Raiders player signing speculation 2024

[Matt]

I know the club is still on their Xmas/NYs stand down, but we now have 2 health related holes to fill.

I know a few edges have been talked about, and ATM I really hope we sign Hoskings, coz I don't think there is a big fish out there. If there is a similar or better player out there, great, but I think we need 2, so getting the 1st guy is really important (yes, I have very little faith in Sisagi playing edge. I'd also rather our middle versitility remain in the 'in game injury/sin bin' flex category).

But where are we going to find a backup 7? Unless we can shake Sanders loose early, I'd love to here some solutions here.

[Hong Kong Raider]

Our recruitment in the off season has been very disappointing. In successive seasons we haven't gone to market to replace the players we have lost.

Hodgson (the year before), Wighton, Croker - that's a lot of experience to be replaced while freeing our salary cap. Rapana and Whitehead to retire at the end of 2024 also means a lot of experience to be replaced.

[Matt]

Our recruitment in the off season has been very disappointing. In successive seasons we haven't gone to market to replace the players we have lost.

Hodgson (the year before), Wighton, Croker - that's a lot of experience to be replaced while freeing our salary cap. Rapana and Whitehead to retire at the end of 2024 also means a lot of experience to be replaced.

I agree. It's been disappointing

[Ben & Sev Love Milk]

Yeah I can understand why people are disappointed but what actually players that have been on the market would you have wanted the club to chase ? We had a crack at 2 world class back rowers but they stayed with their current clubs. I would rather play our recruitment like we have been eg looking at England( Smithies ) and going for younger players and trying to develop them ( Strange , Chevvy , Puru etc ) rather then panic buy like the dogs and tigers to a certain extent . I also think some of the players we have brought this off season could be handy pick ups Eg Weekes , Sisagi and they are low risk buys.
Just my opinion tear me to pieces if you like .

[greeneyed]

Lots of truth in that.

[Coastalraider]

Either of the England halves would have been beautiful.

[Botman]

Yeah i agree... ive said before, id rather put money into high risk, high reward 1-2 year options like Weekes/Sisagi and keep the powder dry until we can land the big fish rather than over invest in a player not worth it

We're chasing big fish at edge forward and i want us to keep doing that... and id rather sniff around the edges of a Hoskings on 1-2 year deal and keep options open for a legit star rather than get desperate and give a ton of money to say LL where i think he would improve our team but im not sure he fits our timeline and would move the needle in a real way. We could make that move and it would be justified but id like to keep aiming higher

[Ben & Sev Love Milk]

Well we had one and it didn’t work out and is the other even available ? I think the club has a pretty fair strategy in terms of our future in my thinking that involves Sanders to go with Chevvy , Strange , Ata , Mooney , Puru , Smithies , Savage , Timoko , Kris , Weekes etc all are very young and have a load of potential , this with very good players like Tapine , Horse , Hudson all signed long term . It will definitely be some growing pains and I’m not comparing us to Penrith but when Cleary and co first come into first grade they coped some flogging but look at them now . I honestly think this is our best chance at winning a comp rather then paying overs for players and throwing the cap out or panic buy to get some publicity for the club eg The Dogs and in the meantime we will still be competitive with Jamal as our 7 with our forward pack .

[Coastalraider]

In isolation all of the youth options we have recruited are quality and I like the concept of getting the best youth available.

However it does seem to a point that we got caught with our pants down a bit and are being forced to play a lot of inexperienced players all at once and have a ‘rebuild’ year rather than proper succession planning.

For example, how much better a position would we be in now if Savage had been given game time last year? The worst outcome would be that can put a line through him as a fullback and still be here with Stewart, a kid who has never played first grade. Savage played 14 games in 23, 1 in first grade and 0 at fullback. We could be going into the year with a 37+ gamer.

And Strange was killing Cup at the back end of the year, and yet we rolled with Frawley who is/was always going to be average, and leaving at the end of the year. Strange could have had any number of opportunities - from the bench, at centre or at 6 to get minutes into him. Instead he’s played 1 game.

Mooney falls into that category as well.

