Clubs looking spent after panic signings

RUGBY LEAGUE: Some NRL clubs lack patience when it comes to recruitment and building for the future.

And there are some glaring examples right across the NRL that stood out in the opening round.

When Jack Bird left the Cronulla Sharks, coach Shane Flanagan rushed in to sign Josh Dugan. He was paid more than $850,000 a season over four years.

When the Wests Tigers lost Mitchell Moses to the Parramatta Eels, Aaron Woods to Canterbury and James Tedesco to the Roosters they very hastily snapped up Josh Reynolds from the Bulldogs.

In fairness he’s had lots of injuries but this was another multi-milliondollar deal for a player who is now in reserve grade and the club’s highest paid player.

I call these panic signings. Clubs and coaches want a kill straightaway to please the fans. Like a PR signing.

These signings create long-term salary cap problems. There are heaps of other examples.

Look at Manly and Daly Cherry Evans. He’s on $10 million, for goodness sake!

They paid him outrageous money to get him to backflip on the Gold Coast Titans two years ago.

And you wonder why their roster is so poor right now. This guy is a very good half-back but not a great one. His correct price tag is probably more around the $750,000 mark.

Same with Ben Hunt at the Dragons. He’s probably a $700,000 player, not the $1 million he’s getting.

When young half-back Ash Taylor was approached by the Broncos, the Titans panicked. They paid him $1 million a season to stay on the Gold Coast.

Again, same at the Broncos. When Anthony Milford was getting interest from rival clubs, Wayne Bennett rushed in to put him on a $1 million-ayear deal as the highest-paid Broncos player in history.

With respect to the playmaker, he’s probably worth half that amount. We saw how he was totally outplayed by Cameron Munster on Thursday night.

Even Kieran Foran at the Bulldogs is on $1 million, but in fairness he’s had a horrible run with injuries.

Now back to Dugan. Again, we all witnessed his poor performance against the Newcastle Knights on Friday night. Admittedly he didn’t get a great service from Shaun Johnson in his first run for the club.

The problem for Cronulla is that they are stuck with the former Origin and Kangaroo for another three years.

Even if offloaded to a rival club they would have to contribute $500,000 of his salary.

You almost have to pick him every week to justify the salary, even ahead of young gun and local boy Bronson Xerri.

Now compare all this to the New Zealand Warriors.

They’ve still have $1 million of Johnson’s money in the salary cap. Their recruitment boss Peter O’Sullivan has been around forever and knows all about patience.

The money will be spent carefully and wisely when the right player becomes available.

They had a whack at Dylan Brown, the boom Parramatta Eels rookie, missed out, but didn’t panic.

They’re $1 million under the cap but look at how they demolished the Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. It’s a lesson for all clubs.