There is no doubt that Saints have had a terrible run with injuries but also poor discipline has meant a number of suspensions that has compounded the problem.
No matter how good our coaching staff are the "next man up" can only go so far and I think we would have struggled given a similar situation.
I think the problem for saints has been their success combined with an ageing squad.
The success means inevitable contract increases as the likes of Welsby, Dodd, Knowles, Lees etc would have had big increases for saints to keep them. Their success has made them move away from their model of if we can't afford them we let them go. So players like Luke Thompson or Bentley, Fages and Coote were let go because they had Lees, Bachelor, welsby and Dodd. It wouldn't surprise me if most of them were now on bigger contracts that the players that left. This means that there is less to go round the rest of the squad which is why you see players like Ritson. So I think the gap between the top earners and the lower paid players is bigger and so is the quality.
That is fine if all your top earners stay fit but an awful lot of them are getting on a bit.
I think we ended up in a similar situation in 2012/13 after a few challenge cup wins and a couple of grand final appearances I think we ended up with an expensive 1-13 but after that there was probably a lack of depth. I don't begrudge any player getting all the money they can because it is a tough sport but in a salary cap sport you have to manage the squad especially if it is an ageing squad.
Wigan have managed this really well when you look at the players they have let go (Gildart, Sutton, Bateman, Smithies, KPP) but they have managed to replace them. I think we have a better balance now but it probably did need the clear out under Powell. We were all questioning letting Daryl Clark go but you can't allow yourself to have too much cap tied up with a small proportion of your squad.
Statistics: Posted by Deus Dat Incrementum — Sun Aug 25, 2024 6:55 am — Replies 3370 — Views 390819
