If you had control, how would your top 30 shape up next year. Give yourself some freedom and make bold choices. You do not have to be completely realistic.
2025 - TOP 30
Current Top 30 for next year currently sit at 22 players: Outside Backs (5), Halves (2), Hookers (2),Backrow (3), Props (8), Locks (2)
- Gutho
- Penisni
- Russel
- Sivo
- Lomax
- Moses
- Brown
- Hands
- Lussick
- Tuilagi
- Doorey
- Cartwright
- Paulo
- RCG
- Moretti
- Tuivita
- Grieg
- Mataele
- Lane (also backrower)
- Ofahengue
- Matto (also backrower/prop)
- Hopgood
2024 OFF-Contract/Release
Off Contract Players:
- Simonsson
- Talagi
- Ogden
- Harper
- Asi
- Dunster
- Makatoa
- Cini
Resigning’s
Firstly need to decide who you would resign from the off-contract players. I have chosen 3 of them to resign if I had a choice. I would be keeping Simonsson despite his ACL. He will provide great competition in the outside backs once fit. I would obviously be keeping my favourite Talagi. Will be interesting if the new coach develops him as a fullback, winger, centre or five-eight. The last person I pick would be Harper on a minimum wage contract as I believe he is a good depth centre with experience.
I believe Cini and Dunster are clear releases. Makatoa is too old and I back your junior forwards coming through. Asi unfortunately does not provide quality depth but just versatility. Would rather find a safer option, especially in defence. Ogden could be kept but similar to Makatoa, I rather back our juniors.
So now my top 30 would have 25 players.
Let Go
So it has been reported that we are shopping Matto and Sivo around. Both at the best, are one of the elite players in their position. However, their form and consistency has dropped of heaps. Matto been on the outer since he took the fine. Now with these headaches and CTE symptoms, medical retirement could be an option? He probably could still play great if a new coach could get the best out of him, but I would be letting him go with his medical history and attitude.
Sivo whilst an elite finisher, has below average defensive reads and one of the worst work ethics in yardage. I would sacrifice his finishing for a winger that is sounder defensively and provides more out of the yardage. After all, he only provides that elite finishing once every 2 games. Whereas his poor defensive reads is probably the same amount and his poor yardage is every game. So the bad outweighs the good.
Paulo is on way too much money for his worth IMO. I do not think he can reach form or a level in both attack and defence for him to be worth the money he is on. Plus he is some how a leader in this group, however I do not see him poses any of those qualities. However, I am pretty confident this is no chance of happening. But I am moving him on for the purpose of this blog.
I had Lane on here, but I think he has shown he can provide value in the middle, similar to what Matto did off the bench at his best. Great PCM and offloads. Run hard. Just need someone constantly yelling at him to stay focused as he can get lazy or doze off.
So now my top 30 would have 22 players again.
Upgrading Juniors into Top 30
- MA should be off the bench already in NRL. So definitely top 30 next year for me.
- Guymer is work acholic in defence which is something we really lack. With the season done, I hope we see him debut in NRL soon.
This now takes my top 30 to 24 players.
Outside Backs (7), Halves (2), Hookers (3), Backrow (3), Props (7), Locks (2)
- Gutho
- Penisni
- Russel
- Simonson
- Harper
- Talagi
- Lomax
- Moses
- Brown
- Hands
- Lussick
- MA
- Tuilagi
- Doorey
- Cartwright
- RCG
- Moretti
- Tuivita
- Grieg
- Mataele
- Lane (also backrower)
- Ofahengue
- Guymer (also backrower)
- Hopgood
Recruitment Players
Looking at the top 30 I have created so far, we can made the following judgements about our position:
- We do not have clear backup fullback to Gutho. Unless you want to say Lomax and Talagi are options.
- We lack a quality winger, especially with Simmo out for ACL
- Have no back up halfback or five-eight. I would not consider Gutho or Talagi as depth for it.
- Are hooker depth is fine.
- Could do we have one more backrower
- Could do with a quality prop forward.
Halfback – To address the depth in halfback, I would be looking at someone like Ilias, Clifford, Sezer (my preference), a player in England or maybe someone else has suggestion. It is hard to find a quality depth halfback when lot go to England now or leave if they are not getting a starting spot. One thing is for certain, we do not use Brown at halfback
Winger – I would be chasing Blake Wilson hard and offering him a starting wing spot. We chased him last year but he stayed with dogs for 1 year. He is not their first choice player so I would try entice him.
Prop – With the money we get from releasing Paulo and Matto, I would be chasing Stefano who wants out of Tigers and may want to come back to eels. His best is in front of him.
5/8 – Talagi and Gutho are options but may be needed in their preferred positions. I am sure we could find a decent depth 5/8 somewhere. We just need one that can defend importantly. Perhaps Tyson Gamble, Hawkins, Weaver or Douheli however I recon both want a first-choice spot. May have to end up with keeping Asi if he defends better lol.
