Ahhhh Ben

[ism22]

On face value we should have heaps of cash. What we don’t know is what upgrades have we committed to? Or need to ?That may soak up money for players about to break out. I have seen it written in a few places that we have a good academy but I have been skeptical as we don’t seem to have unearthed much in the last few years, especially compared to Penrith and Melbourne.
I have started to come to the view that the club is going to rely more on academy talent as a cost effective way to manage the salary cap into the future. I think the club are clearly of the view that they are about to have the next generation of talent emerge over the next two years and need to keep cap space for those players. That would also fit with the idea of bringing in a few veterans to babysit for a year or two and an elite recruit in certain spots.
I wouldn’t have to much hope for 2025 as it is looking like a 2016 type of year. We know that season lead to a double.

To be fair I don't think anybody's on par with Penrith and Melbourne... don't really have juniors? I reckon Bellamy's just got a particular knack for taking on ordinary players and making them shine. I guess it's called coaching? As an anecdote I've had managers who manage people into form and set them all up for promotions... then there's ones who hold you back well beyond your used by date until you become a useless cynic like them because you can't just keep creating energy/positivity out of thin air when you're giving you nothing to work with. Some managers just can't develop staff, though they seem to be able to handle strategic discussions with senior management... IMO NRL coaches can't get away with that sorta shyte. If players aren't developing under their team management then their life as a coach will be short-lived.

Personally I'm not writing off 2025 before we've even played a game. My thinking is...

- Townsend IS kinda Hunt but at the right price. A club will want to pay Hint $1.2m a year for his last 2 years. We've rightfully upgraded Walker as my little stab at where a big chunk of our $$$ has gone.

- Sua'ali'i (who looks to be the goods in yawnion but never impressed me THAT much) is gone and Mark N is in at the right price (as is Young). A backline of Teddy, Toops, Mark N, Toia/Smith and Young is still stacked to the brim. We just need to get these guys performing!!!

- The Va'a brothers are coming of age. Yes we lost JWH and May but Collins and Leniu are no deadbeats (noting JWH was suspended most of the time anyway so we're not gonna miss THAT much game-time from him). Also, there are guys like the Va'a brothers and Steep (from our systems) who are gonna be expected to step-up. A lot of that's gonna be on Robbo, who IMO has a good track record with developing forwards. Dare say we'll have a pocket of money set aside for that bigger Va'a brother when he starts replicating his dominance in the lower grades in the NRL (he will). Whyte is another one from our systems who I suspect has earned an upgrade (Gus mighta too? He was the comp's form back rower this year).

- Somewhere along the line we need a hooker until Cheese is back. Watson, Sandon and Dockar-Clay are all viable options for hooker/half/utility roles (they're all from our systems too).

[top_joe]

This is all about 2026. Big plans that require not over paying for a player like Ben Hunt.
2025 will be a tough season.

I am glad you get it. I reckon just play on without Hunt and bring all the kids in, we still have heaps of experience across the park to be competitive (top 1/2) in 2025.

[kakaruk]

Spot on bring the kids in next season these are not your average youngsters rob toia and va could surprise everyone we don’t need hunt or some other half washed up signing from the super league we have a great backline and a top attacking coach in Justin to handle them the head coach needs to get our defensive structure right as we were really bad in the finals back on the kids va really impressed me he bent the line on every carry if he can develop an offload he will be very hard to handle we need to jag a few wins until walker gets back then go on a run to the finals we will be ok next year imo

[B2B]

Ben hunt may be good for the short term but long term is not . Promote the younger player and we may be pleasantly surprised .
Look at the Panthers , they back their youth , that is the blueprint for success .

[Rooster_6]

Ben hunt may be good for the short term but long term is not . Promote the younger player and we may be pleasantly surprised .
Look at the Panthers , they back their youth , that is the blueprint for success .

Blaize Talagi, Isaiah, Papali'i, Paul Alamoti, Brad Schneider, Luke Garner, Jack Cogger, Zac Hosking & Tyrone Peachey just in the last couple of years to disagree.

Penrith like all clubs use the player market to address issues they believe they can't fix internally.

[HDTONE]

Blaize Talagi, Isaiah, Papali'i, Paul Alamoti, Brad Schneider, Luke Garner, Jack Cogger, Zac Hosking & Tyrone Peachey just in the last couple of years to disagree.

Penrith like all clubs use the player market to address issues they believe they can't fix internally.

This ^^^^^^

Our spine is weak. ZDC yeah. Nah.

A seasoned experienced player could mentor the young guys, steady the ship now JWH isn't screaming at players to lift. We did this with O'Donnell and many thought no way but it worked. Same with Coops who even played busted but him on the field got us home.

Unless there is this Plan B to do it tough next year before a big shopping spree late next year.

[Thirteen]

Ben hunt may be good for the short term but long term is not . Promote the younger player and we may be pleasantly surprised .
Look at the Panthers , they back their youth , that is the blueprint for success .

They back their youth as they have lots of it. We don’t.

[HDTONE]

Sure you have to back the young guys coming through.

