The Force should stop chasing big-name imports and build the whole
Honestly, how many more big-name imports do we need to pay top NZ$ for before we admit it's a busted strategy? Blokes fly in, collect a fat cheque, play a handful of games, and limbo off home by season's end. Meanwhile the WA Premier Grade is full of Perth lads who'd bleed for that jumper and can't crack the matchday 23. Every time someone suggests building from the local clubs, the same fanboys pile in waffling about "experience" and "professional depth". Laughable really. I'd back a hungry Nedlands forward over another cheque-chaser any day of the week, and I reckon the results would prove me right quicker than some expect. 😏
12 posts
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✓Which marquee signing exactly are you counting as a bust? Feels like you're remembering the flops and quietly forgetting the imports who actually fronted every week.
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Been to a few Force games where the Perth club lads off the bench lifted the whole crowd more than any imported name ever did 🙌 GloryDays, sure some signings fronted, but how many of those blokes even stick around past one season? Backing the WA boys all day, they actually care 💪Heart with the team, head on pause.
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GloryDays raises a fair point, so I went back over my own spreadsheet from the last few seasons before posting this 📊 The imports who fronted every week were the minority, and the ones who did stick around were usually the cheaper signings rather than the marquee money. Meanwhile the retention question answers itself: how many big-name blokes were still in Force colours the following season? Very few. The WA Premier Grade lads cost a fraction of the payroll, they're already settled in Perth, and when they've had bench minutes they've competed hard. I could be wrong, but continuity beats star power over a full season, and our injury list has proven year after year that depth built locally holds up better than one expensive headline signing.Do the math before you argue.
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Reminds me of the amateur days when blokes played for their club on a Saturday and fronted for their province with no cheque at all, and the crowd knew every name. FrontRowFan's spreadsheet says what the heart already knew: the cheap honest signings stay, the marquee money limps off. There's a proverb in that, mate. Build from the Premier Grade lads who actually bleed for the jersey. 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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FrontRowFan, your spreadsheet matches what I've been scribbling in my own table, I'd add one caveat though: retention isn't only about the cheque size. Some of the marquee blokes left because we had nothing around them worth staying for. Build the core from WA Premier Grade, keep two or three quality imports as glue rather than headliners, and suddenly Perth becomes a place blokes want to be. Personal bit: I watched a UWA forward come off the bench against one of the NZ sides last season and he was our best scrum for twenty minutes, then didn't make the 23 for weeks. That's the bit that winds me up. I could be wrong, but if the academy-to-Super pathway actually meant something, half the injury-cheque signings we made would never have been needed. Depends how you count it, but the cheaper local contracts have held up better on my numbers too.
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Funny how the blokes screaming loudest for marquee signings are usually the same punters who couldn't pick a winning line to save themselves 😂 I'd back WA club boys every day - they show up to training Tuesday because they want the jersey, not because some agent negotiated NZ$ appearance clauses. Genuinely asking though: has anyone here actually watched a Premier Grade match this season? Because if you had, you'd know there's real talent sitting in Perth right now 🤡Show me your ROI first 😏
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Nah StatHead, some of us screamed for local lads too 😤 Only question worth asking: where were the selectors when Premier Grade finals were on, eh? Ah well, nowt to do 🔥Heart with the team, head on pause.
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ah NickDiehard, I've heard that line before - "nothing around them worth staying for". back in my day we said the same about imports who came through Dunedin and funny how the good ones stayed anyway. you can't build a home worth staying in if you keep renting the furniture from overseas, and the Premier Grade lads are the ones who'll actually lay roots here 😉Been here longer than some have followed.
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ah NickDiehard, I've heard that line before - "nothing around them worth staying for". back in my day we said the same about imports who came through Dunedin and funny how the good ones stayed anyway. you can't build a h…@UnderdogNightmare nah the good ones stayed in Dunedin because there was actually a system worth staying for, big difference 😏 Force have had a decade to build that spine and all they've got is a highlights reel of imports on NZ$ cheques. But go on, keep telling me the next marquee man will fix it. I'll take that at the TAB, easy money 🤡Any stat can be bent.
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UnderdogNightmare makes a fair point, and I could be wrong, but I reckon the answer sits somewhere between both camps: the chequebook signings only work if there's a spine of homegrown WA lads around them worth committing to, so maybe the question isn't imports or Premier Grade, it's the order we build them in. Until selectors are actually spotted at a Premier Grade final, I'll keep my table open and the argument open with it.Do the math before you argue.
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UnderdogNightmare makes a fair point, and I could be wrong, but I reckon the answer sits somewhere between both camps: the chequebook signings only work if there's a spine of homegrown WA lads around them worth committin…@ChrisDiehard387 yeah that's about the size of it mate, order matters more than the shopping list. Back in my day the big signings only stuck when the young fellas around them made them look good, not the other way round. Seen worse squads than Perth's though, so I'd give them a bit more patience than the punters here do 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.