2024 Squad, Signings and Rumours Thread

[T0ken]

Wow! I thought he'd be at least another year off a Dev deal from what I've read. What do you think HS & mdrew?

He must really have it in the upstairs department.

Only one spot left in the 30. I thought it might be Liyou, but happy to see him stay with us as a Dev player. Who fills that spot? And are there any that'll be moved on? If so, for who?

Praying for Ben hunt on a sweetheart deal lmao

[Cowabunga]

All these guys could play from round 1 so there's no real point in upgrading guys to the top 30 anymore unless someone shines in the offseason without a contract and needs one, It's a 80k min contract and those 6 developmental contracts are a cap of 650k on it's own. Liyou was meant to be top 30 but they put him on the same contract in this group I'm guessing because of the injury. The new system is a massive bonus for us with our junior system imo.

Ryder signed up in March for this deal, These are just official announcements but I think all of these were signed a while ago. I don't think we'll fill the spot till some injuries or someone pops up who's available.

[Hail Sezer]

Wow! I thought he'd be at least another year off a Dev deal from what I've read. What do you think HS & mdrew?

He must really have it in the upstairs department.

Only one spot left in the 30. I thought it might be Liyou, but happy to see him stay with us as a Dev player. Who fills that spot? And are there any that'll be moved on? If so, for who?

Re Ryder - Think we had to move him in a bit earlier than expected because the Dolphins came in with a huge offer to poach him. Knew he was full time next year in some capacity so not surprised it’s on Dev. 2023 season was some elite moments clouded with a lot of inconsistency, and being part of a poor Keebra side. Very curious to see how he handles an NRL pre season. He’s still a baby so we’ll have to see where he’s at in at least 12 months time to get a gauge on his trajectory.

No need to fill the final top 30 spot immediately. We’ve got ages. I expect they’ll keep trying to move a few on - whether they can is a different story.

[willhelm]

I’d love to bring Max King home. He’s available for 2025.

[mdrew]

Agree with HS about Ryder Williams, also he is very confident and does not let errors affect him at all which will stand him in good stead.

It is a huge year for the Development players as in 2025 the likes of Zane Harrison, Sam Stephenson and Cooper Bai all finish school and will need to be give Development deals. A good problem to have though.

[NZFan]

Surprised that Kaleb Ngamanu wasn’t offered a development deal. By all accounts he had a good season in Cup. Do we think he’ll make the train n trial list?

[MaroonTitan]

Surprised that Kaleb Ngamanu wasn’t offered a development deal. By all accounts he had a good season in Cup. Do we think he’ll make the train n trial list?

Good question, NZF. I hope so. From what mdrew and HS (I think) have said, he's got the drive without the physical attributes. It might be that he needs another year in Cup?

Now that the November Sales are on, we can speculate as to who we should be targeting for 25 (or earlier if we can). Personally, I think we should target a pair of centres and Tass and Reimis Smith would be my choice. Reimis also provides size and value on the wing but his defence at centre is the big drawcard for me. I don't think we'd get Tass, so my back up play would be for Bradman Best - high ceiling but his attitude might be iffy (that's a hunch). With those two, we've got strike out wide.

Rather than Hunt, I think we'd get better value from Reynolds for a year or two tops, while Weaver develops (we still have to resign him too). The other option is Dearden. I don't know who the next Origin 7 will be after Cherry but he might be most likely. Can he be a solid organising 7 though? The cows might have lowballed him, so he could turn out to be great value for us if he can.

In the edge forwards, Luki, Riki, Piakura and Sua are all on the market for 25 and would be gettable for us without breaking the bank. Signing Riki and Reynolds together would be clever. I'd like to see Beau and Riki compete for that right edge and we know how good Beau is on the left if Dave is injured or out of form. I'm not sure about Sua but I think we'd get him cheap. I also think Piakura could play middle effectively.

What do wiser minds think?

[Cowabunga]

I'd guess Kaleb is behind all the other young backs who are in the squad in Lofi, Jojo, Francis, JDG. He's not really big or as athletic compared to that group who are all around the same age. There's no shortage of talented wingers coming through in the next few years as well.

Tass would be a solid shout as well as Remis although he fell out of favour down in Melbourne with Olam for having bad defence so there might be some issues with him but I'd be happy with either. I might be underrating Best but I don't think he's worth close to the rumoured 700k or more after half a decent season. Brian Kelly would've looked like the greatest centre in the world outside of Ponga in his form at the end of the season imo. He's got talent but he's also still got some big issues in defence. I don't think it'd be smart spending 1m on Fifita and 800k on a strike centre when Fifita is the go to guy out there, Same as Fermor on the other side who's on decent coin.

I think we're good for edges personally + I doubt any of those guys would come if they're not starting (Nikotemo is compared to Riki and will be on min wage top 30 next year + Ya boy Alick could be this player on much less). Sua could be an option if he wants to come back up this way due to his versatility but those other three are going to get deals way out of our range imo, Luki, Riki and Piakura will all get 5/600k a year at least imo, I wouldn't be surprised if someone chucks 800k+ at Luki. We're already paying a lot for Fermor and Fifita.

