Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me know if I've got something wrong, and I'll update it. If this is useful I can do more of these as it doesn't take long as it's been set up already. If it's useless, I'll keep it to myself as it gives me an idea how the money might have flowed so I'm not blowing bubbles out of my backside.
Top 30 for 2026
I've left out estimated salaries.
| 1. | Mitchell Moses |
| 2. | Junior Paulo |
| 3. | Will Penisini |
| 4. | Ryan Matterson |
| 5. | J’maine Hopgood |
| 6. | Jack Williams |
| 7. | Bailey Simonsson |
| 8. | Jonah Pezet |
| 9. | Dylan Walker |
| 10. | Isaiah Iongi |
| 11. | Josh Addo-Carr |
| 12. | Tallyn Da Silva |
| 13. | Kelma Tuilagi |
| 14. | Jack de Belin |
| 15. | Ryley Smith |
| 16. | Sean Russell |
| 17. | Charlie Guymer |
| 18. | Kitione Kautoga |
| 19. | Luca Moretti |
| 20. | Matt Doorey |
| 21. | Jordan Samrani |
| 22. | Joash Papalii |
| 23. | Sam Tuivaiti |
| 24. | Richard Penisini |
| 25. | Ronald Volkman |
| 26. | Toni Mataele |
| 27. | |
| 28. | |
| 29. | |
| 30. |
Four spots left.
| Development (TBC) |
| Jezaiah Funa-luta |
| Saxon Pryke (?) |
| William Latu |
| Lorenzo Talataina (?) |
| Te Hurinui Twidle (?) |
Where the money went?
Some ballpark guestimates. The exactly figures are almost certainly different, so we might have more or less left over to spend. But it's all based on a true story...
| Player Losses 2025 | ||
| 1. | Dylan Brown (Knights) | 900,000 |
| 2. | Zac Lomax (released) | 650,000 |
| 3. | Shaun Lane (retired) | 500,000 |
| 4. | Brendan Hands (Toulouse, was on a loan | 200,000 |
| deal from July 2025, Toulouse) | ||
| so minimal get back. | ||
| 5. | Joe Ofahengaue (Leigh, mid-April 2025) | 250,000 |
| Paid 6/12 months of 2025 contract | ||
| 6. | Bryce Cartwright (released 17 June 2025) | 250,000 |
| Paid 8.5/12 months of 2025 contract | ||
| 7. | Wiremu Greig (Townsville Blackhawks) | 250,000 |
| 8. | Dean Hawkins (released, Super League) | 250,000 |
| 9. | Haze Dunster (released) | 150,000 |
| Sub-Total Estimated | 3,400,000 | |
| Add increase in cap for 26' | 150,000 | |
| Total | 3,550,000 | |
| Player Gains 2026 | ||
| And Extra Costs* | ||
| 1. | Jack De Belin | 450,000 |
| 2. | Jonah Pezet | 450,000 |
| 3. | Upgraded Ryley Smith to an NRL contract | 350,000 |
| (from Development contract) | ||
| 4. | Dylan Walker (Warriors, late March) | 250,000* |
| Only paid 6/12 months of '25 contract | ||
| 5. | Tallyn Da Silva (Wests, end June) | 250,000* |
| Only paid 5/12 months of 25' contract. | ||
| 6. | Upgrade Fox (via CO, likely extra) | 100,000* |
| 7. | Allow some upgrades to the likes of | 200,000* |
| Sam Tuivaiti, Luca Moretti, Luca Moretti, | ||
| Joash Papalii, Kitione Kautoga, Iongi etc | ||
| Upgrades/ ratchet clauses could | ||
| be more than estimated. | ||
| Total Estimated | 2,050,000 | |
| Remaining Left | 1,500,000 | |
| Four Spots Left | ||
| In Top 30 | ||
| 28 spots to be confirmed before R1, TLT | ||
| All to be confirmed by Jun 30th | ||
| 8. | A Keaon Koloamatangi Type | 800,000 |
| 9. | A Brian Kelly Type | 420,000 |
| 10. | Base Player/ Mid-Season Purchase | 140,000 |
| 11. | Base Player/ Mid-Season Purchase | 140,000 |
| Sub-Total Estimates | 1,500,000 | |
| Left over | 0 |
Bottom Line
It is likely we have enough for one to two good-quality recruits, soonish or later before June 30th, depending on how much powder we want to leave dry for any mid-season purchases and if any deals can get over the line. I'm not convinced Keaon is worth 900K-$1m and it would put him probably at no.2 or no.3 most expensive player in our roster.
Replies
Wiz, The hard cap is fixed, yes? So, if you overpay your rookies, you have less elsewhere, right? It's first grade math.
Not saying our rookies are crap but maybe shouldn't be getting the actual dollars they are right at this point in time.
Who knows, it may prove to be on the cheap if guys like Smith, Kautoga, Tuivati etc have been signed for a few years and show that 25 was not a flash in the pan.
Forget about 26 badger there's not really that much out there worth signing.The teams a 27 and beyond team
Badger, you assert our rookies are overpaid. So, how much do you think they are getting exactly? Let's give your numbers a test run. I have the spreadsheets setup, so I can plug them in and we can both have a look at the entire squad to see if there is a chance they are realistic.
Yeah, thanks but I'm not playing that game.
As I stated before, we can speculate all we want. I have my opinion and you have yours. Others have their own.
Besides our acknowledged senior players, most of the squad would have about 250 games between them.
Iongi 22 games / Pezet 18 games / KitKat 18 games / Samrani 13 games / Papalii 13 games / Tuivati 11 games / Moretti 33 games / Volkmann 7 games / Tago 8 games / Guymer 18 games / Doorey 49 games / TDS 31 games / Smith 22 games ...not sure who the rest actually are.
Possibly the club has brought forward payments and the above guys are on around market rates (plus a bit for their untapped potential). If so, I acknowledge I am mistaken. Not the first time and won't be the last.
This doesn't make sense. Every club pays a little extra for potential. Its been like that since 1908. Whats new?????
Its the same as paying veteran players like Debelin or in negotiations with Jnr paulo for half the amount that he's getting now. Thats football
Chiefy, the good clubs don't overpay their young up and comers but for maybe a few exceptions for potential superstars. The good clubs manage to keep their juniors on minimum wage and spend most of their cap on proven stars, that's how they consistently make finals and win comps.
Thats true hkf, but like I've said previously, nobody actually knows who's on what wage, they're only assuming.
People are assuming our development players are on overs as we haven't had any major significant signings of late.
Club’s can also use cap money to front load players, and thus have more to play with when more players become available
Well if Souths can have almost 5-6 players on or near $1 million, how the fuck can we only have 2 and the rest are on min to average salaries.
Something stinks and maybe we are overpaying for unrealized potential yet again.
HFK, that's quite a few that say the same thing: We're overpaying rookies. That's the vibe by social acceptance. But how much are we saying? Let's give it a test run. If we spend 10-15 mins doing a spreadsheet we might find it's absurd or next to impossible to do what they feel is fact.
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