The tables have turned - the Eels are now raiding the Eagles

You're thinking of Shayne Dunley mate. Not Ballin. Ballin has never had anything to do with Parra. You should check things like this before accusing somebody of spitting. Dunley was at the Northern Eagles for one year - 2002. Manly signed him from the Tigers, he was not a Parra junior. He went to Parra for a year after 2002 (i.e. poached from Manly by Parra) then went back to Manly for 2004 (Manly returning the poaching favour although Parra didn't want him) and stayed until 2007. Michael Monaghan had become the hooker after Orford was signed in 2006 and Ballin became the starter in 2008 so in a roundabout way Ballin replaced Dunley - maybe that's where your confusion comes from. He was found not guilty of spitting at a Parramatta opponent on appeal and didn't miss any footy.

Mate I think you like many others are on the cusp of another year of death riding a successful team only to be disappointed AGAIN

You both poached Harrison from the Bulldogs

I don't why replied to my comment you don't make sense. I am complimenting Manly and Melbourne saying they have a lot of one club players.

Fazed I think you're thinking of Jamie Buhrer who played in Parramatta's junior system. Granted Manly signed him when he was playing what was then the Toyota cup. David Williams played in the Parra junior system as well. Again I'm not complaining. All teams poach, and it can be a good thing. When Parra poached De Gois last year he was playing reserve grade for Sharks and then played the rest of the season in first grade. Same with Peats, he wasn't going to get game time ahead of Isacc Luke. Only acknowledging that one shouldn't complain when they've been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Merrin has now signed with Penrith. The quick and the dead.

You seem to have forgotten the days that Souths had no money.

Also, I don't have too much sympathy for wests. I didn't hear too many complaints when Warren Ryan poached Gillespie, Langmack, Farrar, Joe Thomas and Jason Alchin from the dogs in the late 80s / early 90s.

Don, different circumstances. Eastwood left the broncos to go to the UK but had visa issues. The broncos couldn't re-sign him and Bennett directed him to the dogs. Likewise, Stagg left because of cap issues and again Bennett told him to sign with the dogs. Not sure about Hannant and Ennis but it seems strange that Bennett would push players to the dogs if there was bad blood about a player 'raid'.

Casper that was well said. The premise of this article was a bit of payback (I suspect) from a Parra fan with a long memory, or a Magpies fan with a really healthy dose of hate stewing away. We all know the world has moved on from those days but it's nice to give a bit of a kicking into Manly occasionally.

would you expect Melbourne to just rely on their juniors at this stage of development in AFL territory/ if that's the argument, forget about expansion into the west for 50 years. look at the special treatment the AFL has given the expansion clubs. Everyone who whinges about Melbourne are just dirty because they happened to get 3 young players to come good at the same time. The poaching blight isn't limited to Sydney. In the pre-NRL days, the Brisbane comp had a ludicrous situation where Wynnum-Manly were broke, carrying the bucket around for donations to stay afloat & then added Bob Lindner to the roster the next season with Wally Lewis, Gene Miles, Greg Dowling, Ian & Brett French.

can't count the super league era, they all had $ signs rolling around in their eyes. manly was a predatory club in the 70's and 80's filling their lower grades with state players but those days are gone. All this guff about poaching juniors is a complete joke, there aren't many genuine junior clubs run by the NRL clubs anymore, it's all this funding of juniors outside their local area to lock up kids on scholarships. I laugh at clubs like the Roosters talking about their Qld junior program, no wonder we struggle to get expansion going in Qld. Supporters only cry when someone who left shows a bit of form, they didn't care if the player left as a dud. The fact of life with the salary cap is you can't keep everyone. Seem to recall Paul Vautin running around in a Roosters jersey for a couple of years, looked totally wrong but that's what happens. Was that poaching or culling, who's to judge. Wayne Bennett always thought it better to cut a year early rather than a year late & that hurt the pride of some players such as the Axe & Petro Civoniciva. Petro should never have been released from the Broncos but clubs have to balance the books, unless they've got a gladiator behind the scenes doing interesting deals with employment for the players mother.

Ok, I accept that I may have been wrong about Ballin. The question of poaching is something I have addressed in other posts, but what is deemed as being poaching? Is it a player signed from one specific club to another, but it depends on the grade they play, Bruehrer was at Parra & came from their Juniors at the Hills, may have gone to Manly but his reasons are his same as all of them. The aspect also of time, how long ago with Mateo, the thing is what he said at the last meeting before going to the Warriors, he sadly was a failure there, owing to him not playing to the abilities that he posseses, Maybe he will show his potential at Manly but consistency was his big problem, & why he was off the bench, & even then he spent more time there than on the field, his problem is reading the play when he decides to pass the ball other than to the ground. I actually was sorry to see Horo go but that was one of the decisions that was made by the former wonder coach, who left the club for greener pastures, thankfully. I had & still have doubts about Lussick though, another hard player that could go anywhere but he needs to tone down himself in many ways to keep away from the judiciary.

Seeing as how the Titans are rolling in clover they should make a play for a matched set in Foran & Cherry. Maybe they can get a cheap deal on removalist costs. That's assuming they are talking.

I'd be letting DCE move NOW, upping Forans offer and going hard for Trent Merrin. The best halves pairing in the comp is pointless without a quality pack that can bare minimum hold their own.

Agree John I have come to conclusion they should have been shown the door by now. A deal should be done to get DCE up to the TITANS ASAP. Give us a 500k and Sezer and he is yours. DCE and FORAN I like them both as players but all players that have worn the Manly jersey are as good as they are cause of 12 players that are also on the field. These 2 are great together. I think they will struggle to be the "marquee". 1 Million dollars worth of expectation is a heavy weight.

But I bet most of them play for Manly and Melbourne .... equals Success

I actually quite liked Lusick when he was at Manly but he was a bench player and how much can you spend on a bench player.. The money Parramatta was offering was a starting player dollars and a good one at that.

To be fair, a Tasmanian could count on three hands the number of players in the NRL who haven't switched clubs for one reason or another. It's just the reality of the game.

Come on mate if you get Foran .. You poached him. Choc is a 50/50 case time will tell who got best of that.