Counting Kai we're looking pretty good at CB in the future!

Considering previously the best guy we had was one 19 speed with average strength, we've now got at least two other 20 speeds who are catching up in skills, + some reasonably fast but strong guys too (18/18, 18/20, + your new guy). Give it the rest of this cycle and the start of the next, and our previously #1 CB at the start of this cycle could be relegated to STCB (which he'll do fine in with 15 blocking). Even CBs like Pendlebury have upped skills to 18 overtaking Doubleday in terms of quality.

Well, naturally a few of them are (because the % of the NT that are ex Skinks is so large) including Mitch even. Your guys have improved also, but the biggest improver had absolutely nothing to do with Oceania Top Div (not that I can trace back to anyway). That said, he had a much higher scope for improvement than most (who would be reaching softcaps/salary issues) and none of those points were physicals (which take a little longer given a fitness hall isn't as good at generating points as a training hall).

Don't forget, guys like W. Reid (I think?) who is on your team was also at one point a Skink (though, you developed him).

Theoretically that was always the case. The only thing is, I don't think Faulcon particularly cared much about finances. He knew that his biggest advantage was being far ahead in the player skills curve and kept going a bit longer than I think he would have if it weren't the case. Remember he had over 90 million in the bank. Being such an old team, never spending on transfers, extended and successful cup runs, and subsequently a monopoly hold on an AFLC spot for about half of his career, all added up. Very few teams had any where near as much money as he did (Serrie after he had a publicised firesale + TheFreakingStud off the top of my head), and I doubt many will ever come close. He'd sell/fire discards now and then purely because he had better coming through and would never otherwise play them. Like I said, the massive improvers were almost all unrelated to the Skinks. Some Skink players did improve, but it was mostly 3rd/4th/5th skills and/or stamina.

Where going off to individual teams may really help is that training could potentially become more focused. Because ordinary teams do have to manage things a bit more carefully, we're more likely to see balanced improvements rather than one skill sprints (though I don't really recall any Skinks obviously doing so). You also get new eyes on a build so they may go in a slightly different direction (though this can be good and bad, and not as easily controlled by the NT coach as before). This is at the cost of players going into the relative unknown where they may very easily get stuck on a bot team (which has recently happened to a number of players, and potentially going to happen to a KR). It's a possibility, but we don't know if other coaches would pay more attention to training the Skinks than the Skinks did.

So yeah, usually you'd love them to be spread out so they can all be maxed out and their salaries carried by several people. Just so happened our big source happened to be quite unique in that it probably could carry the cost and come with the benefits of easier communication and subsequent consistency. I do like how there's more than one Aussie team that's established now though, as you still retain the communication benefits and 2-3 youthpulls a week is better than 1!

Of my 16-18 year old obtained this season, 2 are from YA, and 2 are from TM. Only 1 is a confirmed keeper, which is up there on my list of future talent. The other 3 ain't on the list as physicals aren't obtained/confirmed yet. So slow youth pull season for me also.

Yeah, he's been on my list for a few seasons now. Was part of a potential dual Cody system (the other Cody being on the bot Wolverines). But yeah, low consistency and still a number of seasons in our current (better) crop.

Still, it'd be nice for him to stay on an active team be it the Bergers who are shopping or someone else.