2014 NRL Player Rumours & Signings

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He played well at Melbourne as a back rower but when he went to Wests they had injury troubles and Sheens played him in the front row which he wasn't. Then when he went back to the back row he was frustrated and honestly didn't know what to do. I hope Bennett can get the best out of him and get him back to his best because he can play much better
 
NRL recruits 2015: Top 10 NRL signings for next season


  • BEN GLOVER AND HEATH KELLY
  • FOX SPORTS
  • NOVEMBER 19, 2014 11:37AM

THERE’S been a huge amount of high profile player movement leading into the 2015 NRL season.

With most of the rosters now looking complete, we’ve ranked the top 10 signings of the off-season, taking into account the quality of the player, the needs of the club, and the potential pay off in the long-run.

10. GLENN STEWART (Rabbitohs)

One of the game’s most accomplished backrowers, Stewart has experienced what it’s like to play for a team with a target on its back, which is what the Rabbitohs will be as the premiers in 2015.

He will be a leader and go some way to compensating for the loss of Sam Burgess, so long as he can get his body right, that is.

9. FELETI MATEO (Sea Eagles)

With Stewart and Anthony Watmough out the door, Manly were desperate to find a top quality backrower to fill the void, and they’ve got one in Mateo.

Brilliant but inconsistent is the descriptor that comes to mind when discussing this one-time Origin hopeful, so if Geoff Toovey can keep him focused and give him some responsibility he might just be repaid with some top drawer performances.

8. DARIUS BOYD (Broncos)

So much has happened in this Origin mainstay’s life in the last six months, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from him on his return to the Broncos (assuming a deal is done to complete Boyd’s circle of life).

At his best he is one of the top three fullbacks in the competition, acting as a third playmaker in attack, as well as providing a dangerous threat on kick returns.

At his worst life gets on top of him and he has a habit of looking disinterested and lazy.

7. BLAKE AUSTIN (Raiders)

After breaking into first grade with Penrith and then Wests Tigers, Austin looks to have finally found a home where his talents will be fully appreciated.

A five-eighth who can also play fullback, Austin is a footballer with outstanding playmaking instincts — an ideal replacement for Anthony Milford.

At just 23, Austin has a big future with the Green Machine, and should lock down a spot in a halves combination with either Sam Williams or Mitch Cornish.

6. TARIQ SIMS (Knights)

If things had gone according to plan Tariq Sims would be an established member of the NSW pack by now.

Injuries in recent seasons curtailed that ambition but Sims worked his way back to top form for the Cowboys in 2014.

His addition to the Knights forward pack will add much needed grunt, size and not to mention experience after saying goodbye to veterans Willie Mason and Adam Cuthbertson.

5. RYAN HOFFMAN (Warriors)

The type of player that never plays a bad game and while now firmly in the veteran category (he will be 31 by the time the 2015 season arrives) he has never been in better form.

In the Blues’ historic Origin winning series, he split the Brad Fittler Medal as best and fairest with Jarryd Hayne, and will again be one of the first picked next year.

He will be crucial in helping the Warriors finally find the consistency that has continually held them back.

4. MICHAEL ENNIS (Sharks)

Following a season of despair, the arrival of Ennis is a godsend.

He will help bring focus to a team that has been bruised and battered on and off the field for all sorts of reasons over the past two seasons.

The hooker is a natural leader and, despite now being on the wrong side of 30, the form he showed in 2014 demonstrated that he was still among the top echelon of hookers.

3. ANTHONY WATMOUGH (Eels)

The Eels made enormous strides in 2014 following consecutive wooden spoons, much of it to do with Jarryd Hayne but there was improvement across the field as well thanks to new coach Brad Arthur.

However, a crucial ingredient missing was experience in the forward pack and in Watmough, they have gained one of the elite backrowers in the competition.

While age is not on his side, he is still a rep quality forward and his presence will give his young teammates a massive shot of confidence.

He has a great relationship with Arthur and will be crucial to the Eels if they are to push for a finals berth in 2015.

2. BRETT MORRIS (Bulldogs)

The best winger in the game will join forces with his brother Josh, once again, after making the switch from the Dragons to the Bulldogs.

A try-scoring freak — he is brilliant from long range and in the air — the Bulldogs are an altogether different attacking beast with him on the end of a backline that was thin on genuine attacking strikepower at fullback and on the flanks.

