Wortho quoted was in the paper not long ago saying that an offer to Adelaide he got in the off season was tempting and exciting to him, he didnt take it as he was looking at Europe at that point and didnt decide to come back to Oz until the last minute when the Blaze sacked there import to bring him in, sure in hindsight it might not have been a bad move to sack one of our imports to bring in wortho but at the time they wanted to keep them, and having Ballinger and Wortho on the same team may or may not work as both play their best at PF.
We didnt get him but at least it shows a top line player is interested. Guys like Ingles and Newley have also been quoted as liking Clarke as coach, so down the track who knows we may grab someone of that quality. Nothing is guaranteed but atleast it looks like Clarke has good young(ish) players interested in the 36ers.
Wasnt Schensch also keen? but we already had Johnson signed and Schensch he was asking top dollar and after his injury riddled season in Perth i can understand not giving him top dollar. Perth were not either and even many Perth fans didnt seem to want to keep him.
Marty Clarke seems to have a good reputation with those he coached, which is why we got Creek and Bruce mid season,(Another top young Aussie in Greenwood is also training with them) and given a full pre - season with the team Bruce could be one of the top Pg's IMO in top form he is as good as Gibson, and Creek will be one of the best Aussies down the line IMO. So there are 2 good pick ups mid season, if we can retain those 2, pick up another good player or 2 in the off season when we will have more points/$$$ available, which i hope we get atleast 1 legit starter, the 36ers will be fine, and have a good young core to build around. Johnson and Creek are the 2 best U/24s IMO. When have the 36ers ever been able to claim that they had the 2 best U/24s to build around in the past.
Bottom line is if the players stay or not if you respect them, their wishes and their carreer/international aspirations and let them take these opportunites like we have with Creek, it may not guarantee he will stay but its a move in the right direction, would tick a box towards staying in Creeks mind and gives us a good chance of keeping him.
If we held him back i reckon he would be outta here!
so id rather respect him and have him happy to play here personally, with the hope and half decent chance that he will play here for many years.