Dearden and Mam I'd be looking at but other then them two I'd rather just stay patient if we don't get them, Agree MT that Dearden right now is a 6 and my only concern would be paying a guy who we don't know if he can be that great 7 although I think he could, I think Weaver can play with any type of 6/7 though and would work with Dearden. Foz has said he wants to keep playing so we'll see how that goes as well. I'd rather not get Hunt at this point due to age.

There's still so much to play out with our current squad, I don't think they'll be any major movements till next off season if we do, I think we're going to be a pretty boring team in the market going forward. We might still have to upgrade a few of the developmental guys depending on their status and there's Weaver to depending on how he goes this year he might need a bit more then we think.

100% not a wise minds opinions.

[MaroonTitan]

100% not a wise minds opinions.

Appreciate it anyway Cow and you make some excellent points about player values and emerging edges. Des is also very good with bad rosters and ours is better than that, so we may well be boring.

I'm just thinking if we move on say, R.Foran, Big Ken, Spry, Stimson might be having his last season with us and Klese is still unproven; then we'll want some of those guys I mentioned. I can't see Foz playing in 25 unless he goes to see Steve Austin's surgeon.

[hungryjacks]

I would be more looking at players like Papalii who want to come home to QLD and would be able to take the role as a senior figure in the pack that operates a bench forward mostly. And in saying that the engine room is a situation that constantly needs to be replenished with value buys. Most of our squad seems sorted besides that unless we look at bringing a Hunt or Dearden into the fold but I doubt we are going to be able to outbid clubs like the Dolphins and other clubs when it comes to how desperate they are for players in certain positions compared to us. What we do know is for the starting 13 we either need a super star otherwise we seem to be in the position where we have enough 'average and honest' and 'superstars oneday' type of players.

[Hail Sezer]

I'd guess Kaleb is behind all the other young backs who are in the squad in Lofi, Jojo, Francis, JDG. He's not really big or as athletic compared to that group who are all around the same age. There's no shortage of talented wingers coming through in the next few years as well.

Yeah this is pretty close to how I'd assess it too, although we're not that flush with wingers coming through IMO. Just got a lot in the 30 who are still learning the game (Lofi/Jojo/Francis) + throw Jaylan in there as an OB that can cover wing.

He's the same age as Jojo and Tony, but both are a fair way ahead IMO. Jaylan brings a bit more versatility being able to fill in anywhere from 1-6. Sam Stephenson in on Dev next year.

I really like Kaleb's game and he did some work with the NRL squad throughout last season. I think his workrate and effort areas would translate well up to NRL as well. He's prob a bit undersized for a winger especially these days, and doesn't have the elite athleticism trait (speed/strength/whatever) that will still draw a clubs attention to him (like Lofi for example with his pace, To'o with his strength etc.).

Could be a good canditate for a train and trial deal.

[Titanic]

What we do know is for the starting 13 we either need a super star otherwise we seem to be in the position where we have enough 'average and honest' and 'superstars oneday' type of players.

This would also be my summary of our situation ... we really don't need any more emerging or depth players ... if an out and out superstar pops up then awesome otherwise save the bucks and focus on getting the fades and errors out of game.

[Cowabunga]

Appreciate it anyway Cow and you make some excellent points about player values and emerging edges. Des is also very good with bad rosters and ours is better than that, so we may well be boring.

I'm just thinking if we move on say, R.Foran, Big Ken, Spry, Stimson might be having his last season with us and Klese is still unproven; then we'll want some of those guys I mentioned. I can't see Foz playing in 25 unless he goes to see Steve Austin's surgeon.

Issue in cutting/moving those guys is they're in the 25/30 category in our squad besides maybe Klese, The guys you named are all starting players who are on way more cash already and will be (Sua, Riki and Piakura are on around 500k each already, Best the same), It'd wreck our cap getting any of those guys in the way it's designed now, We'd have to weaken other areas to strengthen an area that we're already good in (spending 2m at least in with the 5/6 guys) + we're pretty stacked in the middle.

If we need more players in this area we are probably effed anyway considering all the starters are internationals or Fermor who was in the QLD squad.

An example would be Alick who's probably on a min contract (180k) this year trying to get that spot in our 17 and has every chance at it with his versatility, If he proves himself I'd way rather keep him on a hometown discount. Our junior group coming through in the next two years is seriously talented as well so we need to keep everything open, It's the reason I think everyone's been signed up till 2026.

Having a mill or so on the cap (apparently for a half) and putting it out there for any star halves coming off contract with our team is an attractive offer for anyone especially with the lure of the GC. If not Weaver is someone you can potentially build around.

[willhelm]

I reckon we move on from Hunt and get Dearden for 25

[Cowabunga]

Even Deadren.... Is it worth it? You have to organise around him as a 6/7 maybe and make sure it's the right one. I'd way rather wait and see what comes through then wreck our cap on a half that can't kick further then 40m.

Dearden isn't a 7 at all right now, He might become one but do we waste 2/3 years of Des for it while paying out the ass?