Des Hasler has every reason to feel confident heading into 2015.

1. ANTHONY MILFORD (Broncos)

At the tender age of 20, Milford already possesses a highlights reel the envy of just about every other player in the NRL.

After playing mostly at fullback in his early first grade career, Milford arrives as the solution to Brisbane’s long-running problem filling the retired Darren Lockyer’s famous No. 6 jersey.

He’s got a lot to learn before he can be spoken about in the same breath as Lockyer, but Milford has all the tools to help deliver the Broncos their next premiership.

OTHER NOTABLES

Ben Barba (Sharks), Adam Blair (Broncos), Ben Hannant (Cowboys), Michael Lichaa (Bulldogs), Apisai Koroisau (Panthers), Willie Mason (Sea Eagles), Josh Hoffman (Titans), Tom Learoyd-Lars (Storm).


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-for-next-season/story-fni3fbgz-1227128098164
 
NRL season 2015: Why St George Illawarra Dragons fans are worried


  • BEN GLOVER
  • FOX SPORTS
  • NOVEMBER 20, 2014 1:31PM

WHAT’S going on at St George Illawarra?

That’s the question many Dragons fans are asking as week after week they shed talented players from their roster without bringing in anyone worth crowing about.

On Wednesday the Dragons released Gerard Beale, allowing their closest neighbours Cronulla to swoop in for the highly rated centre as well as another Dragons discard Kyle Stanley.

The Sharks have also signed the Dragons’ next big thing, Jack Bird, a 19-year-old star-in-the-making at centre or in the back row.

The Dragons responded by signing Dane Neilsen, who couldn’t get a game with a Warriors side that failed to make the finals in 2013.

They now face the prospect of fielding a best 17 that looks light on up front and lacks cutting edge out wide and a first grade squad with an alarming lack of depth.

To highlight the concern with the Dragons’ roster, this point is worth considering; in 2014 they finished in 11th position.

Since then they’ve lost their best player, Brett Morris, back-up half Michael Witt (with Sam Williams having been released earlier in the season), their best junior (Bird), two talented backs (Stanley and Beale) and a serviceable first grade forward in Bronson Harrison.

Who have they brought in?

A series of NRL discards including Kris Keating, George Rose, Beau Henry, Heath L’Estrange, Dane Nielsen, and Eto Nabuli, the former porter cut from Penrith at the end of this season.

The Dragons have been listed by TAB Sportsbet as $41 outsiders to win the premiership, and even those odds look overly ambitious.

WHAT’S GOT THEM INTO THIS MESS?

Since Wayne Bennett left the Dragons at the end of the 2011 season, the club’s had real issues retaining and attracting marquee talent.

This has forced them to pay overs for average players, messing up their salary cap to the point that Paul McGregor has had to bring in renowned recruitment guru Peter Mulholland to sort it all out.

Mulholland has taken the view that the only way out is to build from the bottom — cut the waste and take some short term pain for long term gain.

Of the players released, Morris and Beale in particular were on fat contracts, so their departures will enable a meaningful rebuild to begin.

HAVE THEY TAKEN IT TOO FAR?

Without seeing the books, this is a difficult question to answer.

The Dragons are going down the same road as the Panthers did when Phil Gould spearheaded a strategy that involved releasing top end talents Luke Lewis, Michael Jennings, Michael Gordon, Lachlan Coote and others.

The problem is, the Dragons were able to balance this with some incredibly savvy cut-price signings — Jamie Soward, Dean Whare, Jamal Idris, Peter Wallace and Brent Kite all come to mind.

Could Dane Neilsen, Kris Keating and Heath L’Estrange end up in this same category?

Paul McGregor’s a highly rated rookie coach, but turning these guys into the foundation for a finals charge seems like a stretch.

WHERE TO NEXT?

You would think with Mulholland at the helm, the Dragons would be following a strategy that ends up combining some marquee signings with the best juniors coming through the rich talent pool coming through in the Illawarra.

But for this strategy to be successful, McGregor will have to convince a group of players that the Dragons can be a successful club in the not so distant future, and to do that they’ll have to be competitive in 2015.

If, as their roster might suggest, they end up vying for the wooden spoon, it’s going to be very difficult for the Dragons to get a marquee off-contract player of the calibre of say a Daly Cherry-Evans, who in turn would start to attract other talented players to the club.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...fans-are-worried/story-fni3g9a3-1227129530185
 
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