NRL NRL 2024 General Recruitment Thread

[Inruin]

End of 2025 we likely lose Tohu and Walker.
End of 2026 we likely lose Niukore and Capewah.
There's also Ford, Bunty and Ale that are likely on the outter imo.

That's 7 forwards potentially gone in the next 2 years, with Vaumunga, Halasima, Laban abd Zyon Maiu’u almost certain to get more game time and hopefully ready to go by 2027. I feel there's a little wiggle room in there for maybe one more young gun in there, but also that's a whole heap of experience that well be losing so I wonder if we'd be looking at a little more experience too?

Yup, plenty of players moving on in the next two seasons and there is definitely room opening up. The young players will get their chance if they are good enough to take them. A young prop like Josiah would be a good get IMO and if we snagged someone like Kini who has speed that we need, I think you would be crazy not to consider them. I don't think we are in the running for either of them mind you but we have space opening up if we were

 

[John Nick]

End of 2025 we likely lose Tohu and Walker.
End of 2026 we likely lose Niukore and Capewah.
There's also Ford, Bunty and Ale that are likely on the outter imo.

That's 7 forwards potentially gone in the next 2 years, with Vaumunga, Halasima, Laban abd Zyon Maiu’u almost certain to get more game time and hopefully ready to go by 2027. I feel there's a little wiggle room in there for maybe one more young gun in there, but also that's a whole heap of experience that well be losing so I wonder if we'd be looking at a little more experience too?

Understand Tookey but do we need a Kini
It would be a shame to lose one of these young guys who go on to bigger things elsewhere.

 

[Inruin]

Ikr- people keep comparing our unproven juniors to established internationals…
Who needs leniu, Thompson and kini when we have maiu’u, vaimaga and tuapiki….
It’s 2011 all over again.
Yeah we need to develop our juniors but keep the expectations realistic- if any of those three want to come here u sign them.

And with the number of players we have moving on in the next season or two there is space there opening up. Wouldn't lose any of the young crop that we want to keep imo and if they aren't able to make first grade their own here and move on then so be It.

 

[John Nick]

And with the number of players we have moving on in the next season or two there is space there opening up. Wouldn't lose any of the young crop that we want to keep imo and if they aren't able to make first grade their own here and move on then so be It.

If we are looking to sign Aussies why chase Kini. May as well show TT the door.
Pululu maybe a player on the up but certainly doesn't bring experience.
We should be showing faith in our youth.
This thread has been frothing about Neal and Crosby and all the Cup guys.
Sounds like Pululu isn't interested anyway

 

[Defence]

If we are looking to sign Aussies why chase Kini. May as well show TT the door.
Pululu maybe a player on the up but certainly doesn't bring experience.
We should be showing faith in our youth.
This thread has been frothing about Neal and Crosby and all the Cup guys.

The problem with our squad is there’s too many old guys and too many young guys and not enough in between.
I don’t think u can expect our current juniors to step straight into the shoes of Harris, walker, capewell while our even younger juniors fill their spots that’s why I think we’re still gonna have to do some recruiting in the next couple of years- we’re not Penrith- not yet anyway…
Take your point on puhulu though- probably not what we need- guys in their mid twenties would be the sweet spot.
Thompson would be perfect.
Kini doesn’t really hit the criteria but I’m sorry- tuapiki is never gonna be as good as him- I’d take that trade in a heartbeat.

 

[John Nick]

The problem with our squad is there’s too many old guys and too many young guys and not enough in between.
I don’t think u can expect our current juniors to step straight into the shoes of Harris, walker, capewell while our even younger juniors fill their spots that’s why I think we’re still gonna have to do some recruiting in the next couple of years- we’re not Penrith- not yet anyway…
Take your point on puhulu though- probably not what we need- guys in their mid twenties would be the sweet spot.
Thompson would be perfect.
Kini doesn’t really hit the criteria but I’m sorry- tuapiki is never gonna be as good as him- I’d take that trade in a heartbeat.

