Bunnies/Ferrets

[Plod]

Using cricket batting analogy, I am now referring to the bunnies as the ferrets. You know, the ferrets come in after the bunnies. I'm sure the real teams would prefer a week off during the season, rather than having to play a trial game. What is there win/loss ratio since there return? Why is this rabble still in the league, get rid of them again.

[AndyP]

I look forward to our resident Souths supporter's reply.

My personal uneducated opinion is that they shouldn't have been let back in.

[Moe Norman]

if they hd all the Souths Juniors playing for them they would be pretty bloody good.

[Jarro]

good point Moe.

[Courty]

I sort of agree. It seems a waste of time them being there. But it it takes time to build a new team, which is what they had to do. Give them a couple more seasons & they'll be competitive.

[Grunt]

I could go on for hours why they should not have been kicked out in the 1st place. I won't bother.

For over 20 years the place was run like the old days with Piggins & co. It can only go forward from here. To keep his leagues club afloat in the late eighties he slashed funding to the Football Club to the extent that they basically had to sell the team. They were minor Premiers in 1989 only to lose 50% of that team that year are some of the examples of his business ideals. He also instead of following the Club charter of the leagues club to Support football he borrowed/stole over $700 000 from the football club finances (he was chairman of both the leagues & football clubs). Ever since they have not had the funds to even spend the Salary cap. This year they only spent just under 3 million.

When they got back in they did not get any where near the offers that the Gold Coast are now getting. Lets see how competitve they are in their 1st season next year. I bet they are way stronger than Souths, due to the fact they have players already on contract that do not count for the salary cap due to them not being in the NRL comp yet.

As for Juniors, South Sydney has provided juniors for almost 100 years to the NRL/ARL. Amongst the current NRL Squads examples are; Craig Wing (roosters), Ryan Cross (roosters), Braith Anasta (roosters), Reni Matuia (Bulldogs), Brett Kearney (sharks) & Todd Byrne (Warriors) are just some.

The rebuilding has begun, it may take 2 more years but it will happen. Also there is no current team in the NRL with any where near the premierships of the Bunnies. St. George/Illawarra have none yet & West Tigers only have one remember they are new merged entities.

[3oneday]

So, what players will be left to make up the Gold Coast Goats ??? 2 whipping boys next year ;)

14 teams is enough to eat up the talent, 15 is too many, 16 is a joke....

Pete

[Grunt]

Preston Cambell, Luke Bailey are some of the pre signings for the Gold Coast. Watch them build a team within weeks of the June 30 deadline, if not days/hours.

[Moe Norman]

Scotty Prince also?

[Jarro]

Sideshow Bob will be there also.

[3oneday]

Yep, Scott Prince, Preston Campbell, very robust halves aren't they :p, one defends on the wing and the other...... what does he do again ???

A good half and 5/8 are nought behind a beaten pack. Not to mention centres, wingers etc etc.

The only sure thing for next year, that Gold Coast will be just ahead of Souths in the wooden spoon betting.

Pete

[Jarro]

they'll struggle to begin with, but i don't think it'll be long before they're very competitive.

Players want to join a club that has a great setup, and this is something the Gold Coast will have.

[Grunt]

Jarro,
If that was the case players would be scrambling to join the Bunnies. With HAC & Crowe buying rights, some of the planned & implemented changes include upgrading training facilities @ Erskinville Oval to what the other clubs have now as a interim training facility until Redfern Oval is rebuilt into a training/physio/rehab facility that other clubs will see as the benchmark.
The rebuilding has started and to be honest the players are probably not the top priority yet. Since the March vote giving them 75% ownership, we have signed Mark Hughes, from the bulldogs as recruitment manager & Jason Taylor, from Parramatta to the coaching staff. Hughes started straight away as he left the bulldogs after his brother Gary was sacked in the inquiry into the Coffs harbour thing. Taylor asked Parramatta for a release but Parramatta said no.
Hughes' signing is seen as a coup and also with some of the troubles at the Bulldogs sees us with a good contact in their ranks. Stories so far have included Sherwin & Matuia joining the bunnies next year, Sherwin maybe even this year. It may not be next year that the bunnies do anything special but I think 2008 might cause some surprises.
One thing the Gold Coast will bring to the NRL is a break into the Bronco's junior development and pool of players that the recruitment side of the club has easy access to.

[Jarro]

Grant,

.. i think if you took all the plkayers in the NRL that are off contract for next season and told them they had a choice of going to the Bunnies or to the Titans .... my bet would be 90% of them would head to the Gold Coast.

In my opinion, there just isn't a winning culture at Souths, and i doubt they'll ever have one.

sorry to be so blunt, but that's my thoughts.