- Joined
- Nov 29, 2020
- Messages
- 10,294
- Reaction score
- 13,363
NRL Free Agents: More than $10 million in talent for sale
The NRL free agency frenzy is about to begin. We detail the talent up for grabs and the clubs contending for their signatures. Who is your club going to go after?
David Riccio, Brent Read and Michael Carayannis
10 min read
October 31, 2021 - 7:19AM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
3 comments
[/URL]
Interesting to see that bulldogs officials are interested in gutherson?
The NRL free agency frenzy is about to begin. We detail the talent up for grabs and the clubs contending for their signatures. Who is your club going to go after?
David Riccio, Brent Read and Michael Carayannis
10 min read
October 31, 2021 - 7:19AM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
3 comments
NOW PLAYING Resume ... 2:32 UP NEXT
It’s the wild west like we’ve never seen before. Western Sydney giants, Penrith and Parramatta, are in danger of being dismantled, with the two clubs unable to convince any of their stars from going to auction. From Monday — November 1 — Penrith’s off-contract premiership-winners Viliame Kikau, Api Koroisau and Dylan Edwards will join Eels kingpins Clint Gutherson, Reed Mahoney, Regan Campbell-Gillard and Isaiah Papali’i on the NRL’s open market. ADVERTISEMENT CONTENT RESUMES ON SCROLL [URL='https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-club-roster-management-who-needs-what-and-why-in-transfer-market/news-story/f068f7beb40b14c5c60da23910859fc9']More than $10 million in elite talent is up for sale |
| with the inclusion of a 17th bidder in the Dolphins sparking the most frenzied negotiation period the game has experienced in years. As of Monday, any player off-contract at the end of the 2022 season can sign with a rival club for 2023 and beyond. (L-R) Isaiah Papali'i and Clint Gutherson are two Eels set to test their value on November 1. Picture: Gregg Porteous/NRL Photos The Sunday Telegraph can reveal several major developments that have unfolded, or poised to, including: * Neither Kikau nor Koroisau have been offered a contract beyond their current deal; * Kevin Naiqama, man of the match in the Super League grand final, is set to sign a one-year deal with the Roosters; * Senior Bulldogs officials have been doing homework and background checks on Gutherson, with subtle inquiries made to members of the NSW Origin coaching staff; * Wests Tigers hooker Jacob Liddle could be headed to Canberra, in a swap for Raiders dummy-half Josh Hodgson; * Three of the most talented hookers in the game, Mahoney, Koroisau and Cronulla‘s Blayke Brailey are all free agents from Sunday; * Rabbitohs ace Cody Walker has signed a one-year contract extension. Free Agents JACK BIRD Bird has re-established himself as an NRL player this year after a horror run of luck with injury. Is expected to switch positions and play as a middle player in the Victor Radley mould. Dragons are keen to retain the local product. Value: $550,000 API KOROISAU Penrith want to retain the Origin player but have to work their salary cap situation. They are yet to present an offer to the two-time premiership winner, who is asking for $700,000. A host of teams including the Dolphins, Wests Tigers and Bulldogs are expected to be in the mix. Value: $700,000 VILIAME KIKAU Penrith have been trying to keep Kikau but they may find it tough when he goes on the open market at a value of $800,000-plus. North Queensland are expected to lead the charge for the Fijian international. He has also been linked with St George Illawarra, The Dolphins, Wests Tigers and Canterbury. Value: $800,000+ TINO FA’ASUAMALEAUI Big Tino has a massive extension on the table from the Gold Coast but that won’t stop The Dolphins asking the question when he enters the final year of his contract on Monday. The Storm would love to have him back but his asking price is out of their range. Value: $850,000 With success comes increased salaries and an increasing strain on a club’s salary cap. And the championship-winning Panthers face a delicate juggling act to avoid having their 2021 title-winning team ripped apart. From their 2021 squad they have already lost Matt Burton (Bulldogs), Brent Naden (Bulldogs), Paul Momorovski (Roosters), while Tyrone May‘s future is in the hands of the club’s board. Penrith CEO Brian Fletcher admitted the club simply haven’t had the time to lockdown any of their 11 off-contract players, leaving their biggest names to enter the NRL’s shop window. Api Koroisau will have plenty of suitors. Picture: Scott Davis/NRL Photos He added that the new player in the chase for players – the Dolphins – added another element of uncertainty to the player market and a possible price-hike for players. Asked if the club were down the track with either Koroisau or Kikau, Fletcher replied: “No, not at all. It will come down to the dollars. “We all have a cap we have to work to. With this new team (Dolphins) in, you wouldn’t know what sort of