NRL Player Movements & Rumours

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Ash Taylor has earned an 1 year deal with the Warriors, upgraded from a train-and-trial deal
 
Kick off to the 2022 season is slowing but surely creeping up on us. Teams are getting pretty close to finalising their squads, here's how many spots each team has open

Brisbane Broncos: 1 NRL, 3 Development
Canberra Raiders: 1 NRL, 2 Development
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: 1 NRL, 6 Development
Cronulla Sharks: 2 NRL 2 Development
Gold Coast Titans: 3 NRL, 2 Development
Manly Sea Eagles: 1 NRL, 4 Development
Melbourne Storm: 1 NRL, 3 Development
Newcastle Knights: 4 NRL, 3 Development
North Queensland Cowboys: 2 NRL, 3 Development
Parramatta Eels: 2 NRL, 3 Development
Penrith Panthers: 3 NRL, 2 Development
St George Illawarra Dragons: 2 NRL, 4 Development
South Sydney Rabbitohs: 3 NRL, 6 Development
Sydney Roosters: 0 NRL, 4 Development
Warriors: 3 NRL, 3 Development
Wests Tigers: 1 NRL, 3 Development

Worth noting a couple of things, both Jacob Kiraz and Issac Lumelume have joined the Bulldogs. I presume they're both on NRL deals since they were on one with their previous clubs and were signed for the season ahead so somebody else maybe forced to go. They also have to announce at least 3 development signings.

Clubs that have more than 1 spot left have to announce more signings to at least reach 29 before the start of the season. So Cronulla, Gold Coast, Newcastle, North Queensland, Parramatta, Penrith, St George, South Sydney and the Warriors will have to announce more signings. Similarly teams that have more than 3 development spots will have to announce those signings ahead of time.

Newcastle is set to announce Edrick Lee who is awaiting clearance before signing his NRL deal. If Anthony Milford is cleared he should be added to the South Sydney squad as well. Their squad is looking very dicey to me, they still have a few key figures but there's a lot of inexperience there as well. As far as I know they don't have too many experienced players doing a train and trial either. I believe Jack Campagnolo, Dean Hawkins, Tallis Duncan, Shaq Mitchell and a young centre by the name of Josiah Karapani are the only players who have been identified thus far.
 
It's good to see the Dragons upgrade Tyrell Sloan to an NRL deal.

I thought he showed something at the back end of last season and he was one of those juniors who saved their best footy for the NRL. I was surprised he wasn't there to begin with and was shocked that the Dragons were willing to wait until mid-season to give him another game, when potentially he's their best option.

The Dragons are going to be a real work in progress. They have plenty of competition for spots and with the versatility of Bird and Mbye I can see them experimenting with their line-up constantly.

I just hope that Hook can settle on his line-up and can find some balance with the squad. If he can mix players like Amone, Sullivan, the Feagais, Shereb in the line-up I think it will go a long way towards rebuilding that club.
 
It's good to see the Dragons upgrade Tyrell Sloan to an NRL deal.

I thought he showed something at the back end of last season and he was one of those juniors who saved their best footy for the NRL. I was surprised he wasn't there to begin with and was shocked that the Dragons were willing to wait until mid-season to give him another game, when potentially he's their best option.

The Dragons are going to be a real work in progress. They have plenty of competition for spots and with the versatility of Bird and Mbye I can see them experimenting with their line-up constantly.

I just hope that Hook can settle on his line-up and can find some balance with the squad. If he can mix players like Amone, Sullivan, the Feagais, Shereb in the line-up I think it will go a long way towards rebuilding that club.
If there’s anything i have faith in Hook regarding, it’s his stubbornness when it comes to picking a line up and not making changes.
 
If there’s anything i have faith in Hook regarding, it’s his stubbornness when it comes to picking a line up and not making changes.
I actually thought he was guilty of tinkering too much last season and that was before the mandated BBQ induced changes where he was bringing in ring-ins from other teams. The Dragons are delicately placed and after signing so many players to the club, he needs to settle on combinations.
 
I actually thought he was guilty of tinkering too much last season and that was before the mandated BBQ induced changes where he was bringing in ring-ins from other teams. The Dragons are delicately placed and after signing so many players to the club, he needs to settle on combinations.
To be honest I kinda of stopped following his decisions once he left us
 
Reece Hoffman has signed with the Bulldogs.

They still haven't announced where Lumelume and Kiraz have been placed in their squad. Technically that's 32 contracted NRL players in their squad, so I presume somebody has to be making way.

I'm not sure about that signing from the Hoffman camp. He's going to be behind Addo-Carr and Naden plus the Bulldogs have plenty of depth coming through. I just wonder if there was a lack of interest and the Bulldogs under Gus' influence signed Hoffman because of his junior rep background?

Gus has been running clinics up here on the Gold Coast so I wonder if the move was made as a way to build a stronger Queensland connection?
 
On the other side of the coin, it does open up a spot at Wests.

I actually think Hoffman would have had a good shot of starting at Wests. Right now Oliver Gildart is the only centre you can say with any confidence will be selected come Round 1 and he's fairly versatile. While he's stronger down the left, he can play on the right to accommodate his centre partner. With Doueihi and Talau out the Tigers are down to two rookies in Kei and Tupou.

Of the two, Tupou has the higher ceiling and was a stand-out in SG Ball back in 2019-20 where he actually played a fair amount of fullback. So maybe it's a vote of confidence from the Tigers that they see this guy as a definite starter and they're willing to let one of their prospects go?

They also have Peachey and To'a who can play there but you'd think they were brought in for different roles.

As far as finalising their roster, I wouldn't be surprised if they promoted from within. Their NSW Cup side finished 2nd while their Flegg team was undefeated half-way through the year. They already have Lomi Saukuru, Brandon Tumeth and Henry O'Kane on development deals, I wouldn't be shocked if their hooker Rua Ngatikaru got promoted especially since he falls into that Brandon Smith mould that's in vogue at the moment.
 
Knights keen on Milford apparently..
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LOL imagine if there's a bidding war for Milford hahahahaha
 
Knights must be desperate if they are thinking of recruiting Milford.
 
Totally not his manager pretending that other clubs are after his signature and the Dolphins need to up their offer...
 
It would not be in dollars though, it’d be in quarter pounders.
Johns might have him switch to kfc given his relationship with them from his playing days.
 
Dobbo reporting that Milford's deals with both the Knights and Dolphins are "done"

Dobbo says to Triple M:

“He definitely won’t play for South Sydney this year. That relationship is done,” Dobbin told The Rush Hour.

“I’m led to believe with some information I have been given over the past couple of days that is that the Newcastle 12-month deal is a lock.

“It’s a lock. He’ll play at Newcastle this year, but he will definitely be a Dolphin next year.

“That deal is done, they will announce it shortly.”
 
Dolphins announce Milford signing and the crowd goes…concerned?
 
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