2026 Recruitment And Retention

Cup side got flogged, our pack were ordinary so our halves looked ordinary but Pryce played hard, strong but terrible, Cogger was ordinary but to be fair our pack was poor overall, they got trampled in first half and never really recovered.
 
Frank McWilliams said:
Cup side got flogged, our pack were ordinary so our halves looked ordinary but Pryce played hard, strong but terrible, Cogger was ordinary but to be fair our pack was poor overall, they got trampled in first half and never really recovered.
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that sounds like the perfect preperation for any half aspiring to play nrl at the knights.
 
Off the books at the end of 2025:

$600K - Hastings
$550K - Brailey
$475K - Elliott
$350-500K - Hetherington
$??? but my guess is $400K - Pryce

On current evidence, there won’t be a robust market for any of them. There is no reason to extend any of them before next season.

So, theoretically, $2.5 millionish.

My guess for Kai Pearce-Paul’s current cap hit is $4-600K, and for Leo it’s $250K.

So, let’s say the offer we tabled to Leo is $650K/season for 4-5 years from 2026-onwards? That reduces the “war chest” to about $2.1 million
A similar deal for Kai drops it to between $1.8-2 millionish.

I think in both cases around $650K is a fair number - slight overpay on track record so far anticipating future value.

Come November 1, there is *absolutely* money there to throw at a free agent. But who?

For my money, this is the guy. I've seen a bit of him in the QCup & he is still a work in progress, but I have a similar reaction upon seeing him to what I had when a mate showed me Harry Grant highlights when he signed that loan deal with the Tigers. A bloke who leaps off the screen at you:


Be bold. Say whatever number you need to say to get him, like we did with Kalyn. He is 19 years old right now so this is potentially a 12-15 year franchise player. This is the best answer I've got.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Off the books at the end of 2025:

$600K - Hastings
$550K - Brailey
$475K - Elliott
$350-500K - Hetherington
$??? but my guess is $400K - Pryce

On current evidence, there won’t be a robust market for any of them. There is no reason to extend any of them before next season.

So, theoretically, $2.5 millionish.

My guess for Kai Pearce-Paul’s current cap hit is $4-600K, and for Leo it’s $250K.

So, let’s say the offer we tabled to Leo is $650K/season for 4-5 years from 2026-onwards? That reduces the “war chest” to about $2.1 million
A similar deal for Kai drops it to between $1.8-2 millionish.

I think in both cases around $650K is a fair number - slight overpay on track record so far anticipating future value.

Come November 1, there is *absolutely* money there to throw at a free agent. But who?

For my money, this is the guy. I've seen a bit of him in the QCup & he is still a work in progress, but I have a similar reaction upon seeing him to what I had when a mate showed me Harry Grant highlights when he signed that loan deal with the Tigers. A bloke who leaps off the screen at you:


Be bold. Say whatever number you need to say to get him, like we did with Kalyn. He is 19 years old right now so this is potentially a 12-15 year franchise player. This is the best answer I've got.
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Looks good in attack.
He won't get many games at the Broncos ahead of the coaches son.
Would be interested to know how he goes in D.
Would need a good half as well to replace Hastings and Pryce.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Off the books at the end of 2025:

$600K - Hastings
$550K - Brailey
$475K - Elliott
$350-500K - Hetherington
$??? but my guess is $400K - Pryce

On current evidence, there won’t be a robust market for any of them. There is no reason to extend any of them before next season.

So, theoretically, $2.5 millionish.

My guess for Kai Pearce-Paul’s current cap hit is $4-600K, and for Leo it’s $250K.

So, let’s say the offer we tabled to Leo is $650K/season for 4-5 years from 2026-onwards? That reduces the “war chest” to about $2.1 million
A similar deal for Kai drops it to between $1.8-2 millionish.

I think in both cases around $650K is a fair number - slight overpay on track record so far anticipating future value.

Come November 1, there is *absolutely* money there to throw at a free agent. But who?

For my money, this is the guy. I've seen a bit of him in the QCup & he is still a work in progress, but I have a similar reaction upon seeing him to what I had when a mate showed me Harry Grant highlights when he signed that loan deal with the Tigers. A bloke who leaps off the screen at you:


Be bold. Say whatever number you need to say to get him, like we did with Kalyn. He is 19 years old right now so this is potentially a 12-15 year franchise player. This is the best answer I've got.
Click to expand...
He looks good. Agree, I think they have to take this approach. It’s not like they’ll be able to recruit any top spine players from other clubs. Targeting the best junior spine players is probably the next best thing, especially if their path to first grade is blocked.

