High-profile stars headline a 250-strong list of players off contract at the end of next season
MORE than $50 million worth of talent comes on the open market on Tuesday as the biggest silly season in NRL history begins — see who headlines the long list here!
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MORE than $50 million worth of rugby league talent comes on the open market on Tuesday as the biggest silly season in NRL history begins.
Some of the game’s most high-profile stars headline a 250-strong list of players off contract at the end of next season.
Rival clubs are now free to negotiate with the likes of Johnathan Thurston, Anthony Milford, Shaun Johnson, Mitchell Pearce, Semi Radradra, Darius Boyd and Valentine Holmes.
Many clubs remain in limbo as players hold off committing to deals until a decision is made on the increase to the NRL salary cap from 2018.
A monster jump from $6.7m to $10.4m will mean big pay rises for players and a scramble for signatures.
But leading player agent Steve Gillis expected to see the game’s biggest stars to lock in deals shortly.
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“You’ll be noticing player movement sooner than usual,” Gillis said. “Despite the fact no-one knows what the salary cap will be, I anticipate the majority of players will move sooner rather than later in regards to securing their futures.
“The elite players are either in negotiations or will soon commence negotiations with their incumbent clubs or with others.”
While teams like Penrith have the bulk of their first-grade squad locked in on long-term deals, the Wests Tigers face a stern test to retain off-contract stars James Tedesco, Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks and captain Aaron Woods.
Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe, who has 21 players off contract at the end of next season, confirmed the club had already started preliminary discussions to keep the vital quartet long-term.
“We are in the process of retention and acquisition and those conversations are underway,” Pascoe said. “We will be talking to the manager of those players and that will be happening behind closed doors.
“When there is an outcome we will let everyone know.”
Of the current Tigers squad, only forward Elijah Taylor remains without a contract for next season. Taylor has received significant interest from rugby union, but Pascoe said the club was confident of re-signing the New Zealand-born forward.
“Positive discussions continue,” he said.
Despite the Tigers' testing situation, Pascoe believed retention had become less complicated in recent seasons.
“If you’ve been able to establish and develop a culture from within, then I think it becomes an easier challenge,” Pascoe said. “It’s certainly still a challenge, but an easier one.”
Pascoe says the real test lies in signing new talent, especially when you’re not winning.
“It’s always challenging to attract new players unless you can offer up competitive advantages,” he said.
“Every club would be striving to achieve that through culture, team lists and facilities.
“We are certainly striving towards making sure this club is a place where players want to come to and stay at.”
The Tigers have signed Jamal Idris on a one-year deal for 2017 and Pascoe said the talented forward had already made an impact on the club.
“Jamal has been terrific so far,” he said. “Big Jamma comes in as a cult hero already.
“He is very popular among the fans and certainly has a lot of capability. He is working hard as we speak.”
Like the Tigers, the Roosters also have a host of stars off-contract in 2017 including Pearce,
Blake Ferguson, Aidan Guerra, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Dylan Napa
Daniel Tupou and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
“It’s football’s new year,” Roosters chief executive John Lee said.
“There is a systematic approach that is applied by a lot of clubs. It’s about methodically going through the prioritisation of the re-signing of players. That’s a good system to have in place and one we’ve got at the Roosters.”
Lee was adamant Pearce would be a priority re-signing, despite his well-publicised off-field indiscretions.
“Absolutely. We have put last season behind us and he has had a good off-season, a good break,” Lee said.
“We look forward to Mitchell returning and training well in the lead-up to Christmas.”
Foran only has a one-year deal with New Zealand Warriors before once again becoming a free agent.
Retaining Radradra long-term will be a major focus for Parramatta, despite the Fijian flyer previously indicating a desire to play rugby union.
It will be the same for Penrith backline duo Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Dean Whare, who are already reportedly in the sights of rivals Manly.
THE 2017 OFF CONTRACT TALENT
Jack Bird (Cronulla)
Val Holmes (Cronulla)
Ben Barba (Cronulla)
Sosaia Feki (Cronulla)
Chad Townsend (Cronulla)
Matt Prior (Cronulla)
Mitchell Moses (Wests Tigers)
Luke Brooks (Wests Tigers)
James Tedesco (Wests Tigers)
Aaron Woods (Wests Tigers)
Adam Blair (Brisbane)
Darius Boyd (Brisbane)
Alex Glenn (Brisbane)
Ben Hunt (Brisbane)
Benji Marshall (Brisbane)
Josh McGuire (Brisbane)
Anthony Milford (Brisbane)
James Roberts (Brisbane)
Andrew McCullough (Brisbane)
Josh Reynolds (Canterbury)
Aiden Tolman (Canterbury)
Will Hopoate (Canterbury)
Ryan James (Gold Coast)
Chris McQueen (Gold Coast)
Brett Stewart (Manly)
Will Chambers (Melbourne)
Jordan McLean (Melbourne)
Billy Slater (Melbourne)
Ryan Hoffman (Warriors)
Shaun Johnson (Warriors)
Kieran Foran (Warriors)
Dane Gagai (Newcastle)
Gavin Cooper (Cowboys)
Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys)
Matt Scott (Cowboys)
Tim Mannah (Parramatta)
Semi Radradra (Parramatta)
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (Penrith)
Dean Whare (Penrith)
Alex Johnston (Souths)
John Sutton (Souths)
Jordan Rapana (Canberra)
Jason Nightingale (Dragons)
Gareth Widdop (Dragons)
Blake Ferguson (Roosters)
Aidan Guerra (Roosters)
Shaun Kenny-Dowall (Roosters)
Michael Gordon (Roosters)
Mitchell Pearce (Roosters)
Daniel Tupou (Roosters)
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Roosters)
Originally published as High-profile stars headline a 250-strong list of players off contract at the end of next season
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