Semenoff at full purse is still worth more to Northland than any
Be honest, half of you would pay NZ$40k for some import who packs his bags after a season, while the next Taniwha winger is already running around for a Whangarei club side waiting to be picked. Two of our last three breakout wingers came from exactly that path and suddenly nobody remembers? Anyone serious about chasing big names before bleeding our own talent should have a hard look at themselves 😏
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✓Be honest, half of you would pay NZ$40k for some import who packs his bags after a season, while the next Taniwha winger is already running around for a Whangarei club side waiting to be picked. Two of our last three bre…I'd counter that with a question, GoTheDistance: were those two Whangarei wingers on full purse, or were they cheap development contracts we barely paid for? Sounds good but a $40k centre and a local kid aren't the same line item, one is a proven NPC starter you slot in now, the other is a punt on potential. Keep the pathway, sure, but don't pretend it replaces a signing when our midfield was where the season was lost.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Paul_Fan mate that's the whole point!! 😂 cheaper AND ours. Remember watching that first breakout winger burn his opposite number at Semenoff, hairs on end 🔥😤 through thick and thin, local boys forever 🖤💙You don't abandon your own.
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Paul_Fan raises a valid point about the contracts being full purse or not, because obviously, costs are always factored into the planning. But I reckon the focus gets lost when you only look at the sticker price of that $40k centre from overseas. You have to look at the full development pipeline. We’ve seen this with three of our recent breakout wingers who came straight from Whangarei club footy. They aren't just cheap, they’re integrated. They understand the setup, they thrive here, and they’ve demonstrated that real quality, like the stuff we saw at Semenoff, can be bred right here instead ofDo the math before you argue.
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Back in the day we used to pack into Semenoff on a cold Friday and the best players on the park were blokes who'd been at Hikurangi club do's the week before. Nobody talked about imports then, the province just picked what grew in its own backyard and it worked often enough. ChrisDiehard's got a fair point about the pipeline, and I'd take it further. Those Whangarei wingers didn't just cost us nothing, they brought the whole town through the gate behind them. An overseas centre on NZ$40k plays one season, shakes hands, and he's gone. The local boy has aunties and half a club side turning up to watch him. You spend that money keeping him in the system, mate, and the next one coming through sees it's worth staying. Watch this game long enough and you learn the imports come and go, but the jumper stays here 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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I'll take SeenItAll's memory and raise him one from my own years following this mob 😄 The odd import has actually pulled his weight here, mind. We had a centre a while back who stuck around two seasons and taught the young fellas more in training than any coach could. So I won't pretend the $40k guy is useless on principle. But ChrisDiehard, that pipeline you mention is exactly why the import money worries me. Every dollar spent flying somebody in is a dollar not spent on the kid at Hora Hora or Otangarei who needs gear, gym time and a proper development contract. Those Whangarei boys didn't come cheap and cheerful by accident, someone funded them. Cheap now costs less than regret later, as my old man used to say. Keep the purse full and point it at our own gate.Been here longer than some have followed.
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UnderdogNightmare's centre proves the import route works when he stays, sure. So why are we assuming the $40k one will? Show me his contract length before we cheer the cheque.Hype isn't an argument.
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Kev's got the sharpest question in the thread, and I'd back it with one caveat: contract length matters, but even a one-season import only pays off if there's a local learning off him, which is exactly what UnderdogNightmare's centre gave us. I sat in the stand at Semenoff watching one of those Whangarei club wingers burn his man on the outside twice in a half and thought, why are we shopping overseas at all. Small sample, granted, two wingers from three isn't a pipeline, but it's enough to make the NZ$40k a punt I'd rather not take.Numbers > vibes.
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There's a wrinkle here nobody's touched yet. That $40k only stings if we treat it as either/or, and the thread's actually converging on something smarter: the import is only worth the cheque if he's got a Whangarei kid shadowing him every session. Two of our last three breakout wingers came straight out of local club footy, and BootToBall's caveat is exactly why UnderdogNightmare's centre worked, he left the cupboard fuller than he found it. So the real question for whoever's signing the cheque: does this fella come with a contract long enough, and a head open enough, to double as a coach on the park? If yes to both, maybe the money's defensible. If he's a one-season mercenary, I'd rather spend it on the gate, where the next Taniwha winger is already standing. Small sample though, two wingers out of one province's talent pool, so I'm not ready to call it either way yet.