Surely we are looking for a 6?

[SunnyCoastChook]

It is pretty clear that a Sandon Smith/Walker combo is unlikely to win us a premiership. My thoughts are the movement of May has us looking at a 6 coming in.

Take a look at the two best teams (Penrith and Melbourne) who have elite players at 1, 6, 7 and 9 (even 13 as well). They then fill the rest of their roster with lesser paid players who when playing with these players improve out of sight. Looking ahead we are definitely short a 6 and we have enough young forwards to field a decent pack.

Options? Dylan Brown? Any others?

[King Salvo]

Sandon Smith/Sam Walker have only played one game as a half combo: round 3 vs Souths (Roosters 48, Souths 6).

Way too early to make such a statement, especially with Sam Walker out for at least 1/2 the season.

Give them a chance to shine, borrowing somewhat from Isabelle Kelly's NRLW GF winning speech

The Storm had the best spine in 2024 and were no chance of beating Penrith, who never got out of third gear in the GF.

Penrith lose Luai, so not sure who will be their 5/8 and whether that player will work as Luai was a vital cog in their success over the past 4 odd years—out of Talagi, Schneider, or Laurie.

The Roosters need to promote the youth who have come through the pathways systems the same as what Penrith have been doing mostly these past 6 or so years.

[SunnyCoastChook]

I don't know King the Panthers spine of Edwards Luai Cleary and Kenny is up there!

I understand what you are saying re: Smith and Walker I just don't know if they compliment each other. Both are pretty small

[Fishwa]

I just think we are a club that doesnt do 're-building years'

Yes we are a club that always has a strong group of players coming through that need time to develop, but they are then mixed with big name, seasoned players - and if we have to go to market to get that - we do. We have also shown we will go to market for a player that fits the culture and maybe only slightly better than what we have.

you only have to look at our Gains V Losses to see we will bring players in - sure we may have upgraded some players (Angus, Walker etc) but still i dont think means we dont have money in the kitty

so with that in mind (and the recent May development....) - yep - i can see us getting a quality 6 and/or Centre - who - no idea......

["gaz"]

I thought a "Centre", a "6" and a "9" would be considered additions to the team too however:

Centre ------ No interest shown for Lomax or Holmes by the club however they did try for Gagai mid season for short term contract only
6 and 9. ---- No interest in Hunt shown by club however they did try for Shaun Johnson for short term contract only. Then picked up Chad Townsend a couple of months later.

Strangely they went for Fifita mid season.

Who is on the market for 2025? Not much - so Toia, Nawaqanitawase, Billy Smith, Pauga, Sandon Smith, Townsend and Moriarty and others will get there chance to perform on the big stage
Who is on market for 2026?

So lets say we go for Dylan Brown at 1 Million a season
Is he worth 1 Million a season ? Will he improve under us? Will we win a premiership because we bought him?

[Schooner]

Dylan Brown resigned with eels till end of 2025 but with options in his favour each year till 2031. Probably not likely to leave. It would have been good if we had kept Ethan Sanders but we still have Jake Elliot who should step up in the next year or so.

[ChookMaster]

I just think we are a club that doesnt do 're-building years'

Yes we are a club that always has a strong group of players coming through that need time to develop, but they are then mixed with big name, seasoned players - and if we have to go to market to get that - we do. We have also shown we will go to market for a player that fits the culture and maybe only slightly better than what we have.

you only have to look at our Gains V Losses to see we will bring players in - sure we may have upgraded some players (Angus, Walker etc) but still i dont think means we dont have money in the kitty

so with that in mind (and the recent May development....) - yep - i can see us getting a quality 6 and/or Centre - who - no idea......

Oh stop it with this bullshit. We are no different to many clubs at the moment. “ We don’t do rebuilding years “ and why not? What have we done to prevent a rebuilding year? Sweet FA. Now talk of Cheese leaving after next year.. it seems like the club has acknowledged their mistakes and want to redo the squad.


Im getting tired for this myth - “ Roosters are a powerful club and don’t miss out on their man “. We haven’t signed anyone at all and haven’t done jack shit the last few years. It is what it is but to keep falling back on this “ We’re the roosters the almighty who aren’t prone to refreshing the squad “ is ridiculous.

[ChookMaster]

I thought a "Centre", a "6" and a "9" would be considered additions to the team too however:

Centre ------ No interest shown for Lomax or Holmes by the club however they did try for Gagai mid season for short term contract only
6 and 9. ---- No interest in Hunt shown by club however they did try for Shaun Johnson for short term contract only. Then picked up Chad Townsend a couple of months later.

Strangely they went for Fifita mid season.