Agree with the last paragraph
Who would you like to sign as experienced forwards to fill the gap until our younger group come through. Please be realistic.

 

[Defence]

Agree with the last paragraph
Who would you like to sign as experienced forwards to fill the gap until our younger group come through. Please be realistic.

Hmmm hard to say isn’t it without knowing who would be keen.. best bet would be to look at kiwis who might want to come home- would be stoked with Thompson or nikora for example.
Wouldn’t be opposed to an Australian if the right one became available- Looking at guys who would fit the bill without breaking the bank- I like corey Jensen and beau fermor if I was to throw a dart in the dark

 

[Noitall]

The problem with our squad is there’s too many old guys and too many young guys and not enough in between.
I don’t think u can expect our current juniors to step straight into the shoes of Harris, walker, capewell while our even younger juniors fill their spots that’s why I think we’re still gonna have to do some recruiting in the next couple of years- we’re not Penrith- not yet anyway…
Take your point on puhulu though- probably not what we need- guys in their mid twenties would be the sweet spot.
Thompson would be perfect.
Kini doesn’t really hit the criteria but I’m sorry- tuapiki is never gonna be as good as him- I’d take that trade in a heartbeat.

I’ve mentioned on here before about wondering if there’s something to Tony Martin’s call to shift Tuaupiki into the halves? There were times in nsw cup this year where he was the first choice positional kicker from fullback. Has a decent kicking game and beginning to wonder if it’s being wasted back there? As he mentioned, Hughes made the shift from fullback to halfback and Tuaupiki didn’t look out of place when he played at 6 for NZA

 

[John Nick]

Hmmm hard to say isn’t it without knowing who would be keen.. best bet would be to look at kiwis who might want to come home- would be stoked with Thompson or nikora for example.
Wouldn’t be opposed to an Australian if the right one became available- Looking at guys who would fit the bill without breaking the bank- I like corey Jensen and beau fermor if I was to throw a dart in the dark

A while ago I was thinking of the Canberra guy Guhler but that is gone

 

[Noitall]

Interesting times. This must be Tohus last season you would think, Bunty likely won't be resigned, CNK and a few others haven't been extended yet. Would you be unhappy with either or both of them for 2026?

Wouldn’t be unhappy with either at all. Naufahu Whyte is still my ultimate recruit though

 

[Wrighty]

The problem with our squad is there’s too many old guys and too many young guys and not enough in between.
I don’t think u can expect our current juniors to step straight into the shoes of Harris, walker, capewell while our even younger juniors fill their spots that’s why I think we’re still gonna have to do some recruiting in the next couple of years- we’re not Penrith- not yet anyway…

@Defence You know a lot more in your little finger than I do about league so let me pose my queries as questions rather than objections by any means.

"You don't expect any of our young guys to step into the shoes of Harris, walker, capewell". Those are three hefty names to throw around as i assume you mean Harris in his pomp. Capewell played SOO this year. And Walker was one of our best players. Perhaps a better bar might be solid NRL players like TMM. Pompey, Egan, Niukore, Jazz.. Let's call those B plus players for the purposes of this conversation.
Some of those "in-between" age range players we can realistically get we could bring in unless we are talking about bringing in elite talent will be B plus players only rather than the level of Harris in his pomp, Capewell SOO player. Do you agree here or do you think we can get elite talent who are 25 to 27 years old.

Here is a thumb nail of our star juniors. When you see their experience laid out like below are they ready to step up to being at the B plus level this year in 2025 and giving 15 plus games of NRL service this year if asked?

Second question what happened in 2011 - how raw was Konnie et al when we threw them in? How many NSW cup games did they have behind them, how old were they?

