Recruitment & Retention 2027

[RedV01]

Flano has obiously had a 1st grade career whether was extended by dad is another thing, you dont get picked up by the roosters if they dont see something.

Rorters make their fair share of recruitment blunders. Obviously KF was one. Only difference with them is that their blunders never seem to negatively their overall cap.

 

[jodragon40]

Flano has obiously had a 1st grade career whether was extended by dad is another thing, you dont get picked up by the roosters if they dont see something.

With Kodi/Metcalf obviously our starting 6/7 next year the bench jumpers 18/19 will have one spot for one of Atkinson/LKT/Kyle/Reed

To me that is the order they would be picked in however that is a lot of halves depth impacting our ability to have more effective 3/4 depth. Would not suprise me at all if Atkinson/Kyle have had the conversation about wont stop you leaving if you get an offer. Atkinson should be the more sellable of them.

LKT/Reed are at the moment one thing the others are not and that is cheap.

Agree, would love to have insight on their plans for LKT and Reed. Mind you I believe LKT is only contracted until the end of the 27 season same as Flanagan whereas Reed is locked in until the end of the 29 season so that gives you an indication

 

[RufusRex]

Reed obviously the one they want to take over
I heard that the club are so impressed with LKTs iteration this time around that they may actually try to onsell atkinson. Kyle has been on the shop shelf a while now but we dont shed him without considerable freight being added.

 

[Illusion]

I rate him highly as a backrower but not so much as a centre. I'm backing Heidke.

I remember coach Flanno used him in the centre against the Shark for one game and out played their centre , then did not see him again ........ Dont know to much about Heidke , so ill go with what your saying .......

 

[RufusRex]

Have mentioned before - Nick is an absolute blunt instrument. Footy IQ takes 2nd place to run hard and belt blokes.
As a centre would have a very limited shelf life/skillset ... the finesse on backline plays may not be there ..

He does have merit as an edge forward though, tighter in running hard and drawing defenders in on his decoy lines. I still would prefer a bit more "footy player" but at times you need the sledgehammer and in our team going forward we dont have too many of them.

If he could play in tighter and run those Spencer Leniu off the back fence carries through the middle he may have more value into the team.

 

[redv13]

Have mentioned before - Nick is an absolute blunt instrument. Footy IQ takes 2nd place to run hard and belt blokes.
As a centre would have a very limited shelf life/skillset ... the finesse on backline plays may not be there ..

He does have merit as an edge forward though, tighter in running hard and drawing defenders in on his decoy lines. I still would prefer a bit more "footy player" but at times you need the sledgehammer and in our team going forward we dont have too many of them.

If he could play in tighter and run those Spencer Leniu off the back fence carries through the middle he may have more value into the team.

People need to remember that Nick is a back rower who had never played centre prior to 2025 when he was thrown out wide due to necessity and he has done his job. His debut vs the sharks out wide was strong, plenty of meters, strong defensively and wasn’t out of place that night against legitimate first graders.

Centre is a very tough position to play both in attack and defence. Not bad considering he is a forward and he just turned 22 years of age. Ideally he should be on the bench as a backrower and thrown out wide if needed due to injuries during a game.

2027 can be a turning point for him if he can stay healthy. He’s a bull that could develop very nicely. He’s aggressive and loves the contact, runs great lines and has a quick play the ball and is very strong defensively.

 

[RufusRex]

People need to remember that Nick is a back rower who had never played centre prior to 2025 when he was thrown out wide due to necessity and he has done his job. His debut vs the sharks out wide was strong, plenty of meters, strong defensively and wasn’t out of place that night against legitimate first graders.

Centre is a very tough position to play both in attack and defence. Not bad considering he is a forward and he just turned 22 years of age. Ideally he should be on the bench as a backrower and thrown out wide if needed due to injuries during a game.

2027 can be a turning point for him if he can stay healthy. He’s a bull that could develop very nicely. He’s aggressive and loves the contact, runs great lines and has a quick play the ball and is very strong defensively.

Yep ... agree with this ... centre by necessity not ability and dealing with it ...
Put a bit more weight on him and i think he has a role in the team if we dont recruit a better edge.

He provides impact which is something Couchies/Hamish/Egan dont do.

My bench for Round 1 next year (Assuming no extra edge)
Watson, Loko, Halangahu (the three we absolutely use)
Nick, LKT, Webster (use tactically or if injury hits)