Kaeo Weekes

[Mark from Brisbane]

Well said. It’s possible for a player to leave a club for good reason and go on to be successful somewhere else. It’s not always a mistake; it’s just life. I don’t think anyone at Manly thought he was not a talent with a bright future. It’s more that he’s not a half and we have one of the most high profile fullbacks in the game. Why would we hold onto Weekes, stunt his growth and earnings? Manly did the right thing.

^This , 110%

And every single club that develops juniors have & will continue to face this conundrum.

There are many we could mention from the last 20 years that we let go , and went on to success of some sort.

But in every case there were good reasons.

 

[MW66]

This inability to spot talent is killing our club and a few others.

No one expects them to get it right every time but they are batting about 3 from 15. And the three are TKO, Brown and Jazz hardly setting the world on fire but doing thier job.

Tad hard on TKO. He has been very good.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Tad hard on TKO. He has been very good.

Very very good n my opinion

 

[LeonardCohen]

TKO has been really solid but went to another level yesterday that’s beyond solid. He was a brute.

 

[The Wheel]

The one consistent on Silvertails is that if an ex player has a good game then there will be outrage.

Everyone very quiet on Humphrey's but if he sets up one try today (which would be about his 4th all year) people will blow up.

I mean people are annoyed Metcalf left and 5 years later came good....ffs

You cannot keep then all and whilst in the perfect world we could hoard talent in reserves like back in the day (aka Krilich times) the current reality is players want a pathway to firsts.

Kaeo didn't and still wouldn't have a pathway to fullback and I'm not sute about 5/8 being the best fit for him.

Can we just enjoying him doing well

I’m still pissed off we let local junior Ivan Cleary walk instead of waiting for Ridge to retire - he could still be our coach by now and having Nathan run the show in the number 7 😉

 

[Thomoeagle]

TKO has been really solid but went to another level yesterday that’s beyond solid. He was a brute.

Thought he was our best by far. Closely followed by sipley, seen all the 3 2 1 votes for dce, turbo etc and Thought I must have been watching a different game.

 

[StuBoot]

^This , 110%

And every single club that develops juniors have & will continue to face this conundrum.

There are many we could mention from the last 20 years that we let go , and went on to success of some sort.

But in every case there were good reasons.

Agree.
The Telegraph put out a list of former Titans players that are starring at other clubs.
The list included Jahrome Hughes, Toby Sexton and Jamal Fogarty but neglected to point out that club's don't have three halfbacks.
Would Hughes be as good as he is if he stayed? He only played one NRL game for the Titans and Cowboys bouncing around Reggie's as a fullback.
Sexton is only being talked about now because the 'dogs are going well, is it because of him or the team they've built ( and now they've given him the flick)
Fogarty wanted out because Sexton was the preferred option.

You can't keep everybody and some players don't quite kick on until a bit later.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Agree.
The Telegraph put out a list of former Titans players that are starring at other clubs.
The list included Jahrome Hughes, Toby Sexton and Jamal Fogarty but neglected to point out that club's don't have three halfbacks.
Would Hughes be as good as he is if he stayed? He only played one NRL game for the Titans and Cowboys bouncing around Reggie's as a fullback.
Sexton is only being talked about now because the 'dogs are going well, is it because of him or the team they've built ( and now they've given him the flick)
Fogarty wanted out because Sexton was the preferred option.

You can't keep everybody and some players don't quite kick on until a bit later.

I think young Humphreys will be a good example of that , talented , but not yet fully developed.

But gets a chance at a run on spot and regardless of where grabs it with open arms.

 

[lsz]

^This , 110%

And every single club that develops juniors have & will continue to face this conundrum.

There are many we could mention from the last 20 years that we let go , and went on to success of some sort.

But in every case there were good reasons.

Also if you are known as a club that keeps kids no matter what the situation you have to expect that it becomes harder to attract players

 

[Brookie1973]

I’m still pissed off we let local junior Ivan Cleary walk instead of waiting for Ridge to retire - he could still be our coach by now and having Nathan run the show in the number 7 😉

I blame Doug Daley.

 

[47MVEagle]

I think you can use Luke Metcalf & Nicho Hynes as prime examples of players that took several years & different clubs before showing they were ready for first grade.

If we had held on to both of them & they went through what they went through elsewhere while in first grade for us (not playing very impressively, injuries, mental health issues & dropping out for a while) the same people complaining about losing Weekes would be complaining about the club hanging onto poor players.

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t, so I reckon the club (like every other club) just does what they think is the right thing based on the data available to them at the time & cares little what armchair & online experts think.