Demetric formerly known as Prince turns 21 on March 15 2025
20 games NSW cup spread over 2023 and 2024
NRL pre-season 2
NRL appearances 7

Leka Halasima turned 19 on Sept 21 2024 and will play as a 19 year old next year
30 games of NSW cup spread over 2023 and 2024
1 NRL pre-season appearance
4 NRL appearances

Taine Tuapiki turned 25 on 31 August 2024 and will play next year as a 25 year old
26 games NSW cup spread over 2023 and 2024
23 games QRL largely in 2022
4 NRL pre-season appearances
11 NRL appearances

Laban will turn 21 April 17 2025
31 games NSW cup spread over 2023 and 2024
3 NRL pre-season appearances
7 NRL appearances

Ali will turn 22 Jan 9 2025
26 games NSW cup spread over 2023 and 2024
4 NRL pre-season appearances
7 NRL appearances

Zyon Maiu’u Maiu turned 21 June 29 2024
43 games NSW cup spread over 2023 and 2024
2 NRL pre-season appearances
1 NRL game

 

[Teets]

@Defence

Second question what happened in 2011 - how raw was Konnie et al when we threw them in? How many NSW cup games did they have behind them, how old were they?

Konnie debuted as a 20 year old with one year of league experience in the 20s. Pretty sure he hadn't played for Vulcans at all prior to FG.

Way too raw.

 

[Wrighty]

Konnie debuted as a 20 year old with one year of league experience in the 20s. Pretty sure he hadn't played for Vulcans at all prior to FG.

What about the other two mentioned in the same breath as him, Lolohea and Lisone? What was Konnie's story. He is in so many highlight reels. Why didn't he work out? How would proper reserve grade time have helped him?

 

[Defence]

@Defence You know a lot more in your little finger than I do about league so let me pose my queries as questions rather than objections by any means.

"You don't expect any of our young guys to step into the shoes of Harris, walker, capewell". Those are three hefty names to throw around as i assume you mean Harris in his pomp. Capewell played SOO this year. And Walker was one of our best players. Perhaps a better bar might be solid NRL players like TMM. Pompey, Egan, Niukore, Jazz.. Let's call those B plus players for the purposes of this conversation.
Some of those "in-between" age range players we can realistically get we could bring in unless we are talking about bringing in elite talent will be B plus players only rather than the level of Harris in his pomp, Capewell SOO player. Do you agree here or do you think we can get elite talent who are 25 to 27 years old.

It’s not so much about their “level”although the jury’s still out on that too but more about the leadership they can provide.
Maybe if we had hung onto the likes of ice and katoa they could’ve stepped into that void and let the younger guys keep developing at their own pace.
Even Curran Although it seems part of the reason they let him go was because they didn’t see him as leadership material.
I’m not sure if we can recruit elite guys to fill that role either but we gotta try don’t we?

@Defence

Second question what happened in 2011 - how raw was Konnie et al when we threw them in? How many NSW cup games did they have behind them, how old were they?

We had a boom crop of youngsters coming through- probably better than the current batch- everyone was convinced they were gonna be world beaters (myself included) so we put all our eggs in their basket but the future never arrived.
I think the clubs learned from that.

 

[Teets]

How would proper reserve grade time have helped him?

You know how young players tend to fuck up defensively while they're learning? Put up too soon at NRL level, fans and coaches all get pissy at them and they get tarred as useless on D which is a hard narrative to shake once you've got it.

Whereas in NSW cup no one gives too much of a shit because no ones watching so you can make mistakes, learn from them, and clean up your game without your reputation being too affected. Hit the NRL better prepared with in game reps against men instead of just your age group peers.

Cappy also talked about young players generally being up to par with the vets as far as physical fitness but tending to mentally blow out a lot of their energy prior to kick off. I'm sure the current approach of incremental first grade reps interspersed with full Cup games will hold the young tyros in good stead for the coming season.

 

[Inruin]

You know how young players tend to fuck up defensively while they're learning? Put up too soon at NRL level, fans and coaches all get pissy at them and they get tarred as useless on D which is a hard narrative to shake once you've got it.