I LOVE the kids we have recruited, but we have had an aversion to blooding youth for years when an alternative exists, and now we have run out of alternatives we have 4 players vying for 2 spots with under 25 combined games in the spine combined.

There is zero chance another top team goes into the year firstly not knowing who half their spine is, but with a good chance half their spine will be essentially debuting.

Players = good, rollout = bad.

[BadnMean]

In isolation all of the youth options we have recruited are quality and I like the concept of getting the best youth available.

However it does seem to a point that we got caught with our pants down a bit and are being forced to play a lot of inexperienced players all at once and have a ‘rebuild’ year rather than proper succession planning.

For example, how much better a position would we be in now if Savage had been given game time last year? The worst outcome would be that can put a line through him as a fullback and still be here with Stewart, a kid who has never played first grade. Savage played 14 games in 23, 1 in first grade and 0 at fullback. We could be going into the year with a 37+ gamer.

And Strange was killing Cup at the back end of the year, and yet we rolled with Frawley who is/was always going to be average, and leaving at the end of the year. Strange could have had any number of opportunities - from the bench, at centre or at 6 to get minutes into him. Instead he’s played 1 game.

Mooney falls into that category as well.

I LOVE the kids we have recruited, but we have had an aversion to blooding youth for years when an alternative exists, and now we have run out of alternatives we have 4 players vying for 2 spots with under 25 combined games in the spine combined.

There is zero chance another top team goes into the year firstly not knowing who half their spine is, but with a good chance half their spine will be essentially debuting.

Players = good, rollout = bad.

Agree with all that. We'd have lost nothing with Mooney in for Saulo for a dozen games last season for example.

It's for those reasons I'm fairly certain we'll start 2024 with Guler and Levi and Cotric as well. Mooney, Trev and Savage/Asomua may well find themselves stuck in the catch 22 of Ricky wanting a more experienced team leaving those guys with no way to gain experience again.

The trio I mention has 2 pretty solid players in it, so their inclusion may well be the right thing to do in some of these circumstances. But it doesn't look like the team most fans here are rolling out. And the frustration comes from the fact that "these circumstances" were created by the decisions you describe above and we are still stuck in the same bind, when 2023 was the year we should have bit the bullet on a few of these guys.

[RedRaider]

In isolation all of the youth options we have recruited are quality and I like the concept of getting the best youth available.

However it does seem to a point that we got caught with our pants down a bit and are being forced to play a lot of inexperienced players all at once and have a ‘rebuild’ year rather than proper succession planning.

For example, how much better a position would we be in now if Savage had been given game time last year? The worst outcome would be that can put a line through him as a fullback and still be here with Stewart, a kid who has never played first grade. Savage played 14 games in 23, 1 in first grade and 0 at fullback. We could be going into the year with a 37+ gamer.

And Strange was killing Cup at the back end of the year, and yet we rolled with Frawley who is/was always going to be average, and leaving at the end of the year. Strange could have had any number of opportunities - from the bench, at centre or at 6 to get minutes into him. Instead he’s played 1 game.

Mooney falls into that category as well.

I LOVE the kids we have recruited, but we have had an aversion to blooding youth for years when an alternative exists, and now we have run out of alternatives we have 4 players vying for 2 spots with under 25 combined games in the spine combined.

There is zero chance another top team goes into the year firstly not knowing who half their spine is, but with a good chance half their spine will be essentially debuting.

Players = good, rollout = bad.

I am heartened by the fact that Giteau as Coach of NSW Cup in 2023 was getting the best out of the likes of Strange, Mooney, Puru et al.
Now he is the FG Assistant Coach he will get the opportunity to apply their talent in roles they are suited for. Madge having a 'reduced' role at the Raiders will also be good for Giteau and good for the team imo. His cameo in charge of defence in 2023 was clearly a failure.

On the player search front, I hope we are still looking for an impact edge player. I would love it to be Kulikefu Finefeuiaki. At the Cowboys he is stuck behind Leilua, Nanai and Luki in the second row. He will be advised that this is EWs final year and that a FG opportunity awaits. The Raiders would also likely be able to offer a larger dollars contract as well.

[Rickmando]

In isolation all of the youth options we have recruited are quality and I like the concept of getting the best youth available.

