief executive Grant Mayer that his preference was to stay at the Wests Tigers beyond this season.
"There is no doubt that this has been a difficult period for James and his family but we are clearly thrilled that he has decided to stay with the club. This is a brave decision by James that will undoubtedly show many that his belief in his mates and belief in the club far outweighs all other influences. All at the club are delighted with his decision and we will work towards concluding the terms that were last available to him from the Wests Tigers.”
Tedesco added: “I firstly need to apologise to the Canberra Raiders for my change of heart. They have been great throughout the whole process. That said, I never felt totally comfortable with my decision and after thinking it through I realised it would be too hard to leave my best mates. I understand that the Raiders and their fans will be disappointed and I apologise to all of them for making this decision and I only hope they will understand.”
The decision by Tedesco is allowed under the NRL rules.

Greenhouse? Moar like GLASS house, amirite?

 

[Old Mate]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of *****.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I actually feel bad for them.

 

[Rally Towel]

I actually feel bad for them.

Me too, to some degree. It doesn't benefit the competition to have a club (or clubs) bereft of the ability to sign or retain talent. This does irreparable damage to their bargaining power with current and future players. Their supporters have every right to feel aggrieved.

You have to wonder how everything fell apart with this recruitment drive. Was Ennis the crucial signature that they needed? Was missing out on Mansour the factor that gave Tedesco second thoughts?

Sounds like they need a proper clean out, from top to bottom. Furner doing his best impression of Gee Gee lately.

Can't wait to see Ricky's next press conference....

 

[Foordy]

 

[Fozz]

It's probably better for him to stay with the Tigers. I don't like players backflipping on deals though, if you've said you're going to join another club then stick with it. Don't be all wishy washy.

 

[Porthoz]

What Foordy said and did...

 

[Alec]

Canberra struggling to sign players even when offering massive overs. They are in huge trouble.

 

[Cult]

I was on the train and I laughed really loudly when I read this.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Canberra struggling to sign players even when offering massive overs. They are in huge trouble.

Pretty much. It's hard to see how they're gonna recover from this. Even sacking Stuart before the second year of his contract would be a terrible look for them.

They're pretty much in a worse state now than Cronulla and that is saying something.

 

[Big Pete]

I don't think Canberra fans really mind Tedesco choosing to reneg on the deal to stay with the club that developed him, just the timing of it all and the prospects of another lean season.

Let's put aside all the petty CEO/Coach/Inter-Forum rivalry for a second.

What is wrong with Canberra?

What has been wrong with Canberra since 1997 or so?

They were once the trend-setters of the competition but they've developed a poor reputation and their choices have been largely poor. Meninga was a dud coach at club level, Elliott came in with some nice ideas but lacked a long term vision, Henry used them as a way to build up his resume to either join the Broncos or Cowboys, Furner kept the seat warm and nothing has really changed in Ricky's tenure.

They need to make some tough off-field choices and personnel choices. Too many duds filling up cap room and it seems like it's taking Ricky an age to transition some of his players.

The fact he's still playing Vaughan and Cornish off the bench speaks volumes IMO.

Surely that changes on Monday.

It sucks for them and I'm not going to start laughing because the club is in the middle of it's own drama right now and I reckon they could very well have the last laugh on Monday.

 

[Foordy]

I've said it before and i'll say it again now ... Raiders and their fans are the biggest bunch of hypocrites around.

I was just over at the Greenhouse to see their melt down (and it is in full swing), and many of them are whinging about how he was allowed to sign a contract and reneg on it ... but 2 weeks ago every single one of them were asking Milford to do the same thing... hypocrites ...

 

[I bleed Maroon]

I've said it before and i'll say it again now ... Raiders and their fans are the biggest bunch of hypocrites around.

I was just over at the Greenhouse to see their melt down (and it is in full swing), and many of them are whinging about how he was allowed to sign a contract and reneg on it ... but 2 weeks ago every single one of them were asking Milford to do the same thing... hypocrites ...

Forget 2 weeks ago, some of them are saying it right now.

 

[Big Pete]

Be careful about generalising folks.

Honestly if my opinion was grouped with some members on here (and vice versa I'm sure) I'd be pretty pissed.

Some good eggs over at the GH.

 

[Foordy]

Be careful about generalising folks.

Honestly if my opinion was grouped with some members on here (and vice versa I'm sure) I'd be pretty pissed.

Some good eggs over at the GH.

yeah sorry mate,

i know it is un-Australian to kick people while their down, but sometimes i let emotion get the better of me and start dishing out a bit of what many Raiders fans have been dishing out to us since we signed Milford

 

[Bull Shark]

just, wow....

 

[broncos4life]

Be careful about generalising folks.

Honestly if my opinion was grouped with some members on here (and vice versa I'm sure) I'd be pretty pissed.

Some good eggs over at the GH.

Yes there are some good eggs. In saying that I will not hold back my laughter directed at the hypocrisy 'some' raiders fans have shown

 

[Ari Gold]

I actually feel bad for them.

Ditto. This is a club that sacked Carney when they didn't have to. A lot of clubs in the same situation wouldn't have. Add to that Dugan and Monaghan and Blake Ferguson and the injuries to Campese and they've lost a shitload of talent. And they developed Milford too and are losing him.

Frankly the Raiders have exemplified many qualities that a lot of people complain doesn't happen enough -- develop a lot of their own players, sack people who are repeatedly dicks etc. It doesn't seem to be doing them much good.