BUT we're different because of the number of players who've left or at injured. 6 and maybe 7 depending on Sandon.

So nudging almost half of 17 experienced 1st grade talent with a heap of experience.

Expecting the young guys to fill that gap is a huge ask. K we got Townsend but he couldn't crack the starting side.

To me this is a massive gamble even in a rebuilding year when nothing is 100% for the season after and you risk denting morale of the squad if they aren't competitive.

Look at our squad this year and compare it to next....says it all imo

[Qld Chook]

Don't we have to spend a big share of the $4m for next next year ?

Yeah we have to spend 95% of our cap im pretty sure.

[Qld Chook]

Sure you have to back the young guys coming through.

BUT we're different because of the number of players who've left or at injured. 6 and maybe 7 depending on Sandon.

So nudging almost half of 17 experienced 1st grade talent with a heap of experience.

Expecting the young guys to fill that gap is a huge ask. K we got Townsend but he couldn't crack the starting side.

To me this is a massive gamble even in a rebuilding year when nothing is 100% for the season after and you risk denting morale of the squad if they aren't competitive.

Look at our squad this year and compare it to next....says it all imo

I agree, huge gamble, its hard to climb back up the ladder (ask the tigers). It also affects recruitment, because no one takes unders for a team who has the potential for a 'rebuild' season. Players careers are short, relatively speaking. Team culture and standards also plummet which are hard to correct.

[Qld Chook]

To be honest, I was never sold on the Ben Hunt signing. Great player, but getting older and it wasnt clear where he would land positionally. His attitude towards the end of his tenure at the Dragons also put me off.

What has shocked me is the state of our salary cap though and the fact the Bronco's are in a better position than us currently. Squad wise we have had a massive exodus and on-paper, the Bronco's are already stacked in comparison.

We must be overpaying alot of players on potential which is a worry.

[Headless Chook]

To be honest, I was never sold on the Ben Hunt signing. Great player, but getting older and it wasnt clear where he would land positionally. His attitude towards the end of his tenure at the Dragons also put me off.

What has shocked me is the state of our salary cap though and the fact the Bronco's are in a better position than us currently. Squad wise we have had a massive exodus and on-paper, the Bronco's are already stacked in comparison.

We must be overpaying alot of players on potential which is a worry.

I don't read too much into what's being said in the ppaers or online. I really don't think they have any odea about our cap. It could very well be that we could afford to go higher for Ben Hunt but the club doesn't want to go that high. Maybe they don't think he represents value for money in which case it's easier to say we can't go any higher due to salary cap issues rather tthen to say 'we don't think he's worth that money'

[Kentucky_Fried_Rooster]

I don't read too much into what's being said in the ppaers or online. I really don't think they have any odea about our cap. It could very well be that we could afford to go higher for Ben Hunt but the club doesn't want to go that high. Maybe they don't think he represents value for money in which case it's easier to say we can't go any higher due to salary cap issues rather tthen to say 'we don't think he's worth that money'

Us mugs paying to turn up weekly to watch footy have zero idea what a player is worth or how much is available in the salary cap.
Most fans say they will take under's to play for the team they support, but it's not our income source, the players don't think about that as they have maybe 10 years at most and need to build up a nice nest egg.
If I was a player and Easts offered me a 3 year deal for $500,000 a season and Souths say 3 years at $700,000 a season I'm likely signing at Souths no matter how much I love the roosters. Maybe I would have to really think hard if it was the Tigers but I see them finishing mid table in 2025 and they should be able to improve on that if they are smart.

All the players managers would have a pretty good idea what every player in the completion is on how much space the clubs have to work with.
They would know if we have $700,000 or $3,000,000 available to spend and would be negotiating players we have an interest in around that figure.
They aren't going to tell a player sign with team A on $500,000 when team B is offering $800,000 as they are looking after the financial interest of the player and themselves.

[Bates]

Us mugs paying to turn up weekly to watch footy have zero idea what a player is worth or how much is available in the salary cap.
Most fans say they will take under's to play for the team they support, but it's not our income source, the players don't think about that as they have maybe 10 years at most and need to build up a nice nest egg.
If I was a player and Easts offered me a 3 year deal for $500,000 a season and Souths say 3 years at $700,000 a season I'm likely signing at Souths no matter how much I love the roosters. Maybe I would have to really think hard if it was the Tigers but I see them finishing mid table in 2025 and they should be able to improve on that if they are smart.

All the players managers would have a pretty good idea what every player in the completion is on how much space the clubs have to work with.
They would know if we have $700,000 or $3,000,000 available to spend and would be negotiating players we have an interest in around that figure.
They aren't going to tell a player sign with team A on $500,000 when team B is offering $800,000 as they are looking after the financial interest of the player and themselves.

This.

Hunt is an experienced campaigner who is still playing rep footy. Ben and his manager won't rush and get the perfect deal for his last playing contract.

[Fishwa]

with the Bulldogs withdrawing from Hunt, leaving just the Broncos and are we still in the running but at lower $$? if thats the case, id say we are back in the running because it could come down to where he and his family want to live