Whereas in NSW cup no one gives too much of a shit because no ones watching so you can make mistakes, learn from them, and clean up your game without your reputation being too affected. Hit the NRL better prepared with in game reps against men instead of just your age group peers.

Cappy also talked about young players generally being up to par with the vets as far as physical fitness but tending to mentally blow out a lot of their energy prior to kick off. I'm sure the current approach of incremental first grade reps interspersed with full Cup games will hold the young tyros in good stead for the coming season.

From memory other clubs were playing their better u20s in reserve grade to give them this preparation while we seemed content with playing ours in u20's where they pretty much dominated, giving the players and fans a false sense of where they were at. I think that the way we are doing it at the moment is a better progression and will get players a lot more ready for the step to first grade.

 

[John Nick]

From memory other clubs were playing their better u20s in reserve grade to give them this preparation while we seemed content with playing ours in u20's where they pretty much dominated, giving the players and fans a false sense of where they were at. I think that the way we are doing it at the moment is a better progression and will get players a lot more ready for the step to first grade.

That was under John Ackland(iirc). Our guys dominated but only against boys.

 

[juju]

That was under John Ackland(iirc). Our guys dominated but only against boys.

It was fun to watch though... sigh

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Cappy also talked about young players generally being up to par with the vets as far as physical fitness but tending to mentally blow out a lot of their energy prior to kick off.

Ive asked a lot about why younger players needed to be slowly blooded and haven't had a satisfactory answer until now. Thanks heaps for that.

 

[Wrighty]

It’s not so much about their “level”although the jury’s still out on that too but more about the leadership they can provide.
Maybe if we had hung onto the likes of ice and katoa they could’ve stepped into that void and let the younger guys keep developing at their own pace.
Even Curran Although it seems part of the reason they let him go was because they didn’t see him as leadership material.
I’m not sure if we can recruit elite guys to fill that role either but we gotta try don’t we?


We had a boom crop of youngsters coming through- probably better than the current batch- everyone was convinced they were gonna be world beaters (myself included) so we put all our eggs in their basket but the future never ar

I am going to have a stew about your answer for a while so I can learn from it. A couple of clarification questions in the mean time.

1) Why is Capewell on that three pronged list. I can see the emminent threat of a void that Tohu Harris and Walker will create as they are only signed to the end of 2025. Capewell is signed to the end of 2026 so his "void" is less immediate.
2) The above Capewell quibble aside if we lose the leadership of Capewell, Harris and Walker and replaced them with rookies or our juniors our leaderhip stocks still look ok. We would still have JFH, Barnett, Egan, RTS and Dallin. JFH and Dallin are former Kiwis Captains. And Barnett, RTS AND Egan have all captained the Warriors. How many more leaders do we need? If anything based on some metrics Wizards of Tauranga reported we had one of the most experienced teams in the league in 2024 certainly the oldest.
3) I looked up all those players
Egan got his career going at 21 years old off the back of 18 games in reserve grade split over two seasons
Dallin started his NRL career in earnest for Penrith at 18 years old off the back of one reserve grade game
RTS - began at 18 years old for Roosters playing 6 games his first year and 25 games the next. As far as I can see he has never played a game of reserve grade. Straight into first grade.
Barnett - Barnett debuted at 21 but didn't have a decent string of games until 23 years old. He played 29 reserve grade games over two years
JFH - Played 23 games in his debut year for Penrith when 20 years old off the back of 7 games of reserve grade as a 19 year old.

4) "We had a boom crop of youngsters coming through- probably better than the current batch- everyone was convinced they were gonna be world beaters (myself included) so we put all our eggs in their basket but the future never arrived". How about this time we are more balanced and put some of our eggs in the basket but not all. As I mentioned in the recruitment thread if I was listening correctly Cappy appears to be putting some eggs in the youngsters as he said or I thought I heard him say we are holding off some our 2026 recruiting decisions until we get a read on some of our juniors and up and comers.