And this is often typical of the Raiders over the last 10-20 years. We get overly attached to players who do something mildly good. Like how Shaun Fensom was a club legend and ripped off by not getting picked for NSW etc... then when he went to other clubs, we found out how good he really was: solid, but no more
Were a bit like a loser guy who finally gets a bit of attention from a woman and falls head over heels... because it's so scarce. I still think it was maybe John Bateman alone who made us raise our standards
Similar story with Croker and CNK and others currently. They've done some good work before, not enough to be superstars of the game but good solid work, and people pledge their undying loyalty
Compare to Roosters who were ripped for punting Flanagan, not being "loyal", and it turned out they made the right call
And Ricky *very* much sees himself in that loyal category. He's a self-branded "player's coach", lets the prop rotation pick themselves... part of the mess we're seeing this year is because it shows you've got little recourse when those players start cocking it up