NRL General Recruitment and Retention

Yeah I figured that was the case, just the usual poorly worded article I read at the time
 
Would you guys sign a solid toiler who's far from one of your top players on a 200-300k deal? Can you imagine if we got Croker on a 4 year, $1m deal? $250k per year lol. I know he would never say yes to it, just wonder if some teams have that strategy, but it seems like shorter term deals for cap flexibility aside from marquee/spine players are the go.
 
Aside from Hunt, I don't know who the club thinks they'll replace Gagai with.

Seve, Winter, Votano etc aren't anywhere near FG ready, let alone being capable of becoming a FG centre on both sides of the ball.

It genuinely seems like they view Hunt as Gagai's immediate replacement
 
Les Misérables said:
Aside from Hunt, I don't know who the club thinks they'll replace Gagai with.

Seve, Winter, Votano etc aren't anywhere near FG ready, let alone being capable of becoming a FG centre on both sides of the ball.

It genuinely seems like they view Hunt as Gagai's immediate replacement
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Yeah Hunt is talented, but that is a significant downgrade. Hunt still has alot of areas in his game that need improvement. Errors, carries out of yardage. Also, an underrated skill of Gags is his catch and pass ability. Dom himself has admitted how much Gags has helped him in that aspect. We need someone with that skill, as it helps to utilise Dom's speed out wide. From what i've seen of Hunt, he is way off in that aspect. Passes often going behind, mistimed passes, dropping the ball in an attempt to tip the ball on etc.
 
Ahh, Fletcher Hunt, the 20 year old who isn't even in our top 30 yet and who isn't even in the team at the moment but someone needs to be the forum punching bag so he has to wear it for a bit. It's a shame for him that the likes of Sharpe, McKewn and Cant have shown they can play.
 
Owey said:
Ahh, Fletcher Hunt, the 20 year old who isn't even in our top 30 yet and who isn't even in the team at the moment but someone needs to be the forum punching bag so he has to wear it for a bit. It's a shame for him that the likes of Sharpe, McKewn and Cant have shown they can play.
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More that i think we need to re-sign Gags for another season as Hunt is still very raw.
 
Votano and Hopwood were both rushed into reserve grade when SG Ball aged.
They are now both first year of Flegg aged.
Hopwood adjusted to playing against men quicker, but over the last month, Votano has been our best back in reserve grade.
I'd say he's now ahead of Hunt and a year younger.
If the Knights let him go, he'll have about 10 offers. I'd say joining his brother at Melbourne would be the short favourite.
 
At this point, if he plans to play for one more year, I’d be happy to have him - price dependant. But I’d be saying there’s no guarantee to play. I get the impression we are more strapped for Top 30 spots than we are cash.

I think we have seen enough of Hunt - I think we know what he’s capable of, and where his areas of improvement need to be. We know he’s worth persisting with for a few years and seeing how he improves.

I’d be happy to have a look at a few of these potential centres in FG. Either as an injury replacement IF theres any injuries (fingers and toes crossed) or in the 19 and used if we are in a luxurious position/or injury.

De Courcey seemed destined to be our centre for next season - a few games in FG and he’s all but gone.

I don’t really want them out of their depth (that’s not good for anyone), but if we are considering them as a starting centre in 2027 - I’d like to see what they can offer now, and perhaps give them some motivation and areas they need to improve on over the next 9 months.

I trust the powers at be. But I’m a little curious why Gagai has been a “no” since the start, but Frizz is “wait and see”. For me, both are wait and see…(and leaning toward keeping)

Would retaining Gags impact our retention of any young players? For a one year contract, I wouldn’t think so. Unless it helps say convince Votano* that he’s next up FB, because we are putting Hunt at Centre.

*or another up and comer
 
Gags is still doing the job - but we seriously have to replace him, and have the young guys lining up for the spot.
Hunt, Winter, Votano, Seve, Baxter Best, that guy from Mats we just signed for years - I'd say De Courcey, but he knocked back an offer apparently, thinking he could do better.
If we can't find a right centre out of that lot, all our coaches need sacking. All those guys are future firstgraders. Our job is to try to keep the best one of them.
 
