Re: Sam Burgess. : Thu Feb 15, 2018 7:37 pm  

This does smell of Burgess fluttering his eyelashes at SL, but not really wanting to leave the NRL's contracts.

Souths will want SUBSTANTIAL recompense for their investment, when they got him back from the 3 point code. He won't have come cheap.

Yes, we got Morley @ 30 yoa. At the end of Burgess' current contract, he'll be 31+, with A LOT of NRL miles under his belt. By the time (if) he comes to SL, his body will be creaking, a la James Graham, should he wish to return (more than likely to be Saints, IF he decides to). The Aussie game is even more brutal, than when Morley played down under. That's a lot of abuse, not withstanding the 18 month period playing 3 point, having 20 stone props and South Sea Islanders landing on top of him.
Then there's his cheekbone issues, as Morley suffered. It didn't turn out well for him, with his retinal problems.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'd love to see him in P&B, just in the right deal for the club.

Oh. One last thing. When we got Morley, our stock was rising in SL. It's far from that, now.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:03 pm  

Wires71 wrote:

Agree with sentiment on Price and Roberts but thought the stadium improvements were loans financed by the club?

Anyhow, one question mark on ambition which can be fairly levelled is due to with Karl Kirkpatrick's appointment as CEO. It's small time thinking.

I used to think that way till I went along to the fans forum they now run,fair play to the bloke he does work hard and he is really passionate about it aswell, yes I get people see were he as come from etc but I’ve seen first hand what he as/is doing and I’m ok with that. Yes everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but for me he is not the issue of where we are at.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:13 pm  

I'm happy with Karl Fitzpatrick. He was slow off the trap but he looks up to speed now and is going okay. No complaints...however I'm sure he is working overtime trying to keep things measured follow are disappointing match at Huddersfield.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:14 am  

CW8 wrote:

They should despair, I totally agree. I despair as well, one thing that you can't argue with is that they haven't received value for money from their pounds spent for over a season now.

Do you think Sam would be interested in coming to wire now, given the on field displays we have been served since the 2016 GF? I'm not sure we are the draw we once were. I am very hopeful that price can turn it around, I know its early days but I've seen nothing so far through raises optimism.

It's not unreasonable to be less than optimistic right now, my objection was to your calling out the club for lack of ambition. The former is the mood by which third parties ( including players) will judge the club, agreed, but it's not for the want of trying by the two biggest forces on the board.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:19 am  

Wires71 wrote:

Agree with sentiment on Price and Roberts but thought the stadium improvements were loans financed by the club?

Anyhow, one question mark on ambition which can be fairly levelled is due to with Karl Kirkpatrick's appointment as CEO. It's small time thinking.

Some of it may have been loans, but, for instance, the sound system, bought new in 2016 for a six-figure sum, was financed out-of-pocket by directors, as have many other things involving staff and anything outside structural stadium matters. I think the appointment of Karl was heavily influenced by the fact that a previous CEO had total disregard for budgets and overspent without authorisation. I think Karl would better be described as a COO right now, as the main directors are acting more like joint CEOs.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:56 am  

I’m still trying to work out what return we got for the amount of money Draper spent.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:44 am  

easyWire wrote:

I’m still trying to work out what return we got for the amount of money Draper spent.

Being fair to him ...

We got membership - before that the club had no marketing information on it's fan base, apart from ST records.
New logo/image.
An Official Fan Club which has since been disbanded.
Better social media offering.
A new web page that hasnt been refreshed since he left.

I'm still trying to work out what return we got for investing the amount of money that was spent on the likes of Asotasi.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:02 pm  

Wires71 wrote:

Being fair to him ...

We got membership - before that the club had no marketing information on it's fan base, apart from ST records.
New logo/image.
An Official Fan Club which has since been disbanded.
Better social media offering.
A new web page that hasnt been refreshed since he left.

I'm still trying to work out what return we got for investing the amount of money that was spent on the likes of Asotasi.

Not having a pop at you here, 71, but you've just given 5 bullet points. Roll them into 1, and you've got a glorified "Tufty Club"
He revamped the club shop, as well.

It's hardly justifying one of the best sports marketing brains of his generation, for his wage, is it?

I'm not exactly "blown away" by his legacy

Re: Sam Burgess. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:51 pm  

Asgardian13 wrote:

It's not unreasonable to be less than optimistic right now, my objection was to your calling out the club for lack of ambition. The former is the mood by which third parties ( including players) will judge the club, agreed, but it's not for the want of trying by the two biggest forces on the board.

To be fair I didnt mean the club lacks ambition in terms of the spend and those upstairs so I get your point in reacting to my comment as such, it's not what I meant though.

Its difficult to explain it really but I feel its the performance level that seems to be acceptable. For instance, I don't think we would have found Morley saying we weren't far off had he played against Huddersfield last week. Price at least said its unacceptable which was refreshing to hear. Its all well and good giving off soundbites saying we want to challenge on every front at the start of every year and we won't give up but there doesn't seem to be any method as to how we will get there. The team of 2012 was far more talented than what we have now but they also had a far bigger appetite to win their personal battles, to do the hard yards and make sure they left nothing on the field. Their work ethic perhaps set them apart as much as the quality of play we displayed and in fact was probably key, they all supported each other. We didn't see many line breaks that there wasn't a support player or passes where there weren't options for the receiver through hard work off the ball. We don't seem to have that now, they don't work hard enough off the ball IMO. What I meant quite simply is that I don't see those things in this team, suggestions that we aren't far off to me suggest that we are further away than our players and perhaps staff think. I don't think our team is miles of, but what they accept as passable performance levels seem to be.

We have to give price a fair crack, he is seeming to make the right sounds, I guess I am just being miserable after last week sapped my optimism for the season. I don't care if we win anything this season, I was never expecting to really, but I want them to make me believe its possible, like we at FB building towards being serious challengers again. Perhaps like saints last season after they appointed Holbrook I guess. It would certainly make our recruitment easier if it looked like we were building to challenge in the near future I don't feel that we are at the minute.

Re: Sam Burgess. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:07 pm  

Last year & this year ,the legacy of Smith, we are looking more & more like a Championship team. We looked at home among the qualifiers & this season's team is not as good.