To recruit a complete coach that ticks all the boxes in not a simple task. Thorn has done a tremendous job over the past four years, but you need to remember he wasn’t alone on this journey, and the status of the player’s contracts have reached their cycle. I’ll talk about the coaching first … Thorn was a rookie coach who was looking for support and guidance in his first couple of years. He had McKay and Ryan who influenced the decisions. COVID hit and Ryan was let go, which was a massive blow, and no one knew the impacts of that until now. It’s not just because of Ryan’s technical and tactical attributes, but more of the time spent with the players as a mentor for the way their brains worked, and he was the coach that had empathy and was approachable. Likewise, Corosa was this person in the group to some degree.
Secondly, the 4-year, low money contracts offered three to four years ago are playing havoc. The players that signed these contracts are realising their undervalue in comparison to others. Many have the RA top up, but the ones that don’t are seeing the extended squad players getting more than the regular starters.
I’m going to be challenged on my next comment, being that there is some unrest in camp with regard to trust, unfavourable decisions and egos. I see the two influencing factors to be the makeup of the coaching staff and the fairness of the contracts. Thorn’s ego has got too big, and they need a coach like Ryan brought back in to balance the dynamics. Cordingley is going to need to be careful with this years and next year’s contract negotiations because there are a number of key players who may look at their options elsewhere.