The Reds should stop chasing marquee signings and build purely from
You're not mad, you're just about two seasons late mate 😂 Every big overseas cheque we've burnt in the last few years, gone after 20-something games and a farewell Instagram post. Meanwhile the lads who actually bleed for the jumper come out of Brothers or Wests and play like it means something. And in reality? Any punter at the TAB could've told you the marquee route was a lottery, not a plan, I'd never lay a multi on an import seeing out his contract.
Tupou-era pack proved it. Local spine, local hunger, actual results. So yeah, build from Brisbane club rugby properly and stop treating NZ$1m like confetti 🤡💸
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✓Before we canonise the club pathway, define "best seasons" properly - how many of those premiership windows actually came off pure Brisbane products, and how many needed one or two experienced imports to hold the line? I recall a fair few of those packs leaning on blokes who arrived from elsewhere. The nostalgia writes the cheque, the recruitment list doesn't. Nobody's defending NZ$1m-plus on two-year mercenary stints; that spending has been poor and I'd like the club to show its homework on who signed off. But "purely from Brisbane club rugby" is a feel-good slogan rather than a plan. What's the actual benchmark? If a Brothers junior can hold a Super Rugby Pacific scrum by 22, select him, fine. Until someone shows me that depth exists at prop and 10, going all-local is how you finish ninth with a smile on your face. Not convinced, and I'll believe it when I see a squad list that proves it.Sample first, conclusions after.
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Fair challenge Zone, but c'mon mate 😤 even when those packs leaned on an import or two, the spine was Brisbane lads who grew up dreaming of that jumper. And you can't coach that. We keep throwing NZ$1m at blokes who treat Suncorp like a layover while the Brothers boys would run through a wall for one cap. Build it local and back them through thick and thin, I say 🔴🔴You don't abandon your own.
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Zone's got a point worth testing, but I'd back Gary, the spine mattered more. I could be wrong, though: show me a premiership window built entirely off imports and I'll change my tune.Do the math before you argue.
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Watched enough of those Bledisloe-era Reds nights to know the spine was homegrown, imports just plugged gaps. Build from Brothers and Wests, always 😉Been here longer than some have followed.
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Fancy paying a bloke NZ$1m to leave after two years while a Brothers prop would run through a wall for free 🤡 Build local, I'd put my TAB money on it, sure thing mate 😏Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Nah but who's paying for all these Brothers and Wests lads to actually get proper coaching, eh? 🤔 Remember the juniors session I ran where half the forwards couldn't bind legally - building local takes YEARS and we want results now. Beautiful idea on paper, brutal in practice ah well, nowt to do 🔥You don't abandon your own.
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SeenItAllFaithful's point about coaching pipelines is the one I keep circling back to 📊 There's a nuance here: the Tupou-era pack worked because Brisbane club rugby had the depth to feed it, and chasing that with NZ$1m imports is a different bet entirely, worse hit rate, shorter shelf life. Small sample though, so I wouldn't tear up the marquee model completely; a spine of locals with one or two imported plugs still reads as the sane middle ground to me.
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Agree with the pipeline point tbh, coaching at club level is where it falls over... we grunted through the same at my juniors setup. Patience is the real cost here 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Nah but who's paying for all these Brothers and Wests lads to actually get proper coaching, eh? 🤔 Remember the juniors session I ran where half the forwards couldn't bind legally - building local takes YEARS and we want …@StandsGuy88 patience costs nothing up front but the board never prices it in. Took me three seasons to learn backing long-shots every week bleeds the bankroll. Same with a rebuild, you'd want a hostage-free CEO to see it through. NZ$1m imports are the TAB multi of footy management: flashy, mostly don't land 😭
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Chasing imports for a mil a pop is mad when half the club lads out there can't even bind proper 😱 I help coach the juniors and SeenItAllFaithful is spot on - you fix that and the depth looks after itself. Slow as anything tho, and everyone wants Suaalii money spent yesterday. We've been through thick and thin with our lot before and it paid off eventually ah well, nowt to do 🔥💪You don't abandon your own.