mullenmagic
Andrew 'Joey' Johns
What's the plan for going back-to-back?
Not sure if the CBA has even been signed off on yet but last I read they were sticking with 2 marquee players outside the cap per club, the salary cap was doubling, and I believe players will be able to sign for longer than 1 season now. I assume the longer season will mean squad sizes increase by 1 or 2 as well. 4 new teams with clean slates means we're going to see a lot of movement. NQ, Cronulla & Tigers all have strong state cup sides with juniors that they'll be focused on bringing back to build around. Raiders are the wildcard, no state cup team and their Tarsha Gale Cup side finished near the bottom so they're really starting from scratch. The "local" big fish they were banking on building around was Millie Boyle, which seems a long shot now though I'm sure they'll still try. They're going to have to fill the squad somehow so I expect they'll be throwing ridiculous money around.
Millie Boyle, Tamika Upton & Jesse Southwell would walk into a marquee contract at any club and name their own price. Wouldn't surprise me if the Tigers and/or Raiders throw a marquee spot at Caitlan Johnston too, as difficult as it is to imagine her leaving. I'm sure if you ask the majority of the squad right now they'd say they're staying put (a few already publicly did yesterday), but it's a lot easier to say that before the offers come in. Realistically we probably lose at least 1 that we wanted to keep. Wests have shown they're willing to spend on the women's team so should be able to keep the 2 that we really want without much fuss, which I'm guessing would be Boyle & Southwell if it comes down to it.
Kiana Takairangi, Romy Teitzel, & Emma Manzelmann are the ones from the top 17 that I'd confidently say won't be back next year.
On the recruitment front I doubt we see many, if any, established players brought in. Our hands will be full just trying to keep the current squad together. Getting Olivia Kernick back to replace Teitzel on the right edge would be the dream but very long odds. I expect we'll see a few juniors promoted instead. Mia Middleton (outside back), Matilda Jones (half) & Mercydes Metcalf (prop) are the 3 that come to mind from Tarsha Gale Cup this year and I'm pretty sure they were all training alongside the NRLW team throughout the season. Bree Chester (back-row) was the 3rd development player as well I think.
Not sure if the CBA has even been signed off on yet but last I read they were sticking with 2 marquee players outside the cap per club, the salary cap was doubling, and I believe players will be able to sign for longer than 1 season now. I assume the longer season will mean squad sizes increase by 1 or 2 as well. 4 new teams with clean slates means we're going to see a lot of movement. NQ, Cronulla & Tigers all have strong state cup sides with juniors that they'll be focused on bringing back to build around. Raiders are the wildcard, no state cup team and their Tarsha Gale Cup side finished near the bottom so they're really starting from scratch. The "local" big fish they were banking on building around was Millie Boyle, which seems a long shot now though I'm sure they'll still try. They're going to have to fill the squad somehow so I expect they'll be throwing ridiculous money around.
Millie Boyle, Tamika Upton & Jesse Southwell would walk into a marquee contract at any club and name their own price. Wouldn't surprise me if the Tigers and/or Raiders throw a marquee spot at Caitlan Johnston too, as difficult as it is to imagine her leaving. I'm sure if you ask the majority of the squad right now they'd say they're staying put (a few already publicly did yesterday), but it's a lot easier to say that before the offers come in. Realistically we probably lose at least 1 that we wanted to keep. Wests have shown they're willing to spend on the women's team so should be able to keep the 2 that we really want without much fuss, which I'm guessing would be Boyle & Southwell if it comes down to it.
Kiana Takairangi, Romy Teitzel, & Emma Manzelmann are the ones from the top 17 that I'd confidently say won't be back next year.
On the recruitment front I doubt we see many, if any, established players brought in. Our hands will be full just trying to keep the current squad together. Getting Olivia Kernick back to replace Teitzel on the right edge would be the dream but very long odds. I expect we'll see a few juniors promoted instead. Mia Middleton (outside back), Matilda Jones (half) & Mercydes Metcalf (prop) are the 3 that come to mind from Tarsha Gale Cup this year and I'm pretty sure they were all training alongside the NRLW team throughout the season. Bree Chester (back-row) was the 3rd development player as well I think.
