Dragon David
SGI NSW Cup
News is that Luciano Leilua has signed a 3 year deal with the Catalan Dragons from 2027. Sloan, Cook now Leilua. Maybe Ryan Carr could get a few more Dragons like Lawrie and Sele as well.
Recruitment & Retention 2027
- Thread starter jodragon40
- Start date
RedVHeartbeat
SGI NSW Cup
What? Moved into top 30 finally. Got a list. Hearing TPH is there also, fully deserved both. Hutcho?
RedVHeartbeat
SGI NSW Cup
Think you will find that pair are going to Ryan Carr's Castleford Tigers David. Luch to Catalan, another Dragons side. He is gonna enjoy having Lewis Dodd and Toby Sexton calling the shots rather than super halves, Flanagan, Hunt. I reckon I am gonna follow Catalan Dragons next yr. John Cartwright has lost Tino's kid brother tho so he will be on the lookout for a replacement prop. Doubt Blocka is up to filling that position.
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Dragon David
SGI NSW Cup
Geezus, thank you for correcting me Ritchie. I just got all mixed up - so Sloan and Cook to the Castleford Tigers and Leilua to the Catalan Dragons. Well I might be following both then Ritchie.
RufusRex
SGI NSW Cup
TPH may be to keep Loko happy .. they came through together. Will need it confirmed though.
Dave03
SGI NSW Cup
I'm a bit uneasy about the Blore deal unless it's a great value for money contract. Keaon arriving next year means mins will be at a premium for our fwds. I guess he fills the age & experience gap but a bit worried, especially after our deals for other experienced fwds backfiring.
Dave03
SGI NSW Cup
In for the long haul: Loko doubles down with Dragons
Loko Pasifiki Tonga not only wants to stay on the field longer for St George Illawarra each week, he wants to stay with the Dragons beyond his current contract ending in 2027.
www.nrl.com
Love reading he wants to stay at the club longer.
Mailroomsgi
SGI NSW Cup
That’s excellent to hear, coming off his best first grade performance
The different body shapes of our forward pack next year is a deadset joke (in a good way)
Not many teams can definitively say their pack is better than ours in ‘27
If Drinkwater/Metcalf/Liddle all play as well as we know they can play it’s got finals potential
The different body shapes of our forward pack next year is a deadset joke (in a good way)
Not many teams can definitively say their pack is better than ours in ‘27
If Drinkwater/Metcalf/Liddle all play as well as we know they can play it’s got finals potential
Dragons4me
SGI Jersey Flegg
This was exactly the same situation last year. Not sure if it was ever updated, as I gave up and stopped looking. Poor effort from the club I thought.
True it's good to hear, but the proof is in the pudding. Get the contract signed Loko and stop leaving everything to your manager.In for the long haul: Loko doubles down with Dragons
Loko Pasifiki Tonga not only wants to stay on the field longer for St George Illawarra each week, he wants to stay with the Dragons beyond his current contract ending in 2027.
Love reading he wants to stay at the club longer.
Justadragon
SGI NSW Cup
Well now its all up to the club, the Couchies, LPT we need to get this done and lets not forget Halangahu
RufusRex
SGI NSW Cup
No it isn’t
blacksafake
SGI Jersey Flegg
Agree & has that awkward running style which makes him hard to tackle but didn’t he re-sign
Edward
SGI NSW Cup
Plus they are going to be under salary cap stress for the next decade with that Dylan Brown deal.
TheRev
SGI NSW Cup
Although its a good problem to have (compared to this conversation at the start of 2026), we do need 2027 depth to make an impact:
- We need Fullback cover, unless Gutho is considered to be it.. if indeed he is still here.. but I dont think we would want to risk a year with a slow fullback if Drinky copped a serious injury...
- Hooker I guess we have 1yr of Watson as Cooks replacement.. but we do need a 3rd body given Liddles injuries, and it does seem like they want Waston more as a 13 or 14 anyway.. so we need 1 more to cover injury and play in NSW Cup.
- Halves we are ok.. we have Reed and LKT there, and either Kyle (if not replaced) or Hammoud somewhere in the squad.
- Wing/Ctr is still a work in progress.. we must have some signings coming.. plus maybe we are relying on Heidke to replace Feagai..
- The rest is ok I think, like the pack we have enough flexible options with Couchies and Stewart to cover things unless its an injury catastophe..
RandomDragon
SGI Jersey Flegg
I ran some numbers for the 2028 squad (because I'm bored), assuming the salary cap is $12.5m (not confirmed). The general rule of thumb is to spend 80% of your cap on your top 17, this is what I have ran for 2028 so far using 62% of the cap (% the player is taking up of the cap is more indicative because the $ amount doesn't really matter as the cap changes year to year)
| Position | Squad | Salary | % of Salary Cap |
| 1 | Drinkwater | $950,000.00 | 7.60% |
| 2 | Sami | $400,000.00 | 3.20% |
| 3 | 0.00% | ||
| 4 | 0.00% | ||
| 5 | Setu Tu | $200,000.00 | 1.60% |
| 6 | Atkinson | $600,000.00 | 4.80% |
| 7 | Metcalfe | $900,000.00 | 7.20% |
| 8 | Keaon | $1,000,000.00 | 8.00% |
| 9 | Liddle | $450,000.00 | 3.60% |
| 10 | Toby Couchman | $800,000.00 | 6.40% |
| 11 | Egan | $500,000.00 | 4.00% |
| 12 | Ryan Couch | $700,000.00 | 5.60% |
| 13 | Stewart | $500,000.00 | 4.00% |
| 14 | 0.00% | ||
| 15 | Loko | $400,000.00 | 3.20% |
| 16 | Halangahu | $400,000.00 | 3.20% |
| 17 | 0.00% | ||
| Total | $7,800,000.00 | $12,500,000 |