dollars are going to be offered. Free Agents MARATA NIUKORE Of all the players off contract at Parramatta, Niukore may be the most wanted. The New Zealand lock has been targeted by the Warriors and St George Illawarra, who covet his aggression and versatility. They won’t be on their own. Value: $500,000 REED MAHONEY A priority re-signing for the Eels, but given their delicate roster management, will they have the estimated $700,000 available that the talented hooker is hoping for? At this stage the Broncos and Dolphins aren’t willing to go beyond $500,000. Value: $700,000 asking price CHRISTIAN WELCH Remember when the Eels had Welch over the line in 2019, until he tore his ACL? Don‘t rule out Parramatta making another play for the Storm prop if they lose Junior Paulo. The Dolphins and Cowboys, with Jordan McLean off-contract, are also ready to negotiate Welch‘s $500,000 asking price. Value: $500.000 asking price “We’re not concerned. It is what it is. We’re lucky we’re a team coming off a premiership so it is not as if we are a side you wouldn’t want to play for. Our retention committee will meet in the next couple of weeks when all the coaches are back. “But we are not concerned with any stages of the negotiation at this stage.” Fletcher added it remains possible, but tricky, to keep both the club‘s starting hooker in Koroisau and lethal backrower in Kikau. “You can keep them both but you have to do a bit of juggling,” he said. Kikau has been increasingly linked to a move back to Townsville with North Queensland, where he began his career before moving to Penrith. Viliame Kikau has been linked with a return to the Cowboys. Picture: Jono Searle/Getty Images The Panthers are monitoring the Eels negotiations with Papali’i – which have reached a stand-off. The hard-running edge-forward is viewed as an ideal replacement for Kikau, should the Panthers prove unable to retain him. At the Eels, Campbell-Gillard is increasingly unlikely to re-sign beyond his current deal. However, Parramatta‘s hopes of keeping Mahoney are more promising due to the Broncos and Dolphins baulking at his $700,000 asking price. At Cronulla, Brailey has surprisingly been left to the lure of potential suitors. Blayke Brailey is another rake yet to be signed beyond 2022. Picture: Grant Trouville/NRL Photos The Sharks despite their best efforts have fallen short of locking-up the talented dummy-half before November 1. Sharks GM of football Darren Mooney met with Brailey’s agent David Riolo last week. New coach Craig Fitzgibbon wants the local junior signed immediately. Meanwhile, Naiqama, 32, is set to return to the NRL after a three-year stint in the UK with St Helens. Naiqama – who last played in the NRL with the Tigers in 2018 – is preparing to sign a 12-month contract with the Roosters, adding depth to the club’s backline following the retirement of Brett and Josh Morris. Free Agents CLINT GUTHERSON The Eels captain is yet to agree to terms on a contract extension. Is keen to remain at the club but the sticking point has been the length of the deal. The 27-year-old wants a long-term deal but Parramatta are yet to be forthcoming. Value: $750,000 BRANDON SMITH Smith’s manager has declared he has the email address of all 16 clubs and is ready to press send on Monday at 9am to start an all-out bidding war for the Storm hooker’s signature. The Bulldogs — if they miss Reed Mahoney — and the Titans are both preparing $900,000 per season offers. Melbourne won‘t go to that extent, but they will attempt to keep him. Value: $900,000 JOSEPH MANU Manu has been destined for the open market for months, and the Warriors have been lying in wait. They are ready to offer the New Zealand international a seven-figure salary, but they won’t be alone. Manu will be in demand although the Sydney Roosters are doing their best to keep him. Value: $900,000 plus LOCKED AND LOADED: THE NRL’S BEST VALUE LONG-TERM SIGNINGS – Nick Walshaw Peter Mulholland has never been one for all the jibber-jabber about club culture. “Because that phrase — load of shit,” he says. So how does he go about building an NRL franchise, then? “With a guy like Dale Finucane,” the famed talent scout continues. Catch all the ICC T20 World Cup action live & exclusive to Fox Cricket, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today > “First time I saw Dale, he was 15,” Mulholland explains. “Nobody else wanted him. But you could see he was a kid motivated by one thing — to be the very best he could.” So Mulholland, then scouting for Canterbury, signed the kid nobody wanted for $5000 plus school fees. Nobody trains harder than new Cronulla recruit Dale Finucane. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images “And anyone who’s had anything to do with him since,” he continues, “they would go to war with Dale Finucane. Which is exactly what makes him that player you |
Interesting to see that bulldogs officials are interested in gutherson?
And just hope they keep on progressing to solid first graders.