I really don’t understand why this hasn’t been the approach anyway since it actually worked with KP. Cycling through bog average first graders in key positions won’t get us anywhere.
 
I think junior recruitment has been strong for FB, centre, 5/8 and fwds. Got some good quality coming through. Hopefully they’ll progress quickly. Elijah has surprised me this yr in Cup so it’s possible.

Recruiting good young organising half’s is difficult cause they’re few and far between.

So far Sutton seems to be doing decent job with Taj Blackman in Flegg. But not dominating. SG is Fletcher Hunt & Haani Loza. Both look like running 5/8 but not organisers. Linnane could be the go but so far okay 5/8 majority of time and coming off an ACL this yr.

Zach Hedergen is apparently signed but played in QLD Mal Meniga cup. His team Redcliffe are leading the comp and he’s there 7, there’s no stats for them though sadly.

So I think they’re actively looking, I was championing Hastings at start of yr, why his and Gambles confidence look like **** I dunno but it’s probably off rest of team being a bit low and the forwards just not getting the hard **** done.

Mower been earmarked by Brisbane for last 2 yrs but I agree with consensus we need to clear some room for a big play in playmaker market in next yr or two.
 
I don’t know his contract situation, but maybe offer a good amount to Lachlan Galvin while we’re chasing young fellas.
Wests seem to be starting to pick up the pieces, so maybe he’d like to come back to a complete basket case like he’s used to.
 
Storm are looking at extending Hughes, wonder if we can have a crack at Pezet and see if he will come back? Surely he wont stay at storm especially with their 6 & 7 not going anywhere?
 
He had a 500k option to stick around at the Dogs for another year, I know he comes across as not the brightest spark but he's not walking away from that to sign a 3 year contract at the Knights for 250k a year. Especially when the Raiders were also bidding.
 
JOJO82 said:
Storm are looking at extending Hughes, wonder if we can have a crack at Pezet and see if he will come back? Surely he wont stay at storm especially with their 6 & 7 not going anywhere?
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This really is the play - relationship issues permitting.

Someone in the league will be signing Pezet, Hughes and Munster aren't going anywhere and he's not a utility so doesn't have a place in the side long-term - Storm will always have the next prodigy backup in the pipeline so probably won't even attempt to keep him come 2026 and foreseeably might not stand in his way earlier (though it may be beneficial for him to cook there for another year before attempting to sign him from 26).

He's obviously not that guy right now, but he has all the talent to be that guy and is serving his apprenticeship among all the right people. This is the Ponga-esque hail mary option to be taking.

Is he too smart to consider us given the state we're in and the intimate knowledge the family has of our club - probably, but with enough money and a guaranteed starting spot playing alongside Kalyn Ponga then maybe we can compete with the others who will be coming to the table.
 
slotmachine said:
He had a 500k option to stick around at the Dogs for another year, I know he comes across as not the brightest spark but he's not walking away from that to sign a 3 year contract at the Knights for 250k a year. Especially when the Raiders were also bidding.
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$500k lol wow thats crazy! Yep your right hey.
 
Grandpa Joe - Prev Lord said:
$500k lol wow thats crazy! Yep your right hey.
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Yeah he gave up that year, but also he was battling with long term injury so any club signing him was taking a punt. I think if you're him and you're looking at $500K for one year and then potentially nothing if you get hurt again after that, or the security of three years at a small pay cut, the latter makes sense. So I think it's conceivable we have him for maybe $350K or $400K. I still think that's too much for him though...
 
MullosLefttoRight said:
This really is the play - relationship issues permitting.

Someone in the league will be signing Pezet, Hughes and Munster aren't going anywhere and he's not a utility so doesn't have a place in the side long-term - Storm will always have the next prodigy backup in the pipeline so probably won't even attempt to keep him come 2026 and foreseeably might not stand in his way earlier (though it may be beneficial for him to cook there for another year before attempting to sign him from 26).

He's obviously not that guy right now, but he has all the talent to be that guy and is serving his apprenticeship among all the right people. This is the Ponga-esque hail mary option to be taking.