However it does seem to a point that we got caught with our pants down a bit and are being forced to play a lot of inexperienced players all at once and have a ‘rebuild’ year rather than proper succession planning.

For example, how much better a position would we be in now if Savage had been given game time last year? The worst outcome would be that can put a line through him as a fullback and still be here with Stewart, a kid who has never played first grade. Savage played 14 games in 23, 1 in first grade and 0 at fullback. We could be going into the year with a 37+ gamer.

And Strange was killing Cup at the back end of the year, and yet we rolled with Frawley who is/was always going to be average, and leaving at the end of the year. Strange could have had any number of opportunities - from the bench, at centre or at 6 to get minutes into him. Instead he’s played 1 game.

Mooney falls into that category as well.

I LOVE the kids we have recruited, but we have had an aversion to blooding youth for years when an alternative exists, and now we have run out of alternatives we have 4 players vying for 2 spots with under 25 combined games in the spine combined.

There is zero chance another top team goes into the year firstly not knowing who half their spine is, but with a good chance half their spine will be essentially debuting.

Players = good, rollout = bad.

Agree with all that. We'd have lost nothing with Mooney in for Saulo for a dozen games last season for example.

It's for those reasons I'm fairly certain we'll start 2024 with Guler and Levi and Cotric as well. Mooney, Trev and Savage/Asomua may well find themselves stuck in the catch 22 of Ricky wanting a more experienced team leaving those guys with no way to gain experience again.

The trio I mention has 2 pretty solid players in it, so their inclusion may well be the right thing to do in some of these circumstances. But it doesn't look like the team most fans here are rolling out. And the frustration comes from the fact that "these circumstances" were created by the decisions you describe above and we are still stuck in the same bind, when 2023 was the year we should have bit the bullet on a few of these guys.

You make good points Coastal, BnM…

What makes it even more egregious is our Dear Leader has more job security than anyone in the entire NRL. If there’s someone who could afford to blood some youngsters in the aid of executing a long-term plan, it’s Rick

[dubby]

Even greater security than Bennett? Bellamy? Robinson? Cleary?

[Matt]

Yeah I can understand why people are disappointed but what actually players that have been on the market would you have wanted the club to chase ? We had a crack at 2 world class back rowers but they stayed with their current clubs. I would rather play our recruitment like we have been eg looking at England( Smithies ) and going for younger players and trying to develop them ( Strange , Chevvy , Puru etc ) rather then panic buy like the dogs and tigers to a certain extent . I also think some of the players we have brought this off season could be handy pick ups Eg Weekes , Sisagi and they are low risk buys.
Just my opinion tear me to pieces if you like .

I like the youth movement and the overseas route. They have been successful for the club in the past, even if its in slightly different forms.

Raiders best successes have come from youth and/or playing "moneyball", then keeping them together (yes, even that team of the 90s).

We do need to keep chasing big fish though. We also need to learn from the misses what is required to catch them. It's been far too long since we got 1.

[Matt]

Even greater security than Bennett? Bellamy? Robinson? Cleary?

Yes, is already moving on.
Yes, has already said retirement is coming.
Yes, they nearly canned him twice.
No... he's now in the Bellamy/Bennett supercoach club... OR... tied to the once in a generation half, who is also flesh and blood.

[Matt]

I dont know what their contract status is ATM, but we could probably do worse than Cooper Johns or Brandon Wakeham as our backup 7 ATM.

I'd be happy to punt on Khaleb Rajab.

I'd love us to try and grab Purus brother, Niwhai.

The Knights have quite a few halves ATM; Cogger, Hastings, Rivett (21yr old). This is to go with Gamble, Pryce, and Mapapalangi, all 5/8 types. Wonder if we could poach 1 from here??? Esp as we love a Knight

[BJ]

Pretty hard to do worse than Cooper Johns.

Surely there’s someone lurking around NSW or QLD Cup who’d be a better backup half. If not for Coopers famous father and uncle I don’t reckon he has an NRL career.

[bonehead]

Pretty hard to do worse than Cooper Johns.

