Why Braith Anasta has to go from the Roosters

Thanx MJPT I think Anasta can still earn big if he plays 6 but would you give up Jodie Gordon and travel to Nth Qld or the UK and wake up by yourself? Ask yourself who have played in the Grand Final recetly and you will find that Peter O'Sullivan was in charge of recruiting at the Storm and the Roosters head hunted him to Moore Park because he understands the value of a player v the cap, or as you rightly point out cap management and fiscal responsibility. Its not rocket science but many clubs gets it wrong.

Mitch He would be g8 in Union.

TYrain U made a few points: $450 is too much for a non spine player and yes I will include Greg Inglis if he is playing in the centers. He would have to play 6 or 1 to command that money as he sometimes does not get the ball. Braith may be worth 450k to a team like the Cowboys as he would be valuable next to Thurston, but at the Roosters they have Carney so his value drops big time. I am a Braith Anasta fan but not at a club where he cannot play five eight and he puts undue pressure on his pack when he plays in the forwards. Who said Cherry would be captain? Not me and he never will IMO.

OLdManEmu Guerra has always had a heap of ability and was attracted to the Storm for that reason but he has had a heap of injuries and the Roosters were able to get him "cheap". He had a great 2010 and found himself fit for the ist time when the Roosters had many injuries and he turned out to be a godsend for them solving a major problem. Unfortunately he got bashed up again and could not finish off the year.

Excellent article Scott, hits the nail on the head in that it addresses the following cap management spine players value fiscal responsibility Anything done in the NRL is governed by finance, its the salary cap era. The system is designed to hurt good teams. The way you beat that system is heavily invest in spine players and make up the rest with multifunctional players-who are cheap. Anasta ticks the box on multi talented BUT he is expensive. NO brainer. He has to go. This would not be an issue if Carney did not have a sensational year, where he played for Australia. But he did. Now Roosters management need to control costs. Anasta needs to manage his expecttions on where he sits in the market now. His time has passed as a top earner and he has to get with that fact. Going public about this will not endear him to prospective employers, unless he states matter of factly that he knows his place and will adjust accordingly. Good job Scott.

Mitch, you mean like the last couple of public contract negotiations Anasta conducted?? (Remember him being chased down the road a few years ago after the met with Tahs/ARU types??)

Maybe the Tahs next stop for Braith?

According to the SMH - "The court heard Cherrington hit Monique Mears, kicked at her and threatened to harm himself with a knife during the November altercation. He also admitted to an incident in December in which he smashed her sunglasses and mobile phone, then threw her new shoes out of the car and kicked the side mirrors of her father's vehicle." http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/rooster-avoids-jail-for-assault-on-friend-20091123-izr7.html But then again, it is the Roosters. Most of these kids bond over stories of the times they assaulted a woman, and Cherrington probably has a shorter rap sheet than most.

The manly way to react to this situation is to admit you didn't get it, make a joke about how obvious it was ( something akin to 'if it was a snake it would've bit me !) & continue on in a polite manner realising that it happens to everybody & the only real difference is how you handle it when it does.

Just a couple of points I'd like to note. Firstly how is 450k too much for a spine player? While I am not actually a Braith Anasta fan, plenty of ordinary non-spine players have received that sort of money. Would it be too much for Greg Inglis since he is only a centre (I actually believe so but that's another argument for another time). Props are known to command salaries of up to 400k and in some cases over. I actually believe that perhaps it is too much to pay for a backrower, and then only because there always seems to be an abundance of players in this position. When it comes to Origin time, probably the biggest selection headache since every club seems to have one standout backrower. Secondly, Anthony Cherrington a future captain? Wasn't he charged for assaulting his girlfriend two years ago? Thirdly, while I do believe that 450k is more than Braith is worth, doesn't it seem odd that this has only been mentioned after he has had arguable he's best season of his career. Career best season but isn't worth what he was 3 years ago when he wasn't playing as well? Don't get me wrong, I believe they paid overs for him. But now their investment is paying dividends, has become an integral part of the club and they want to turf him? Retaining him now would be a far less silly move than when they signed him on his current contract.

Dude - you know your NRL. No one could tell me what happened to Guerra last season. I am tipping him to have a monster year this season. He could be one of the backrowers that will edge Braithan out, to whom you refer. Any person that has an osteotomy, and continues to play contact sport, has what it takes.

With Scott Prince being a very handy 6, I would rather him over Braith Anasta in a QLD Origin team any day of the week, if we are looking at hypotheticals here. Also you could argue its Lockyer who brings out the best in Thurston. Thurston has struggled in club land for the past couple of seasons, not being at his best, but he still performs amazingly when partnered in Rep games with old man Darren. It is definitely not a loss for the Rosters if he is too go, and I can't see any other club paying the reported 400K for him either.

I do follow the Bronco's actually. But Anasta has to be the most overrated player of the last 5 to 10 years. He has never really put his hand up in either Origin or NRL.

Okay. My initial read of this news when it came out was that it was all designed to get some public anger about the Salary Cap - the design orchestrated by the Roosters (who can afford to pay big money, or the Players Association, or Braith's manager.) The only problem with my thoery is that Braith is not exactly a popular player and therefore unlikely to engender huge support but nonetheless I think most NRL fans would sympathise with the situation and see that it, i.e being forced to let a very good long term player go for financial reasons, could happen at their club. None of the reports of the past few days have caused me to change my initial theory. As a Roosters fan, I say scrap the Cap.

He's be worth $450k if the salary cap was $6m or $8m... but asking him to take up more than 10% of the current cap is a little much. I wonder how much Mini is on - he'd be the next to be shown the door I'd imagine