I still think the funding for coaching and development would be the bigger issue that makes us not very attractive to coaches and that has not been addressed.
@lorenzo I don't know anything about that funding. Can you tell us more, please?
@mercy-rule I have heard and read it from multiple people connected to the club that the investment in coaching staff, pathways and the squad in general (outside of top 30 players) is well below that of our competitors. There has been a false narrative going around that HBG provide WT with buckets of money for theses areas and the reality is its not true. Once I first heard about it i began paying attention to the coaches box, sideline staff and equipment, the locker rooms etc...compared to other clubs you notice the difference. I also heard an example where teams like the roosters and storm have 7 Jr recruitment scouts and we have 1. Just think about the area that WT covers, how the hell can 1 person hope to be across all the players, add to that you also need to scout outside of your area. This is the main reason Richo is so obsessed with the corporate dollars and is willing to sacrifice our home ground advantage to get into bigger stadiums with corporate facilities.
As an additional note - The corporate dollars also feed into the potential 3rd party payments that players could be exposed to. Sponsors bring business associates to games and there is often wheeling and dealing going on (I have been invited to a few as part of my work) and you get exposure to the WT players and management group. This may lead to a discussion on a potential 3rd party deal with a player or future sponsorship of the team.
