2024 Recruitment and Retention Thread - Rebuild 2: This Time It’ll Work For Sure (Unironically)

Junior_rep said:
Oryn Keely set to sign with nrl dolphins 3 year deal not a done deal but looking very likely.
I believe Fletcher Myers is the only member of the 2019 HM winning 17 left from the Grand Final. What is happening to Knights retention of juniors.
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Well... ****. Really hoped to not lose him after Lucas showed great potential and KPP Signing, figured he'd be hard to hold onto if a club came calling. He didnt seem to have a huge impact this yr in CUP, but was his first full yr against grown men, so was mostly expected.

Backrow of

11. Frizell
12. Lucas

Bench
KPP
Croker?

Reserves of Jones & Cant... Am I missing someone? is Aukufolau still with club?
To Me this would be a poor loss as I think Keeley with another offseason could be pushing Croker out of a bench spot and with Fitzy gone, would have given him more chances for games off the bench from 24 season onwards.

Dolphins obviously waving $$ and top 30 at him. Really like the kid, hope he stays
 
Keeley out would be a real bummer. Don’t even get the silver lining of opening up another top 30 spot, just outfight losing a high quality junior on the verge of being first grade ready.
 
Junior_rep said:
Oryn Keely set to sign with nrl dolphins 3 year deal not a done deal but looking very likely.
I believe Fletcher Myers is the only member of the 2019 HM winning 17 left from the Grand Final. What is happening to Knights retention of juniors.
Click to expand...
Asleep at the wheel already on Keely signing at the Dolphins. This is another “area for improvement “ for the Knights.
If true, what a disgrace!
 
Losing Keeley would be a shame, although hard to compete with a 3-year deal for someone on a development deal and likely to be stuck behind Friz, Lucas, KPP and perhaps Myles Martin who will already be top 30.
 
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The question would be would we be better off with Cartwright or Keeley? I'd say Cartwright in the short term but Keeley could be a very, very good player. Seems to be the wrong call for mine. Keeley hasn't really shot up much, maybe that's an issue? We really need to sort our pathways.
 
It might be the other way around with Keeley. He might have declined an offer of a top 30 deal because he was already being courted by the Dolphins. They have ****loads of cash to throw around and are thinking about the future, not right now - they’d be looking to have young prospects in place for when the old guys on their inaugural roster retire, and would want players whose physical primes line up well with the development of Isaiya Katoa and the Hammer. A 20 year old top tier back row prospect is perfect for what they’re looking for. They might have offered $900K over 3 seasons or something like that, which is a life-changing amount of money for someone like him & would not make sense for us to match. If that figure sounds outlandish, I’m pretty sure Isaiya Katoa is on $500K a season and he hadn’t even played NSW Cup at that stage. It sucks but it is what it is, and certainly explains why he’s not top 30 next year.

They know what they’re doing at Redcliffe. They’re gonna have a very very good roster in a few years.

Cheers @Junior_rep
 
I'll chuck this one in here because it's more pertinent to 2024.

Replacing Dom - I've mentioned it a few times but I still hold the view that the best bet in terms of a young, high-ceiling prospect is 21 year old Robert Derby who spent this season with the Cows but is off-contract at the end of the year.

Now understandably by giving this wrap I will jinx him for the weekend but he's starting on the wing for the PNG PM's XIII side against Australia, and will almost certainly land a spot in their side for the upcoming Pacific Championships to end the season. Game this week is on Saturday at 4pm, presumably on Fox/Kayo for those interested. For reasons that elude me Australia has picked 13 Origin players for a game against overwhelmingly QCup/Local PNG league players so it could be rather challenging for Derby to show his worth but nonetheless a strong performance would only validate my views further.

Derby is another big yardage winger who possesses a really strong carry and quality tackle-breaking ability, offers another large body in the outside backs measuring 193cm tall and listed at 99kgs. Made a very strong debut for the Cows earlier in the year and was subsequently ruled out for the following week with injury so failed to get an extended run in the side, has previously debuted for the Kumuls in last years mid-season test within which he put in another strong performance against Fiji.

His QCup stats for the season in a Townsville Blackhawks side that finished in the bottom 4:
16 games, 13 tries, 10 linebreaks, 3 try assists, 66 tackle breaks, 188 run metres/game

So if you're gonna have a look at the game on Saturday arvo, keep an eye out for PNG's number 2 and see how he goes.
 