Surely there’s someone lurking around NSW or QLD Cup who’d be a better backup half. If not for Coopers famous father and uncle I don’t reckon he has an NRL career.

hard to but he did, Wakeham

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[Matt]

Pretty hard to do worse than Cooper Johns.

Surely there’s someone lurking around NSW or QLD Cup who’d be a better backup half. If not for Coopers famous father and uncle I don’t reckon he has an NRL career.

hard to but he did, Wakeham

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PJ, this late in the piece, the cupboards are pretty bare.

As Bonehead said, I did mention a couple of other options. None are that great, but we are short at 7.

[-PJ-]

Pretty hard to do worse than Cooper Johns.

Surely there’s someone lurking around NSW or QLD Cup who’d be a better backup half. If not for Coopers famous father and uncle I don’t reckon he has an NRL career.

hard to but he did, Wakeham

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PJ, this late in the piece, the cupboards are pretty bare.

As Bonehead said, I did mention a couple of other options. None are that great, but we are short at 7.

Don’t drag me into this..

[Matt]

Pretty hard to do worse than Cooper Johns.

Surely there’s someone lurking around NSW or QLD Cup who’d be a better backup half. If not for Coopers famous father and uncle I don’t reckon he has an NRL career.

hard to but he did, Wakeham

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PJ, this late in the piece, the cupboards are pretty bare.

As Bonehead said, I did mention a couple of other options. None are that great, but we are short at 7.

Don’t drag me into this..

My apologies PJ.

@BJ refer above.

[BJ]

Pretty hard to do worse than Cooper Johns.

Surely there’s someone lurking around NSW or QLD Cup who’d be a better backup half. If not for Coopers famous father and uncle I don’t reckon he has an NRL career.

hard to but he did, Wakeham

Sent from my SM-S911B using Tapatalk

PJ, this late in the piece, the cupboards are pretty bare.

As Bonehead said, I did mention a couple of other options. None are that great, but we are short at 7.

Don’t drag me into this..

My apologies PJ.

@BJ refer above.

Yep and I’m just saying Johns is the worst of those limited options. There’s a reason Manly haven’t retained him for 2024 or even offered a trial and train.

Wakeham a better option and I thought Souths Dean Hawkins is off contract for 2024.

[Matt]

hard to but he did, Wakeham

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PJ, this late in the piece, the cupboards are pretty bare.

As Bonehead said, I did mention a couple of other options. None are that great, but we are short at 7.

Don’t drag me into this..

My apologies PJ.

@BJ refer above.

Yep and I’m just saying Johns is the worst of those limited options. There’s a reason Manly haven’t retained him for 2024 or even offered a trial and train.

Wakeham a better option and I thought Souths Dean Hawkins is off contract for 2024.

They kept Dawkins over Taafe I believe. He is more of a half, than 6 or 1.

[Bluesbrother]

Looking to the Super League - Harry Smith or Lewis Dodd would be a good option or Sanders early would be the best play. I'm pretty concerned as it is with Fogarty but if he goes down we are spoon contenders.

[NoMan]

If they are confident the Eels will let Sanders go straight away they could probably last until rd 7. Still, I would assume they will sign a back up half soon.

Dragons just signed Ronald Volkman, he would've been a solid back up.

[Hoppa29]

We need to sign another Outside back looking very thin since the departures of Morkos and HSS

[bonehead]

We need to sign another Outside back looking very thin since the departures of Morkos and HSS

Regan Carr looks to be training with the top squad, you've also got Prinston Esera and Jed Stuart pushing through.
I'd like to see Prinston in the backrow this year myself as you'd expect him to fill out a bit physically

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[Matt]

We need to sign another Outside back looking very thin since the departures of Morkos and HSS

Regan Carr looks to be training with the top squad, you've also got Prinston Esera and Jed Stuart pushing through.
I'd like to see Prinston in the backrow this year myself as you'd expect him to fill out a bit physically

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We need centres, not outside backs, as we have wingers. This is funny, coz in 1 season we went from 5 centres to 2.

