Our club went through a spell of appearing to disregard injury/appearance record when going out to sign players and it would have shocked no one when these players inevitably continued a long term career trend.
We also signed more than a few purely defensive forwards who had played 200 NRL games probably making 30 tackles a game and who must have had cumulative huge wear and tear on their body.
The other thing that happened all too often was our willingness to offer a new contract when the player was clearly well past their best. I can appreciate a gamble but there was simply no need to offer multi-year contracts to players who would have done well to get one last year.
However, since Tony Rea arrived he has tried to sign players with a career in front of them and from what I can see stand-out players within their respective clubs and he has not renewed anyone who seldom played. For this he has my thanks and still my full support.
I had got very fed up with the rag, tag and bobtail sides that he was forced to play because of the mismanagement of those before him. You couldn't ever build from that kind of foundation.
I would not compare the two capped England internationals Matt Cook and Scott Moore who are both in their prime with genuine quality and regularly available for selection with the older injury prone Australians looking to see out their career with a couple of years in London.
I am really looking forward to the new season that is for sure, I don't see any reason we can't fight off Wakefield and Bradford for 12th spot. Players will surely become more available once the season settles down and when the NRL season starts.