Yeah he’s the standout QCup winger statistically atm and he looked like he can play when I watched him on debut. Didn’t look like an amazing athlete or anything, maybe a bit of a faster Hymel Hunt, but put his hand up for a lot of work. For my money the work rate stuff is most important though, even if he’s just a catch and fall merchant in attack.

I’ve tweeted at Barry Toohey to mention his name around the club and see if they’ve looked at him but didn’t get a reply. 😂

I know scouts tune in to rep games more than QCup (which is stupid but w/e), so maybe if he has a big Jacob Kiraz-like game, the club might give his manager a call.
 
Spoke to a mate of mine who's a Souths supporter and on their forum. He reckons we are chasing Jaxson Rahme a 19 year old middle/edge player who's in their NSW cup side and played for Lebanon in the WC last year.

Not sure if it's for a top 30 or development spot.
 
He’ll be on the bench for Souths in the NSW Cup grand final this weekend. Played lock in the semi final. Watched the highlights, very much looks like your modern ball playing middle.

Good club to try to poach forwards from, they always seem to be bringing good middles through and he’s probably stuck behind Moale and Duncan, not to mention Cam Murray whose job he’s not taking any time soon.
 
Assuming Rahme is being offered a development deal (I checked Souths forums and they say he only has a second tier/NSW Cup deal on the table, so ours is a better offer if that’s what it is), replacing Oryn Keeley, Moceidreke taking another development spot, and Tom Jenkins - who to me is a sort of white Enari Tuala, very skilful and versatile and covers all centre and wing spots - gets into the top 30…

They’ll probably leave that last spot open and wait and see. But yeah somehow finding a forward good enough to slot into the top 17 would be the dream.

Roosters apparently about to get Luke Thompson - looked like a genuine top drawer pack leader in 2021 before getting injured a bunch - on the cheap. Melbourne apparently about to pick up Shawn Blore for cheap - besides the injuries, very inconsistent, looks elite in one game and terrible the next, classic Melbourne Storm signing. That’s how the big clubs do it, the cap is always heavily allocated on a bunch of stars and they pillage the crappy clubs for rough diamonds. Roosters apparently hypnotise international rep players into signing on for a packet of crisps & we probably can’t do that. But what Melbourne do is more achievable - talent in the right environment.
 
Baz toohey has repeatedly said we won’t be signing a top tier forward this yr or next. Backline mostly. Lots of love for Bryan but I haven’t seen him play and coming off ACL be big effort to make a come back.

Crokes needs to upgrade. Martin needs to push for first.

I think Elliott might be on the move eventually, merely cause he barely sees Millie and will want to be closer together sooner rather than later. So an early release might be on crass for him, which would free up cash or a possible trade etc.

But current squad and pushing juniors up is going to be the go by the looks. Which is the only way forward. Just need the right mix of power forwards and backs within junior ranks to bring through.
 
BTP said:
Baz toohey has repeatedly said we won’t be signing a top tier forward this yr or next. Backline mostly. Lots of love for Bryan but I haven’t seen him play and coming off ACL be big effort to make a come back.

Crokes needs to upgrade. Martin needs to push for first.

I think Elliott might be on the move eventually, merely cause he barely sees Millie and will want to be closer together sooner rather than later. So an early release might be on crass for him, which would free up cash or a possible trade etc.

But current squad and pushing juniors up is going to be the go by the looks. Which is the only way forward. Just need the right mix of power forwards and backs within junior ranks to bring through.
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- Bryan played for Queensland under 19’s last year if you wanted to check him out. Good performance in a badly beaten team.
- Really don’t know about Elliott, they bought a house in Newy and he seems to love the area, plus playing NRLW is still pretty much only a partial year commitment. As elite athletes they were always going to be spending long periods apart even if they both played for the same club. If we do pick up Jaxson Rahme, yeah that does indicate we’re thinking about life without Adam, but for a few years down the track, not next year.
 
I’m pretty sure I heard an podcast interview with Elliott where he said him and Millie spend most of their time together. That might change if the NRLW season expands, I guess.
 
jamesgould said:
I’m pretty sure I heard an podcast interview with Elliott where he said him and Millie spend most of their time together. That might change if the NRLW season expands, I guess.
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Sydney isn't a million miles from Newcastle.
Jasmine Strange lives with her family in Sydney and travels to Newcastle.
I have a great niece who travels to train and play with a state netball side in western Sydney as a development squad member, and her parents take turns driving her. It's not that big a thing.
The men would find it harder because it's most days of the week for them, but that Pauli Pauli guy who played for us years ago lived with his parents in Western Sydney and drove up every day nearly.
 
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