What’s all there ages? How old was Best when he started playing FG? Feels from an age perspective, Hunt and Votano are close to ready. I think Seve and Baxter too young. Winter is how old?

I’d feel much better letting Gags go if one or two of these guys was bashing down the door. From the ones I’ve seen play FG, which is Schiller, Votano, McCarthy, Hunt, I think Hunt showed the most promise.
 
I get it from the Broncos point of view. Shiba turned down $300k a year, multiple years. Gagai can fill the spot for 12 months and they can figure it out later. And he can do a reasonable job, don't need him to be on every week.

I am glad there is no bad blood between Gagai and the club, to when he first left, to now not really being wanted. For sure it's disappointing because he shows glimpses this year of why he stuck around a couple of years ago but it's a business and you'd rather someone leave a year early then hold onto them for a year too long.
 
frankLauda said:
What’s all there ages? How old was Best when he started playing FG? Feels from an age perspective, Hunt and Votano are close to ready. I think Seve and Baxter too young. Winter is how old?

I’d feel much better letting Gags go if one or two of these guys was bashing down the door. From the ones I’ve seen play FG, which is Schiller, Votano, McCarthy, Hunt, I think Hunt showed the most promise.
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Bradman Best was 18 when he debuted but he was training with firstgrade from age 16.
Seve will be 18 next year and has a exemption to train with firstgrade - and at 17 - he's big and strong enough to hold his own.
Hunt turned 20 on 26th Dec 2025
Votano turned 20 in April.
Winter is 18 but turns 19 in August
Baxter Best is 17 but turns 18 before next season.
 
Happy to let him go if we have better options lined up. Just think we should do what gives us the strongest team in 2027.

He appears a strong player currently - otherwise we’d have seen De Courcey or Hunt lock down the position.

I also wouldn’t mind a look at a few of the other candidates (in the right circumstances) in FG before driving Gagai to Brisbane though. Obviously they have 9 months to develop - and a lot can happen with them (improving) and Gags (slowing down).

We heard McCarthy trained the house down this pre season. And had big wraps. We heard De Courcey would be a sure thing - but now both of these guys look to be jettisoned.

At worst, he’d be fighting and pushing these young guys to earn a starting spot and mentoring them. I guess we still have Schiller as a back up….
 
Thought McCarthy had a players option for 2027.
He seems to have been around longer than those mentioned as possible Gags replacement.
Would think that he would be just in front based on experience with Hunt close behind but I have my doubts on him as a centre, more winger/full back, ideal bench covering a few spots.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
Happy to let him go if we have better options lined up. Just think we should do what gives us the strongest team in 2027.

He appears a strong player currently - otherwise we’d have seen De Courcey or Hunt lock down the position.

I also wouldn’t mind a look at a few of the other candidates (in the right circumstances) in FG before driving Gagai to Brisbane though. Obviously they have 9 months to develop - and a lot can happen with them (improving) and Gags (slowing down).

We heard McCarthy trained the house down this pre season. And had big wraps. We heard De Courcey would be a sure thing - but now both of these guys look to be jettisoned.

At worst, he’d be fighting and pushing these young guys to earn a starting spot and mentoring them. I guess we still have Schiller as a back up….
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I maintain De Coursey is a sure thing but he suffers from Lomax syndrome, he is a much better winger but looks to only want to play centre.

The whole “earn it” idea only ever works if you have a coach that is willing to take risks and dump players that aren’t even playing bad they actually might be playing good but they will still drop them because they believe the ones below them can do it better and are in better form. Outside of that “earn it” is a myth.

For example of “earn it” I’ll use hypotheticals and Winter and Gags.

Winter: (cup)
Games 10
Tries: 8
Metres avg: 154

Gagai: (nrl)
Games: 10
Tries: 4
Metres avg: 135

Now that shows at a extremely basic level that Winter is in better form and has “earned it” do you drop Gagai despite Gagai still performing well?

Could have done it more in depth but couldn’t be screwed at the moment and I take you get the point
 
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