Backrow – It would be interesting if we want a dept backrower or a starting backrower. Do we trust Carty and Tuilagi as our backrowers? Have Doorey, Guymer and Lane as depth however, the last 2 seem better in the middle. Again I am sure this is a position we can easily find on the market. Stimson, Waddell, Williams, etc. I would be tempted to give Dan Keir from our cup side that position.
I would be keeping my last top 30 spot open to address roster issues that may occur during the season due to form, injuries, suspensions or promoting a junior.
Development Deal
We are only allowed 6 players on a development deal and there are many players who would be pushing for one. I will list all of them and bold the six I would choose.
From Cup:
- Martyn: I want to see him have his NRL chance like many on here. He could honestly be pushing for a top 30 spot and not just a development deal. Elite finisher, great speed and brilliant footwork. Just need to see more yardage and tested under the high ball and defence. Consistent games in cup will be the key to unleashing this raw talent.
- Tago: I rate him as a centre. Loves the physicality but does lack a bit of pace. Will be hard to get a development deal or top 30 contract given his age. However, I would love to see him get a NSW Cup contract (train and trial) rather than a RM player. These players can play from round 11. I would honestly consider getting him get a top 30 contract over Harper. But I backed the experience.
- Parker: Not a special talent but a consistent forward that does their work. A type of player every club needs. Been consistent in cup this year after being in the Flegg side. A player to keep and will push for a top 30 spot in 2026 if the likes of Grieg, Tuivita, Mataele and Moretti do not push on their development. Plus large number of forwards off-contact.
- AMS: Since he was not on a development deal last year, and age, I would give him a NSW Cup contract next year. Which is what he is on right now. Has not displayed any crazy talent for his age to say we need to lock him down.
- Richie Penisni: With the ACL injury, I recon there is a chance he returns in Flegg next year. He is still very young since he could have played SG ball this year. However, he is still very involved with the club like going to Darwin despite his injury showing how highly he is regarded.
From Flegg:
- Lynn: With Sanders leaving, he will really want to make a case. However, I personally do not think he is even NSW Cup ready yet. So I would keep him but let him bide his time in flegg still next year.
- Pryke: Has had a taste of cup. Another workhorse that loves the physicality. Been playing lock or prop in flegg however is a prop at his best. I think the club playing him in cup is a glimpse of the future.
- Almandine: I really rate the Simmo clone. Plays and looks like hm. Tackle busting winger who is great out of yardage. Good finisher as well. I would love to see him go to Cup very soon.
- Twiddle: Been killing it at 5/8 in Flegg this year as most of our points have been coming of him. Tedesco game style so can play fullback too. I recon another year in Flegg with the occasional chance in Cup is the way to go next year to see if he has that future in NRL.
- Latu: Starting to make his way to Cup after being in the flegg side. Great hitter in defence and good line speed. One to sneakily keep your eye on for the backrow.
From SG Ball (While I believe all of them have another year of SG ball in them, given the fact none of them have made the leap to Flegg this year, I cannot see them earning a development deal. However, the Flegg forward pack is stacked with talent. Funa-Latu is rated the most out of all of them by the club and is an Australian schoolboy. However, I thought Tataina and Lokeni had better seasons.
- Lorenzo Tataina
- Sebastian Pikaula
- Tyrese Lokeni
- Stevenson Hala
- Funa-Latu
From Harold Matts: (all these players played Matts this year. Whilst they move up to SG ball next year, I believe Polley is the only real chance of getting a development deal as we rarely see players so young get a development deal. But he is a really special player. An athletic version of Guymer is a top talent. Type of talent that could be ready to play NRL at 18/19 years old in the backrow.
- Polley
- Bloomfield
- Fletcher
- Ryda Talagi
2025 Final Roster
Top 30 (1 remainder):
Outside Backs (8), Halves (4), Hookers (3), Backrow (4), Props (8), Locks (2)
- Gutho
- Penisni
- Russel
- Simonson
- Harper
- Talagi
- Lomax
- Wilson
- Moses
- Brown
- Sezer/Clifford/Hawkins/Ilias
- Asi
- Hands
- Lussick
- MA
- Tuilagi
- Doorey
- Cartwright
- Keir
- RCG
- Moretti
- Tuivita
- Grieg
- Mataele
- Lane (also backrower)
- Ofahengue
- Stefano
- Guymer (also backrower)
- Hopgood
Development Deals
- Martyn
- Polley
- Pryke
- R Penisni
- Parker
- Alamadine
NSW Cup (Train and Trial Deals):
- AMS
- Tago
- Ryley Smith
- Latu
- Lynn
- Twiddle
NRL side 2025:
- Gutho
- Talagi
- Penisni
- Lomax
- Wilson
- Brown
- Moses
- RCG
- Hands
- Stefano
- Tuialagi
- Carty
- Hopgood
- MA
- Lane
- Joe O
- Guymer
Cup Team 2025
- AMS
- Russel
- Harper
- Tago * (Simonsson when fit from ACL)
- Martyn
- Asi
- Sezer/Clifford/Hawkins/Ilias
- Moretti
- Lussick
- Grieg
- Doorey
- Keir
- Parker
- Ryley Smtih (from Flegg)
- Tuivita
- Mataele
- Latu
Pushing for cup spots would be (list may continue depending on how Flegg go this year):
- Richie Penisni
- Almandine
- Lynn
- Twiddle
- Pryke
All these listed here are still Flegg eligible next year so they can start their and push for a cup chance when injuries/suspension occur as they normally would.
