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
But we seem to pay for more potential than actual ability Chief
Don't know what fans expect from the club when you look who are in charge.
We have a two bit CEO who would of been punted from any other club given all the stuff ups he has made and don't forget he was given the job on a platter .
Then we have one of the biggest bums to ever grace the eels club in Mark O'Neil , Mark never just like Jim was given the job based on who he knew and not on credentials, past performance or experience .
The board are not meant to have footy IQ ( it be nice though) they are reliant on Jim and Mark who both are a total disgrace who would not even get a interview at another club , the board's issue is that they don't have high standards for the club for if they did Jim and Mark would not be at the club .
If you keep expecting too much from garbage then you deserve to be disappointed.
Frank, I'd rather this board than the rabble we've had previously being equivalent to the west tigers .
Mate the place leaked like a sive before liquor and gaming through them out.
We've hired the right coach in Ryles and other appointments, and just need more success to attract the better players.
We're equivalent to the dragons at the moment, but on a better trajectory. The dragons have spent overs on old heads like Gutherson and Damien Cook but finished below us, we've brought in youth and will be better for it
Managements can go overboard on spending on stars to appeas the fans, but that's the wrong way of going about it. We've also had to contend with the previous coach who had vested interests to save himself first and foremost
The biggest mistakes by the current board was to offer too many get out clauses to individuals, but look.at Shane Richardson, one of the most shrewd Ceo's in the game today, some of those tigers players have more clauses than Santa 🎅 🧑🎄
Good response Chiefy, cannot disagree with any of that!
Tyx Popa. You've ok mate
Chiefy, every club bar the Panthers, Dogs & now us have a no PO stance. Even the Roosters, Titans, Storm (had 3-4 including Grant, Pezet etc) do POs. It's hard to plan with POs and there's not that much advantage for clubs to have them.
No mention of the gutho and rcg money, where did that go?.
HFK, Fair question. We'd have a lot for 2026 if Gutho & RCG's money could be used, but they finished up Oct-Nov 2024, which freed up 2025 cap space. I don't think people realize how much of a turnover we've had since Ryles has landed.
I understand the gap year but let's look at who replaced them,
Gutho $850k - longi $500k
Rcg $650k - De Belin $450k
That's a $550k difference right there, rough numbers but probably there abouts.
Those aren't the only two players we bought this year.
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