We can now reveal Billy is "set to" get a two year extension until end 2026:
Ballin:
“Billy has been fantastic. When I first came to this club, it was his first year, he had been playing a bit of five-eighth at Wests Tigers and a bit of hooker. But what I have seen is Billy has applied himself defensively. Hooker is a tough position, you are under fatigue the whole game. In the halves, you get a bit of a break, but he has worked hard defensively and he is quite crafty with the ball. The biggest thing I have noticed is when he defends, he just wants to make tackles, get up there and stop them getting to an edge and he works hard for each player around him. When Billy gets a chance to run the ball, he is quite skilful.”
“There’s great competition at hooker. Those guys have been really patient, Billy has had a couple of really good years playing hooker, Tyson got an opportunity last year and took it with both hands and stayed there as a bench back-up. Blake has had big wraps on him ever since he has come through which is a bit unfair, but that’s what happens with young kids these days. I don’t think it’s fair to compare Blake to Cam Smith, Cam is one of his idols and it’s a great thing for him to look up to Cameron, but at no stage has he said he is anywhere near as good as him. Now he has to go about his day to day business. It’s up to Blake where he goes from here, he now has to do the hard work.”