Wonder if JArryd Hayne and George Clooney can be signed on marquee wages too

The current world champion is also from Norway and is pretty handy on the ball too.

This idea - I hate it.  If it puts bums on seats, fine, but I want a young kid leading our lines, especially after the last world cup.  We need strikers in Australia, not journeymen foreigners

EDIT:  Actually realised we don't know where he'll actually play.. I don't think this changes my opinion, and tbh this is an absolute joke, but it is what it is

The performances of Romario here in the A league was one of the saddest things i've seen in football

He might be better than Mario Jardel

All the usuals who use the word "plastic" in every third post on here are complaining ....surprise surprise
It's a publicity stunt .
He will "trial" .He may even get a game if he is passable.
It will generate more publicity in a few weeks than Peter Crouch could in ten seasons.
We would pay a mill or two for that sort of publicity if we bought it so he will probably be cost neutral .
Get off your high horses FFS ... its just some fun publicity.
Who knows ..he may turn out to be alright ..if not ...we still win .

jarryd hayne! jarryd hayne! jarryd hayne! clap! clap! clap!

Is Tony Rallis behind this?

So what's this talk of him being considered as a Marquee. Don't you think that's weird, especially when his level of football is more than likely below NPL level. 

@ Marconi101 sums it up nicely; if the league wasn’t in a desperate position this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing - a professional athlete, clearly extremely fit and used to the rigours of a professional career looking to step in to the next phase of a career. Happens enough in several sports although not in the top comoetitions (which we’re not)

It does depend on his footballing ability which might be okay or maybe not. In a normal world this would be a quirky distraction, in the FFAs world it’s not the distraction - it’s the main focus and that’s the worrying part.

But change is coming to our code so I’m going to resign myself to this just for the morbid pleasure of seeing Matt Simon and Usain Bolt on the Suncorp pitch at the same time, two people who could probably play football but for some reason can’t, cos God gave them other talents (in Simon’s case, unknown talents).

Definitely shouldn't be a marquee. If the FFA were to fork funds out, it should only be 100k or something token...

The problem with the A League is that gimmicks are the rule instead of the exception

In a competitive and open league this would good a good move that compliments the league
In a closed off competition desperate for headlines this is just another gimmick in a long list of gimmicks

The A League doesnt have anything to offer football fans

Wonder if this has been on the cards for a while and a key reason why Okon quit. "(But) the direction the club were heading was very different to where I wanted to take them. It was important for the players to know who the coach was going to be for next season.". I can't wait to hear Mulvey pretend to praise this signing to the press. It would be even better if he quits before the season starts as a result.

Putting the idiocy of this aside, the risk alone is massive. Not just as an investment but the follow on effects. Firstly he does not have proper football conditioning training (and is not exactly young) so injury is highly likely. The HAL is a lot tougher than it looks after all. CCM will probably still miss finals, meaning the fans are even further offside than they are now but so too are the rest of the HAL fans because money was wasted on a novelty. A $1M "no-name" striker would be a far better option for the club. Players like Berisha, Fornaroli, Bobo, Janko (to name a few) were all no-names but made a big impact both on field and with the fans. Nothing puts bums on seats quicker than winning. Just look at the turn around at the Jets. As soon as they started spending wisely and winning games the fans were immediately back on board. This type of gimmick also has the follow on effect of portraying the league as a bit of joke (especially if he turns out to be a massive dud). Attracting serious foreigners in the future may prove even more difficult as we will be seen as a less than serious competition. 

This short term garbage really does need to stop. I don't mind a gimmick or novelty here and there but only if there is a solid underlying plan for future growth. We need to setup a sustainable pathway for successful growth in order for any gimmicky marketing to have any lasting effect. Just dropping a marketable name in the mix every few years does not do anything. If he turns out to actually have a bit of talent and turns out to be a golden boot contender, then that's awesome, well done. However that is a huge risk to take on a completely unknown quantity. 

The day the A League jumped the shark

So wait the report was that CCM would need funds from the marquee fund to get this done, is that just for this trial?

A few points I would like to make:
- We complain about the lack of money the FFA invests in youth development yet also complain when they are worried about the "metrics" (which would bring in some money to spend on youth).  If this guy can bring in some money and a greater interest in football then it is a good thing.  
- I have watched previous interviews with Bolt when he spoke of changing into a 400m runner and he baulked at the idea because of the different energy system requirements and additional training he would have to do to last 40 seconds.  It is a long way from this to competing for 90 minutes.
- His speed over the first 10m will be faster than anyone else in the A League.  However, his ability to stop and change direction will be the worst.
- His only position will be a non defending winger.

Trial, why not.  It's already putting football on the news.

Fuck imagine him scoring a worldie at a packed out F4 Derby and then does his pose.

-PB

How would this go down with Optus, who use him for marketing purposes ... ??? 

It would make world wide news ... terrible for the local game!!!

Would laugh if FFA used all their money on him and Victory miss out on Honda.

Be interesting to see how much he would actually cost ... if he wants to be selected on merits then his contract would be low. He wouldn't really need the money I'd imagine his sponsorship deals already pay him millions each year (again if he actually has his football career take off then he'll raise the sponsorship deals too). Given he is trialling for the Mariners in the A-League to me suggests he may be in it for the game more so than the money

I doubt his heart is fully invested in the game, probably just bored or looking for more time in the lime light since his running career is over.

Its either that or hitting the piss 24/7, heard he was already a bit of a party animal anyways.

Maybe should go to Victory then??

Probably have more fun with Mitch Nichols, what club is he at now? :laugh:

This is for a trial for six weeks he is not signed.

The Mariners have received more media in the last two days than they have received for months as has the league. Its news across Asia and around the world. 

I am told sponsors are lining up, if signed he maybe cash positive just on international sponsorship's alone.

Can he play at A-League standard, who knows, after six weeks, we will have a better idea maybe an FFA Cup game or a sub in one.

The question is really, can he look better than Mariners players...................

If so that is troubling. 

didn't a south african team knock him back? 

If the talk was theyd sign him to minimum wage (as would be appropriate to sign a person with no footballing experience) I wouldnt be a fan but would be okay with it. If theyre using the marquee fund for these it makes the whole league a complete laughing stock