POS on Roger's exit

[Johnny.]

While I wasn't delusional enough to expect Roger to be buried in his Roosters jersey like Barney Dalton or bleed like Rusty Fairfax did when the club sacked him but I did expect some goddamn loyalty. He's now no more than dogshit to me, scrape him off the soles of our shoes and move on.

[hackthefortress]

Seriously... this shit makes me tear up. He was a such a huge part of our team. Such a huge part of the excitement that is the Roosters.

[Tommy Smith]

In three years time he'll be holding the fort together with a fumbling, bumbling, gutless Warriors team with a toxic culture led by that clown Konrad Hurrell. Meanwhile Latrell Mitchell will be fast on his way to establishing himself as the greatest talent of his generation as he competes in finals series after finals series; at which point he signs a 4-year contract extension.

At least that's how I hope it goes

[player 1]

If Fergo stays off the grape he will be an improvement on RTS at fullback.

RTS has played a few good games this year, but I remember last year him not being able to catch most bombs put up to him.

Sad to see him leave. Maybe it wasn't just the money. Maybe he was sick of playing for a club that has been artificially handicapped by the match officials for years and with no prospect of it changing for the foreseeable future?

[Waerea-Beast!]

I've come up with a theory, driven mostly by optomism more than anything..

Warriors offer huge money to RTS, an offer that is too big to ignore, but he would stay if the Roosters get close. Club only opens negotiations last week (saw it mentioned in an article) and there just isn't time to come up with a package that's remotely close. Warriors are antsy and insist he signs now, so as insurance policy he signs knowing full well that Roosters now have 2 months to come up with a more attractive package. Might be optimism on my part, but it could also be plausible.

Am I clutching at straws thinking the Warriors deal is an insurance policy and the real negotiation is yet to come? The boys and coaching staff have a couple of months to get in his ear and it really seems as though the club were very much blindsided.

[Thirteen]

Buying a Jennings brother could also be key to keeping Jenko at the roosters.....

They should just hire his sister as a cheer leader.

[roosterproud]

the sky is falling the sky is falling

[ism22]

Absolutely.

Given the ruthless nature of the salary cap, particularly now with clubs willing to offer huge 750k + offers for 20-22 year olds, the ONLY way to sustain success is to have a conveyor belt of fantastic young players ready to fill the void.

And with POS in place we have him to thank for RTS, and now Latrell Mitchel who will hopefully be our superstar fullback for 10 years. Without that talent identification maybe we have some idiot instead who forks out 700k on a Ben Barba which could set you back years.

We experienced this during the horrific 'Anasta-Mason-O'Meley' years. Fortunately we now have a model in place that is the envy of most clubs.

IMO not all clubs are going to offer that kinda $$$. To me it means that he essentially wanted to stay at Bondi and said 'look I'm only leaving if you offer me craaaaazy money.' They did...

Clubs choose what they want to do with their caps. IMO not all clubs are gonna go down the road of paying $800k+ for players and there's only 3 or 4 players who I think are worth that much. The rest are essentially desperate clubs trying to get their man. I'm not quite sure why NZ think they NEED a fullback.

IMO by going all out for RTS, the Warriors are gonna find they can't afford to keep other key players. I don't think RTS is a perfect fit because the warriors lack a playmaker/ball player other than Johnson. RTS has quick feet, but he's not a FB in the shape of Hayne/GI who can essentially fill-in as an extra half. IMO RTS is a better fit with us because we have Pearce, Maloney and Friend plus a bunch of ball playing back rowers. Whereas, the warriors are essentially a team of solid back rowers (even their centres/wingers) with Johnson, Townsend and Leulaia shouldering 100% of the ball playing load (poorly I might add.) I don't know if RTS will add an extra ball player to the mix.

Good luck to the Warriors :P and thanks for offloading Maloney at a bargain price need I say that they probably would have been better off keeping Maloney rather than begging us for a FB whose strength is stepping rather than ball play a few years later?

[stringaz]

Better places to worship in Auckland, I guess?

Good luck to the snivelling little Hillsonger.

What a tremendous kick in the balls. You'd prefer to lose pretty much anyone else in the squad over him. Christ.

Wonder if the church gets a slice? I feel the same, thought he was priority 😭

[2026]

i'd imagine we were paying him overs compared to most wingers including Toops with the view that he'd be our long term fullback one day.

I guess this is also part of Peter's disappointment.

[Walshie's 9th Love Child]

Gutted, so much time, support and effort, so much planning, so many sacrifices by so many people. oh well such is life........

[2026]

Gutted, so much time, support and effort, so much planning, so many sacrifices by so many people. oh well such is life........

If we win the comp this year then the investment was worth while.

I wouldn't be surprised if the NRL offered him a sweetener to sign with the Warriors.

[bondi paul]

It would be a miracle and Easter is over.

brilliant

[bondi paul]

Although I don't begrudge the kid making the decision, I have to say that the quote above nails it.

i overheard someone calling rts - judas

[novice chook]

I can understand POS being upset, from memory he has had a very close relationship with RTS since he signed with us, and when you put so much time and commitment into someone it's hard when they walk away, when they could have stayed. It's not as if we were offering peanuts - we offered cashews, but unfortunately the Warriors offered high quality macadamias.

I suspect RTS will regret his decision in a year or so when reality of what he is up for at the Warriors kicks in. And there is always the possibility that when he is next up for contract, he may look to return if the opportunity is there, as I doubt he has burnt his bridges totally with those that matter at the Club. He will after all only be 25 at the time when he finishes the Warriors deal.

I can't bag the kid for taking the money - it's just too good for him to refuse. But money can't buy happiness, and I believe that he would have been happier at the Roosters than he will be at the Warriors long term.