Barbed Wire wrote:I do understand the point about Chambers. It’s always been the RL way just to play safe and pick people you know, we had a whole gang of people, no doubt we’re qualified but we’ll never know if they were the best candidate. People like Thurstfield, Rudd, Thornley, Vinny Webb and Dave Elliot for example. Some have gone on to big jobs in sport, Elliot is head of education at the RFL and Webb has gone through the grades at the RFL before leaving the sport to go to the Olympic cycling team and beyond. Some were appointed on merit, despite being close to the club, but some have not gone on to progress once the association with the club ended.
Chambers shouldn’t be discarded because of his long-standing affiliation with the club. Hearing him speak over the years he has always been values led, and I’m sure nobody is as frustrated as him by the lack of trust in youth over the years. Considering we bought in John Bastian at a cost, Phil Jones came with a reputation, alongside bringing in heads of talent ID, Peter Farrell, without seeing much return on that investment.
Chambers is here, and the feel for the youth production and exposure has improved light years this year. May be down to Burgess, may be down to the economic climate and we want to keep money in the bank rather than buying in fringe players, but whatever is happening right now, I want it to continue in that direction.
Vinny Webb is a name I’ve not heard for 35 years or more.
Worked with him at TI New World, AKA Richmonds.