Is he too smart to consider us given the state we're in and the intimate knowledge the family has of our club - probably, but with enough money and a guaranteed starting spot playing alongside Kalyn Ponga then maybe we can compete with the others who will be coming to the table.
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You could probably go after both him and Mozer if you were happy to cop Elliott, Hetherington, and two of Hastings, Pryce and Brailey all leaving. But ideally, Elliott and Hetho *should* be moving on, to be replaced with cheaper forwards coming through the system. I think Brailey is the kind of character who wouldn't kick stones if you signed his replacement - he'd play out his deal as a model professional and then someone else would sign him - this is part of why I lean Mozer. But honestly, yeah if we could get both, go for it, even if it ****s up 2025 as well while we're waiting for them. There are a lot of things which have helped a few teams look a fair bit better this year, but in so many cases a huge factor is simply better spine players. Ethan Strange is way better than Wighton at five-eighth; Sezer is a proper halfback and Galvin looks like a star in the making; Isaiya Katoa could be the best halfback in the NRL before he's 25. I'm not saying these kids would fix everything, but I think the job gets so much easier and your team is so much more stable with these foundational elements in place - if they can do the job.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Off the books at the end of 2025:

$600K - Hastings
$550K - Brailey
$475K - Elliott
$350-500K - Hetherington
$??? but my guess is $400K - Pryce

On current evidence, there won’t be a robust market for any of them. There is no reason to extend any of them before next season.

So, theoretically, $2.5 millionish.

My guess for Kai Pearce-Paul’s current cap hit is $4-600K, and for Leo it’s $250K.

So, let’s say the offer we tabled to Leo is $650K/season for 4-5 years from 2026-onwards? That reduces the “war chest” to about $2.1 million
A similar deal for Kai drops it to between $1.8-2 millionish.

I think in both cases around $650K is a fair number - slight overpay on track record so far anticipating future value.

Come November 1, there is *absolutely* money there to throw at a free agent. But who?

For my money, this is the guy. I've seen a bit of him in the QCup & he is still a work in progress, but I have a similar reaction upon seeing him to what I had when a mate showed me Harry Grant highlights when he signed that loan deal with the Tigers. A bloke who leaps off the screen at you:


Be bold. Say whatever number you need to say to get him, like we did with Kalyn. He is 19 years old right now so this is potentially a 12-15 year franchise player. This is the best answer I've got.
Click to expand...
He looks good to me!
 
2026 Spine I would want
1 Ponga
6 Gamble/Promising Junior
7 Pezet (won't happen)
9 Mozer

Coach: John Morris

2026 Spine we will probably end up with
1 Ponga
6 Asi
7 Sexton
9 Randall

Coach: AOB or we probably end up with Mary or some s**t
 
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HarVeeGee13 said:
You could probably go after both him and Mozer if you were happy to cop Elliott, Hetherington, and two of Hastings, Pryce and Brailey all leaving. But ideally, Elliott and Hetho *should* be moving on, to be replaced with cheaper forwards coming through the system. I think Brailey is the kind of character who wouldn't kick stones if you signed his replacement - he'd play out his deal as a model professional and then someone else would sign him - this is part of why I lean Mozer. But honestly, yeah if we could get both, go for it, even if it ****s up 2025 as well while we're waiting for them. There are a lot of things which have helped a few teams look a fair bit better this year, but in so many cases a huge factor is simply better spine players. Ethan Strange is way better than Wighton at five-eighth; Sezer is a proper halfback and Galvin looks like a star in the making; Isaiya Katoa could be the best halfback in the NRL before he's 25. I'm not saying these kids would fix everything, but I think the job gets so much easier and your team is so much more stable with these foundational elements in place - if they can do the job.
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I don't disagree with Mozer at all, he's been touted as the next big thing by good judges for some time now.

Pezet I just see the priority moreso from the perspective of the uncertainty of the Hastings situation and seeing a greater need for a half than a hooker. As I think you've identified before and have effectively touched on with Katoa/Galvin/etc we've slipped into an era where we're seeing clubs at the top finding success with hookers of relatively limited skillset but the strength of the halfback remains paramount.

This isn't to say that a gun 9 couldn't turn the fortunes of a club but I think we're closer to the 'meta' at 9 with Brails/Crossland than we are the standard required in the halves from our current offerings.

Absolutely we could be going after both given the financial situation you've just outlined, but I'd also recognise that demand will be strong for both parties and as we head towards the mid-late 20s we face the prospect of the market conditions turning upside down again with a prospective 18th team coming sooner rather than later.
 
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