Unfortunately the NRL has made another shit rule with the 30 man squad which ties the hands of clubs. We can't see how things will play out with a players form. So they picked what they thought would serve us best. JMK proved he's a tough player, but didn't stand out in attack as a half. But I still rate him as a prospect more for his involvement then Mbye at the same stage of development. JMK probably needs to build some size to compliment the way he plays since his downside was that he got monstered by larger players.
Cleeland has talent, no denying that, but at 27-28 also lacks size. Potentially he might have been good if promoted, but if we spent 2 years developing a bloke near retirement age over a young prospect that moves on and managed 6-7 good NRL seasons elsewhere we've lost out.
In an ideal world he would have been promoted under Haslers tenure when we were crying out for support play. No doubt McDonnell rates JMK highly and advised the club his attitude etc would take him a long way. And given his utility value compared to Cleeland picking him in a limited squad made more sense.
I hope Cleeland gets a shot somewhere, but age is a factor for him now with limited roster space at every club. Whoever picks him up will have to rate him as a good chance to grab any chance in the NRL immediately upon promotion or they will groom a young player. I haven't followed many other teams NRL sides for a while, let alone ISP teams. But to earn a top 30 space at any club, Cleeland will need to be a good bit better than numerous youngsters there to justify it. I hope he cracks into the NRL, but he needed to develop his talent sooner. I think the days when slow developers break into the NRL are gone under the new system of reduced squad sizes. I hope the players association are working to get this scrapped. We might have played finals this year with the luxury of being able to tweak our team with in form youngsters getting chances in our spine. Unfortunately this system will require prolonged form from youngsters to earn a top 30 spot. Cleeland needs to be selective in choosing a club with poor depth in the halves to get his chance now.