Rugby league great Michael Crocker doesn't have an issue with the NRL's player-movement system and has shed light on what makes the Roosters and Storm prolific at drawing and retaining red-hot talent.
The fairness of the NRL's player-movement system again became a topic of raging debate when the Storm poached supremely gifted winger Xavier Coates from the Broncos on a two-year deal earlier this month.
The fact that the reigning premiers had stolen one of the brightest young stars in rugby league from last year's wooden-spooners prompted Broncos board member and former club captain Darren Lockyer to raise the prospect of a draft. Several top-flight competitions, including the NBA, NFL and AFL, use a draft system as an equalisation method.
Before Coates, the most recent Queensland Maroons incumbent signed by Melbourne was Crocker, who swapped Roosters colours for the Storm's strip ahead of season 2006.
The former Kangaroos back-rower said no changes needed to be made to the NRL's player-movement web and believes signings like Melbourne's attainment of Coates are simply "business".
"The player-movement system has and always will be a business and players have got to look out for themselves and make sure they're getting an opportunity to play their best footy," Crocker told Wide World of Sports.
"It's also about looking out for themselves financially and doing the best for their families.
"It's one of those ones where players are always going to change and make decisions to move.
"Teams move on pretty quickly these days and there's a thousand young kids that are going to come through. I'm sure Xavier will have a good career down there (at Melbourne) and another young kid at Brisbane will get an opportunity."
The Broncos were renowned for being able to accommodate a huge number of stars during their golden years, in which mastercoach Wayne Bennett led the club to six first-grade premierships across the 1990s and 2000s.
Of the 17 Broncos who combined for Brisbane's defeat of Melbourne in the 2006 NRL grand final – the last time the club held the premiership trophy aloft – 13 had already played State of Origin footy and another two would follow.
But the Broncos, who last year won just three games en route to the club's first-ever wooden spoon, have lost both Coates and juggernaut second-rower David Fifita (Titans) in the last 12 months.
Of the 17 Roosters who joined forces for the Tricolours' victory over the Warriors in the 2002 NRL grand final, four had already played on the State of Origin stage and another six, including Crocker, would pull on a Maroons or Blues jumper down the track.
Crocker piled up 92 NRL games with the Roosters, 44 with the Storm and 68 with the Rabbitohs.
The former rugby league journeyman, who also made 13 appearances for the Maroons and played six Tests with the Kangaroos, says NRL clubs that thrive in roster management are built on high standards enforced at the top.
"It's leadership and culture. Everything the Roosters and Storm are built on, the values from the top all the way down – it starts with the business side of things, the coaching staff and then that's implemented by the players as well," Crocker said.
"Those standards are met and expected every day, on the field, at training and away from it. It creates a really good environment.
"They make sure they look after all the families, there's a great feel down there.
"The Roosters – we had a great time, we had a great culture, we had a bit more fun back then than teams do now.
"But it was still a team where we loved playing for each other, we loved our coach and obviously the chairman, uncle Nick (Politis), who's one of the great people at making sure the business runs really well.
"Everything starts from the top down and you've got to make sure you've got the right people in place to create it."
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