Recruitment Warriors 2024/2025 Recruitment & Retention

Warriors 2024/2025 Recruitment & Retention Discussion
key: T = Team option, M = Mutual option, P = Player option, D = Development contract

Confirmed Top 30 2024: 28/30
Confirmed Development 2024: 5/6

Confirmed Top 30 2025: 25/30
Confirmed Development 2025: 1/6

2025 Gains: Nil
2025 Losses: Addin Fonua-Blake (Sharks)
 
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This sounds like a fair approach considering you drop news on the club out of the blue. It surely seems that AFB wants out because if something like this was possible then surely he would have approached the club with solutions around possibilities rather than make an out and out request to leave.

I feel uncle Gus of another desperate team needing props may have used the recent ‘Aussie homesick’ and family support approach as a means to entice players to return home. Clearly family is important and something clubs can’t really pressure players on. No reason why AFB couldn’t have had a similar approach - win/win. Move back to Sydney to be with family and earn same money if not more with another Sydney club.
 
Bloody oath. It's not like the Warriors don't spend any time in Sydney. They're there every other week. He can stay an extra day or two when the team is over there playing. Put the arrangement in place for 2024 and if it becomes untenable, then have the conversation about a release. It at least gives us a year to line up a potential replacement with some decent prop targets coming on the market for 2025.
 
The Storm don't release any players unless they can find a suitable replacement we need to do the same or next year will be a write off !!!!
Could we offer him a 6 month sabbatical with full pay to spend with his folks? And go from there....Stupid as it sounds, At least we still have him till 2026 if it all works out. I'm just sad, Trying to think of alternatives to keep him lol
 
It’s all good and well having a million in cap to throw at another prop but what also seems to becoming a common trend, is the appetite in certain quality players willing to take a pay cut to stay with existing or moving to powerhouse clubs.

It’s a tricky senario bcus there really aren’t many quality props now and even then, players are happy to bork at big dollars contracts for stability and success.

Advantage is that we had a great year however, one of the key reasons for that is on the outter.

Despite the great achievement from Andrew Webster with his players, even he wouldn’t be able to create an AFB from what he has.
 
His name is bound to come up at some point, so I will bit the bullet and the risk of being haunted by Geepee..

How much is Ice and Stefano on? If they were each between 600-700k, would it be that big of a leap to get both for 1.1? The Tigers are certainly a team that would be crazy enough to consider a deal like that.

8. Utoikamanu
9. Egan
10. Niukore/Barnett
11. Ford
12. Papali’i/Niukore
13. Harris
15. Barnett/Papali’i

Doesn’t really fit the whole idea of us sending Curran packing to blood some new edge players but.

Stefano might be a player like Schuster as well, where he is actually somehow on 950k and no one noticed lol
 
It’s all good and well having a million in cap to throw at another prop but what also seems to becoming a common trend, is the appetite in certain quality players willing to take a pay cut to stay with existing or moving to powerhouse clubs.

It’s a tricky senario bcus there really aren’t many quality props now and even then, players are happy to bork at big dollars contracts for stability and success.

Advantage is that we had a great year however, one of the key reasons for that is on the outter.

Despite the great achievement from Andrew Webster with his players, even he wouldn’t be able to create an AFB from what he has.
To be fair though it’s been the pack as a whole that’s performed and the great recruitment that he’s played off the back of, as has been noted that our entire pack has good footwork and that’s who we target in the recruitment going forward as far as any middle or edge forwards are concerned. He’s carried us in some games but he’s also seen some of his form off the back of Egan and SJ. Huge loss for sure but nobody is irreplaceable, even if it requires more than one to achieve it.
 
If AFB did leave Sydney cause of gang issues. Judging by the hideous gold Versace shirt he was wearing at the awards, he’s still very much about that life. I have only ever seen bikies wearing that shit.

If he was lip dropping about the SJ love that sucks and will be good to get that out of the dressing room. To be fair though I was getting pissed off at the media and felt sorry for SJ by the end of the season. He kept trying to divert attention back to the team but the media wouldn’t have it.
 
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