Who is on the market for 2025? Not much - so Toia, Nawaqanitawase, Billy Smith, Pauga, Sandon Smith, Townsend and Moriarty and others will get there chance to perform on the big stage
Who is on market for 2026?

So lets say we go for Dylan Brown at 1 Million a season
Is he worth 1 Million a season ? Will he improve under us? Will we win a premiership because we bought him?

There’s been ample opportunity for nick and robbo to close some deals for next year… Holmes would’ve been nice however we’re going to back an injury prone player who hasn’t lived up to his expectation at all and a union player who is untested in D

[Schooner]

Our recruitment seems to have been off since about 2020. We have brought in players who havent been what we hoped and we seem to lose good players from lower grades and aren't having a lot of success with the ones we keep. This year should show if I'm right or wrong because it looks like we will be relying on these players.

[Headless Chook]

There’s been ample opportunity for nick and robbo to close some deals for next year… Holmes would’ve been nice however we’re going to back an injury prone player who hasn’t lived up to his expectation at all and a union player who is untested in D

Guys on here used to complain about Manu and Sua'li'i being turnstyles in defence. Holmes is one of the worst defensive centres in the NRL.

[Bates]

We should've signed Luai.

Major fark up!

[FlamingRooster]

I just think we are a club that doesnt do 're-building years'

Yes we are a club that always has a strong group of players coming through that need time to develop, but they are then mixed with big name, seasoned players - and if we have to go to market to get that - we do. We have also shown we will go to market for a player that fits the culture and maybe only slightly better than what we have.

you only have to look at our Gains V Losses to see we will bring players in - sure we may have upgraded some players (Angus, Walker etc) but still i dont think means we dont have money in the kitty

so with that in mind (and the recent May development....) - yep - i can see us getting a quality 6 and/or Centre - who - no idea......

2016 was a rebuilding year. Allowed us to grow players like Manu and Latrell before going on to win a double two years later. It’s obvious that the club needed a major revamp to compete with Storm and Penrith, developing younger players who have the desire to win more than some of the players we’ve had in the past is the best option going forward.

there does seem to be quite a bit of smoke around the Ponga rumour so not ruling that out, but Ponga and most signings that we’ve been linked to are not the key to the premiership, rather the last piece in the puzzle. Rn, the puzzle is incomplete. The key is having a well rounded team that’s hungry for success.

[Easts75]

Please tell me how many halves we have brought through from juniors in the last 25 years outside of Mitch Pearce ?? I will wait......

[Fishwa]

Oh stop it with this bullshit. We are no different to many clubs at the moment. “ We don’t do rebuilding years “ and why not? What have we done to prevent a rebuilding year? Sweet FA. Now talk of Cheese leaving after next year.. it seems like the club has acknowledged their mistakes and want to redo the squad.


Im getting tired for this myth - “ Roosters are a powerful club and don’t miss out on their man “. We haven’t signed anyone at all and haven’t done jack shit the last few years. It is what it is but to keep falling back on this “ We’re the roosters the almighty who aren’t prone to refreshing the squad “ is ridiculous.

ok - let me clarify further what i mean.

we arent a club that comes out and says stuff like 'we have a 5- year plan'.

the Roosters, for better or worse, are a club that believe they have the systems / pathways already well established to be successful each year. the fact the club has made the finals 11 out of the past 12 years i think shows their plan works. However, ultimately they are a club that's judged on GF success - and i think that's a bar that is very high - but also a bar the club has set for itself.

the clubs own public mantra for years has been 'we play for premierships'

now this season has been extreme in the fact a lot of big name players are leaving at once, and probably have missed the boat on some recruitment targets that would make sense (Holmes / Lomax etc), but we have gone after and missed for various reasons Shaun Johnson, Gagai and D.Fifita for next year (and these are the ones we know about) - so they are looking to sign some established first graders.

Doesnt mean it comes off or will work this year round - but i just dont think we are club that goes into any season without the thought of on field success, and has shown many many times previously they will recruit players, even on short term deals, if thats going to bring instant success.

Again, doesnt mean they dont bring young players through - in fact i think when you look at the young players they have coming through - there is a massive crop of players ready to succeed at NRL level (Whyte, S.Smith, Walker etc). so that part of the club is in good shape.

i will say however, they have put themselves in this situation with some strange decisions - Fifita meaning we lost Sitili and probably paid Angus as high as he would get anywhere, May does seem odd, B.Smith hasnt lived upto his pay packet and the Walker injury on top of Keary and both Manu and Suuali leaving has made some more urgent / exposed gaps / caught the club off guard.

so maybe next year will be a challenging year, but i still dont see it as a re-building year - cause the young talent and base is there, but i see these latests moves as 'changing direction / clearing the decks for some big signings'

[top_joe]

Mitch Moses at 7, Walker is a natural 6.