Replies
A lot of NFL teams fall into the trap of going for the sexy names. Like they need O-Line help badly but a top Wide Receiver prospects falls to them in Draft and they think, well let's get him then. That player does alright but O-Line costs them.
The great teams fix up the trenches. O-Line, D-Line, Edge rushers and of course QB.
Thats where we need to focus, fix up the middles by getting younger but don't buy something we do not need.
We need players who are prepared to do tough work and won't give up. Cameron McInnes, Ray Stone type players. Everyone is looking for flashy attack players but we need a centre who can defend like opacic with a fast skillful winger who works hard out of our end like Turuva or To'o.
The extra work and metres our backline give will allow us to add a defensive forward who won't give up in defence and will lead the line speed around the ruck. Look what the Dolphins did, they didn't get the flashy players (not by choice) so they bought the Melbourne pack who were known for being a solid defensive unit.
We have the basis of good team but they are getting older, slower and less mobile especially in the forwards. The bulldogs were accused of being to small in the forwards but all their players defend the 80mins. A lot of our blow out defeats have come through the ruck when we were torn apart by quick backs or forwards with better mobility.
Spot on, Coryn.
Since 2006, all except one grand final winner was top-2 defensively (2015 Cows at 4th defence).
Have you also noticed most championship teams have great attack as well?
Resilient defence builds pressure and frustration for your opponents. Pressure and momentum builds opportunities to break structured defences and mount unstructured attack - to win big moments through unstructured eyes-up footy.
If you can only play within structures, you're a very limited team.
Poor defence affects your attack. How can you play footy and throw the ball around confidently, if you can't defend errors or mistakes you make, which will happen if you want to throw the footy around. This is one reason that until we fix our defence we never will realize our full attacking potential. We can't defend any errors we make, so need to play conservative percent footy at times ("earn the right" and all that jazz).
Hard to attack when you're spending time behind your goalposts, and looking at the scoreboard. Great attack with poor defence only consistently beats crappy or downtrodden teams.
PS: If you think the 2001 Knights and 2005 Tigers prove average defence wins comps, or attack is the best defence because for the season they had the worst ranked defence in the game's history - you'd be mistaken, because when it mattered from mid-season they actually had top-2 defence (Knights needed Johns though).
Defence comes with the right coach and cattle. The point about Canterbury is that in Chriton, Kikau and JAC , those players not only give you outstanding attack but quality defence as well. Kikau and JAC maybe nor renowned for it but they are both very effective. Chriton single handedly blunted DB on Monday afternoon.
The coach maybe getting the raps along with Gus, but without that cattle the coach is no different to the other rookies out there.
Of course we have all been mystified by how the Dogs got to get all these players but unquestionably Gus had a big influence, looks like he did the old monopoly ploy and bought everything he could then sold what he didn't want before he had to account for same. Gus is probably one of the few who is credible enough to do this. Gus has also proven both at penrith and canterbury that these things can get away from you. The pie is still not baked at Canterbury "yet" and at Penrith the pie was still cooking before he had to leave.
100%.
Yep I agree with everything you said about getting leg speed and a better defender. I tried doing that with Guymer on the bench and Stefano but as you said we probably need to go for ever someone better in the leg speed and defence category than Stefano.
Hopefully a new defensive coach will help create systems to help edge defence and ruck control. Obviosuly need the players that suit these systems as well which normally favour the forwards that have good lateral movement.
Love your views EA
MA wont be staying, you can cross him out now. Its already knowledge he took it hard his dad was moved on, so he will be gone
Paulo, Matterson, Sivo, Lussick, Greig, Asi, Lane, Harper, think should be given the tap, all aged now and we need some youth to come in.
This might surprise, but unless new coach can totally fix Penisini, im ok to let him go. Doesnt do enough good things in a game, mostly gets overshadowed by his opposite. Im looking long term and for the good of a consistent top 4 team and can perform in big games and not let u down with continual poor defensive reads, and lacks speed.
We need speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed, i dont mean the allniter tablet
We need some really fit forwards with youth
Eels need to seriously throw alot at Stefano at tigers, use the Paulo money to get him.
Also need to build a stronger cup team
Stefano, is no different to anybody else, he doesn't have speed or heart, you obviously don't remember him when he was at Parra and the influence his parents had on him moving..........you read too much into the media and MA is going nowhwere, he is better away from his father and perfectly positioned to go into a FG spot at Parra either this year or next.
Stefano has matured and with the right coach using him the right way, he is worth it, he is a future Origin prop
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