Parramatta have ear marked Penrith Five-Eighth Blaize Talagi for a return to his junior club. The Cabramatta junior debuted for the Eels in 2024 at Centre, then signing with at the time reigning champion Penrith Panthers to partner Nathan Cleary in the halves. Talagi had a PO in his favour to stay at Parramatta for the 2025 season and declined. Come to 2026, Talagi is coming off an up and down season that led to him being seen as a rare weakness in the Panthers system. Showing ability in attack, in defence he was targeted massively. Leading to him being dropped just before finals, to him eventually finding his spot in the Centres. He then tore his achilles in the preliminary final loss to Newcastle. Leaving his future, what was expected, to being a forgone conclusion he will be leaving Penrith.
Talagi is free to talk on November 1st. Why would Parramatta be interested in Blaize? Well his versatility. Had he not been hurt in the prelim i reckon we would have had more news about his return to Parramatta. He can play Five-Eighth, Centre and Fullback. That to Parramatta and Ryles is attractive to them. Some here do not rate Blaize at all, though Ryles and those at Parramatta do, as to why Ryles tried hard to keep him for 2025.
Do they see Talagi as an option to play Five-Eighth in 2028? Possibly. A Centre option? Again, possibly. A 14 option? Less likely for 2028 but still an option. Would Blaize want to come back? I think he would for a few reasons.
Firstly, coming back to surroundings familiar to him when he took a chance and didn't work out. He will know players in the squad from both his time through the lower grades and first grade at Parramatta and also the Samoan squad with Luai, Leniu and Su'A now signed. Secondly, Ryda has signed until the end of 2029. Being able to possibly play with his brother in the future will be a draw card for him. Lastly, we have spots where he can fit in and make the spot his own. He has a chance to rebuild his career with a path to a spot in the starting 13.
Do fans want him? I think it is split. One side say yes as he is talented and is still young enough, 22 next year, to develop further. I am in that camp. Then there is other side that critique his defence and some that say stuff him as he chose to leave so therefore we shouldn't take him back. I can understand that sediment, though also kids can make mistakes. He was 19 when making the decision, saw a chance to go to the greatest team of the modern era on the brink of their 4th straight title, chance to play next to Cleary and win more comps and possibly play Origin? I think most kids that age is taking it. Plus he probably thought Ryda would follow, which he didn't.
Then is the issue with his injury. A torn achilles, to those who are athletes and done the injury before, mention it is one of the worst injuries you can do. From who i have spoken to about the injuries, in my time with local clubs, though it has a lower re-injure rate, it takes longer for a player to actually get back to their best, if ever, than an ACL injury. For Talagi, who plays in positions that require sudden movement changes and bursts of speed, it could be a while before he is back to his best.
Talagi wont be back the earliest end of March and even then, by some miracle he returns, he will come back slowly through Cup and may take some time before even being considered to play NRL. Worst case is around end of June, early July. Then he will still come back slowly and might not be fully ready to go before the season finishes. So is he worth bringing in for 2027 and taking up a top 30 spot? It is a hard one as if you feel he is back after 6-7 months, he can be worth it as by Round 10 he could be ready to go for NRL and can be used somewhere in the 19. But if not, maybe just sign him for 2028 and Penrith can deal with his recovery as they see fit.
Either way i think getting him for 2028 is ok, he will be recovered, though may have not played in over a year so that needs to be considered. What does everyone else think?
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I'd 100% consider him for 2028 with some injury/medical clauses in there given he's rehabbing an ACL. He has a lot of talent and a reasonably high ceiling that he hasn't reached yet.
I'd leave him as a Penrith problem to manage for the next season, unless they want to pass him our way early and cover almost all of the freight for 2027.
I always liked Talagi and think he will turn into an excellent player, it'd be good to have him back in the fold. Lord knows we need more depth in the positions he plays.
Achilles Cap. No ACL. I actually would have preferred he did an ACL to be fair as his return would have been easier for him.
The problem is if he stays soley with Penrith next year he may not get the support he needs to fully recover. Why would they put effort into that if he does not stay with them in 2028? The best scenario for all concerned would be for Penrith to send him our way in 2027, paying his freight (maybe minimal contribution from Parramatta) and we offer a contract for 2028+. That of course is only if he is in Parra's plans.
LF, i think the RLPA would be onto them if they do not do what is needed when rehabbing him. They signed him to a contract, they honour it.
It would be the same if he signed for 2028 and injured himself in Round 1 for Penrith, they would have to rehab him same as everyone else.
longfin that makes sense
I'd have him in centres over Penisini and Samrani.Can cover a few positions as well..
Meh, neither here nor there . As long as his offer is substantially less than we offered him to stay the first time , I'm good.
However , like Paulo. If we were negotiating with him prior to his injury , and he was baulking at our offer. I'd be super comfortable with us pulling our offer and going in another direction , simply to make a point we are no longer the cuckolds we saw inking holiday deals with the Jonah peasants , or inserting player favourable clauses.
Twice we've expressed our desire , first time he burnt us , this time he gone and fucked his leg sooooo..... maybe ya should've signed kiddo.
Penrith will pay a certain amount to offload him, offer him $1mil total for 3 years and bring him over. Not sure why he was getting $500k a year with Penrith... that's excessive for them.
He was going to be some big superstar and we'd offered 650k apparently. Now he's a broken reject, he's rediscovering his love and commitment to Parramatta after all ......
Its always after the fact the love for Parra comes through.
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