[Bluesbrother]

We need to sign another Outside back looking very thin since the departures of Morkos and HSS

Regan Carr looks to be training with the top squad, you've also got Prinston Esera and Jed Stuart pushing through.
I'd like to see Prinston in the backrow this year myself as you'd expect him to fill out a bit physically

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We need centres, not outside backs, as we have wingers. This is funny, coz in 1 season we went from 5 centres to 2.

Kris, Timoko, Sasagi, Schiller, Strange, Cotric could all handle NRL in the centres don't you think?

I'd argue Timoko and Kris are in the top 5 centre pairings in the NRL. I'm not sure anyone decent would want to come here to sit behind them. At least no one better than the backup options we already have. If we have 2 spots remaining in the top 30 where should they go?

[Beejay]

We need a gun second rower, priority 1 and then daylight.
Then sort out hooker

[Rick]

2 remaining spots should go to;

- Starting quality right side second rower
- Ethan Sanders


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[Matt]

We need to sign another Outside back looking very thin since the departures of Morkos and HSS

Regan Carr looks to be training with the top squad, you've also got Prinston Esera and Jed Stuart pushing through.
I'd like to see Prinston in the backrow this year myself as you'd expect him to fill out a bit physically

Sent from my SM-S911B using Tapatalk

We need centres, not outside backs, as we have wingers. This is funny, coz in 1 season we went from 5 centres to 2.

Kris, Timoko, Sasagi, Schiller, Strange, Cotric could all handle NRL in the centres don't you think?

I'd argue Timoko and Kris are in the top 5 centre pairings in the NRL. I'm not sure anyone decent would want to come here to sit behind them. At least no one better than the backup options we already have. If we have 2 spots remaining in the top 30 where should they go?

The bolded bit:
The 1st 2 obviously. The depth is a bit of guesswork though.
Sasagi has been transitioning to the pack, but yes he would probably make a fist of it.
Schiller hasn't played much centre since coming to the Raiders, so hard to know. Though i wouldnt mind finding out.
Strange is a 6, and I hope that's where he is playing, so can't play both. He might be ok there though.
Cotric... no. He was a massive flop in the centres, here and at Dogs.

[Riaan]

Looking to the Super League - Harry Smith or Lewis Dodd would be a good option or Sanders early would be the best play. I'm pretty concerned as it is with Fogarty but if he goes down we are spoon contenders.

We are spoon contenders with Fogerty in the side, him and Woodford leading (or lack of) the team around the park is scary stuff.

[Bluesbrother]

We need to sign another Outside back looking very thin since the departures of Morkos and HSS

Regan Carr looks to be training with the top squad, you've also got Prinston Esera and Jed Stuart pushing through.
I'd like to see Prinston in the backrow this year myself as you'd expect him to fill out a bit physically

Sent from my SM-S911B using Tapatalk

We need centres, not outside backs, as we have wingers. This is funny, coz in 1 season we went from 5 centres to 2.

Kris, Timoko, Sasagi, Schiller, Strange, Cotric could all handle NRL in the centres don't you think?

I'd argue Timoko and Kris are in the top 5 centre pairings in the NRL. I'm not sure anyone decent would want to come here to sit behind them. At least no one better than the backup options we already have. If we have 2 spots remaining in the top 30 where should they go?

The bolded bit:
The 1st 2 obviously. The depth is a bit of guesswork though.
Sasagi has been transitioning to the pack, but yes he would probably make a fist of it.
Schiller hasn't played much centre since coming to the Raiders, so hard to know. Though i wouldnt mind finding out.
Strange is a 6, and I hope that's where he is playing, so can't play both. He might be ok there though.
Cotric... no. He was a massive flop in the centres, here and at Dogs.

Yeah fair call. Point is we have options and I'm not sure it's where we need to invest our remianing top 30 spots. Halves, for mine, are desperately lacking in depth.

[Bluesbrother]

Looking to the Super League - Harry Smith or Lewis Dodd would be a good option or Sanders early would be the best play. I'm pretty concerned as it is with Fogarty but if he goes down we are spoon contenders.

We are spoon contenders with Fogerty in the side, him and Woodford leading (or lack of) the team around the park is scary stuff.

I'd disagree with that. Our forward depth keeps us out of the bottom 4.