Canberra not bogan enough to appeal the League players?

Winning is everything. I honestly believe the Raiders have never truly recovered from Kevin Neil’s administration. They had an all star team & a winning culture.

They’ve had a couple of good seasons since then but they’ve struggled to attract marquee names & have lost & continue to lose all their rising talent.

Madam Cholet said :

“Too small”. “Too cold”. “Too far from the beach”. “Isolated”. “Average nightlife scene”. “Not enough entertainment options”. “Expensive place to live”. “Not much corporate opportunity”. “No other sport on”.

In my opinion, they shouldn’t have enough time to think about any of these things. If they are good enough, it won’t be an expensive place to live. Too cold? Buy a jumper. Not much corporate opportunity? Are they intelligent enough to care about that?

I suppose at that age, the grass is always greener.

Too cold? I doubt it. These young athletic strong men have chosen a winter sport. Accept it.

In terms of keeping good young rugby league players, Canberra has always been behind due to location and the lure of “bigger clubs”. The Raiders have demonstrated consitently that their development system for junior players works.
The NYC team has been repeatedly competitive and toward the pointy end of the comp. Yes those factors may come into play, however they are easy outs when compared to admitting you want more cash now you have played origin and think you are somebody.
I read just yesterday comments from Alan Tongue worth considering, if a player has been at a club since juniors, and a rival club outbids the developing club for that player, compensation should be paid to the developing club. The NRL has become a business and in most business transactions where a main export is transferred, payment is received.
Alternatively, the salary cap could be looked at, players that have been with the club since juniors could be exempt, or a portion of their salary exempt.

This is before even looking into salary cap weighting based on location and other regional factors.
So yes, i believe the excuses quoted in the OP are valid for a lot of people, but when relating it to reasons for young athletes, specifically rugby league players, while they are possibly a factor I think they are weak excuses for players getting the most out of the sport while they can. The current NRL system makes player retention difficult for the Raiders to compete with organisations in locations considered to be “better”.

“Too small”. “Too cold”. “Too far from the beach”. “Isolated”. “Average nightlife scene”. “Not enough entertainment options”. “Expensive place to live”. “Not much corporate opportunity”. “No other sport on”.

Yet for a decent pot of coin they would move to the UK and play for the Saltford City Reds in the Superleague.

Many of the high profile departures have been by A grade douches: Monaghan, Dugan, Carney. Climate, entertainment options and proximity to the beach are not remedies for douchiness.

“Too small”. “Too cold”. “Too far from the beach”. “Isolated”. “Average nightlife scene”. “Not enough entertainment options”. “Expensive place to live”. “Not much corporate opportunity”. “No other sport on”.

In my opinion, they shouldn’t have enough time to think about any of these things. If they are good enough, it won’t be an expensive place to live. Too cold? Buy a jumper. Not much corporate opportunity? Are they intelligent enough to care about that?

I suppose at that age, the grass is always greener.