Raiders miss out on the Gold Coast 16-10

vg said :

Dugan has played a whole 2 games of 1st grade whilst Zillman, pre-injuries, was spoken about as an SOO representative. I’d know who I’d rather have presently as my fullback.

Yeah, but talk is cheap. Even if WZ is a future Origin star, the fact is that he’s presently stuck behind Preston Campbell and not even in the Titans’ starting 13. Speaking of 2 first grade games, that’s also about how many Zillman has played in the past couple of years due to his dodgy knees. Anyone who thinks that he’s a better bet than Dugan needs to get his head read.

vg said :

Turncoats existed when players didn’t get paid. They are now employees and, as employees, have certain rights. Once a contract expires a player is free to do what they like. If a club in the present environment thinks that someone should hang around because they did them a good deal then they are naive. If you want them to stay for a long time then offer long-term contracts. If you offer short-term ones then assume they will leave when it expires. If they re-sign then that’s great but this notion of fans that players just HAVE to stay where they started is stupid.

You can believe that there’s no place for loyalty in sport if you like, and that it’s just the same as a business, but the fact is that fans hate disloyalty, and that no-one has ever become a great of the game without showing loyalty to a single team. Meninga, Steve Menzies, Mick Cronin…One of the reasons Alan Tongue is so popular and respected is that he is a Raiders man to the core. Conversely, many of league’s most hated characters (Willie Mason, SBW, Braith Anasta, even Gus Gould if you want to go back that far) started being reviled because they weren’t loyal.

vg said :

Alan Tongue started at the Broncos, Harrison the Tigers, Shillington the Roosters. Do we hear anything said about their ‘turncoat’ behaviour?

Apples and oranges. Shillington was stuck behind Mason, Myles and O’Meley and there was no spot in the first grade squad for him. Bronson Harrison likewise couldn’t crack first grade. Tongue has never played at NRL level for any other side and has been with the Raiders since he was 18. By comparison, Zillman got paid a full NRL salary for two years when he was available for maybe 17 out of 48 matches. He then flat-out refused to even enter discussions with Raiders’ management about a contract extension.

Dugan has played a whole 2 games of 1st grade whilst Zillman, pre-injuries, was spoken about as an SOO representative. I’d know who I’d rather have presently as my fullback.

Turncoats existed when players didn’t get paid. They are now employees and, as employees, have certain rights. Once a contract expires a player is free to do what they like. If a club in the present environment thinks that someone should hang around because they did them a good deal then they are naive. If you want them to stay for a long time then offer long-term contracts. If you offer short-term ones then assume they will leave when it expires. If they re-sign then that’s great but this notion of fans that players just HAVE to stay where they started is stupid.

Alan Tongue started at the Broncos, Harrison the Tigers, Shillington the Roosters. Do we hear anything said about their ‘turncoat’ behaviour?

Zilly’s a nice kid and a great talent. No doubt it would have been great if he stayed here, but he wanted to leave, so what can you do. We have oodles of talent in our youngsters to replace him.

raiders are a lost cause

someone has their knickers in a twist..

Zillman? I’ll tell you something about Zillman – he scored that try from about a metre offside. The replay clearly showed that both of Scott Prince’s feet were behind the 10 metre line when he kicked the ball, and both of Zillman’s feet were in front. It’s easy to look like the fastest player in the comp when you’re not penalised for being offside.

Gold Coast can keep Zillman. He is a deadset turncoat. The Raiders put a lot of time and resources into his development, over 4-5 years, and he rewarded them by refusing to even enter negotiations with them for a new contract.

I’ll tell you something else about Zillman: he doesn’t have half the talent of Josh Dugan.