Joel Carbone showcased young talent Ethan Strange, impressively reminding the author of Don Duffy, during recruitment discussions.
Every now and again a kid comes along, and you just know. I remember Joel Carbone, the Raiders recruitment boss back then, coming into the office and asking the coaching staff to have a quick look at some clips on a young kid from The Entrance.
My ears pricked up straight away because the Central Coast is my home. It was a common thing for Joel to do, not that he needs anyone's guidance on the quality of young footballers, but I guess it is part of his process. I am not sure it was the first single-play clip, but by the second, everyone was nodding their heads. This kid was a beauty. Ethan Strange.
It is funny, with young players, almost always they remind you of someone. Strange reminded me of Don Duffy who I played with at Woy Woy and later played in the Grand Final for Parramatta. Positionally different, but the way they run, how he held himself-sort of a presence-all I could think of was Duff. I remember saying that at the time, but as I was the oldest bloke in the office, no one knew who I was talking about.
I remember going to lunch with Ethan, his mum Adele, and the coaching staff to show exactly what the club thought about the kid and how much we wanted him at the club. When you think about the NRL coaching staff taking a kid to lunch, it kind of shows what we thought of the clips. It is not something you do for every young bloke who rolls through the system, but we knew we had to roll out the red carpet to get this deal across the line.
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