NRL 2020: Titans’ Ryan James to sign with Canberra; Daniel Alvaro, George Jennings join Warriors
Fresh from their signing of Corey Harawira-Naera, Canberra are confident of announcing another big acquisition within days. And they aren’t the only club about to benefit from some reinforcements.
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The Raiders are poised to land a major signing that will keep their premiership window open in the shape of representative forward Ryan James.
Fresh from their signing of Kiwi Test forward Corey Harawira-Naera, Canberra are confident of announcing the acquisition of the Gold Coast club captain within days.
Meanwhile, only a few days after accusing his NRL rivals of being hypocritical for failing to help the struggling Warriors in their time of need, Todd Payten finally has some cavalry.
Parramatta prop Daniel Alvaro and winger George Jennings will join the Warriors as loan players for the next four weeks.
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Unable to gain a regular NRL starting spot for the high-flying Eels, teammates Alvaro and Jennings will move into the Warriors base at Terrigal on Sunday. The duo will train with their new team for the first time on Monday. ‘
But it’s the Raiders’ capture of James, who is currently recovering from a knee reconstruction, that is the biggest news. He has agreed in principle to leave the Titans at the end of this season to head south on a two-year deal.
James is in the process of undergoing a final medical check by the Raiders and News Corp Australia understands he has knocked back interest from the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm, to decide that Canberra will be his next home.
The Country Origin prop and Indigenous All Stars representative will take a massive pay-cut to join the Raiders, with the two-year deal a case of clever recruitment by the Raiders with the deal worth around $400,000 for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
James, 29, has told the Raiders he wants to come to Canberra to give himself the best chance to win a premiership.
The Titans’ longest-serving player having made his debut for the club 10-years ago, the 112kg forward was off-contract at the end of this season and will leave the Gold Coast with a heavy heart after featuring in 144 NRL matches for the club.
A big middle-man with quality footwork for his size, James was on the cusp of a NSW State of Origin call-up in 2018, brought into Blues coach Brad Fittler‘s squad as a shadow player.
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James and Harawira-Naera will provide the Raiders with adequate cover in the forwards in 2021, following the decision by John Bateman to quit the club.
The move south is a career-defining switch for James who hasn’t played since his right knee collapsed in April, 2019.
While the COVID lockdown delayed his rehabilitation — from what is his third knee reconstruction — James told News Corp Australiain an interview last month that he believes he will be ready to start full training as soon as the 2021 pre-season begins.
After undergoing hamstring grafts for his first two knee operations, James opted for a quad graft this time and has been amazed at his recovery.
“I’m feeling pretty strong,” he said.
“It’s been a totally different rehab program with the quad graft. With hamstring grafts you’re always tentative around your hammy.
“Last year I tore my hammy trying to take off my shoe. I’ve been a lot more comfortable getting around.
“Once you start running everything feels normal again. If everything goes to plan I will be ready to start pre-season.”
The signing of James is likely to impact the Raiders’ plan to loan Broncos young gun Ethan Bullemor.
Canberra management spent Saturday deciding whether they had enough room in their cap to bring Bullemor straight into their squad this week.
They are considering scrapping the idea.
The arrival of Alvaro and Jennings at the Warriors comes as they prepare to lose wingers David Fusitu’a and Ken Maumalo plus middle forwards Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa, who are all returning home for family reasons on Monday. A fifth player, Leivaha Pulu, another middle forward, has already reunited with his family in Auckland.
Payten said on Wednesday the exodus of players from his squad would leave him with just 22 fit players to choose from for the remainder of the season. He doubled down on his NRL rivals by questioning why only rookies and untried NRL players were being offered to the club.
“There are several clubs and coaches that will publicly say we’re (Warriors) doing a great thing and would love to help us out and do anything to do it, but when it comes to the crunch, they’re not. So that’s disappointing,” Payten said.
Alvaro and Jennings will become the third and fourth loan players the Warriors have used so far this season to boost their playing resources in the wake of a heavy injury toll and also players returning home.
The Eels pair join the Warriors following other loan players including Roosters prop Poasa Faamausili, who was with the side for four games in June, and Penrith’s Jack Hetherington, who played his fourth match for the club against the Roosters on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re hugely appreciative of the support from (head coach) Brad Arthur and the Eels as well as the NRL for the work they’ve done in making this happen,” Warriors recruitment manager Peter O’Sullivan said.
“We realise all clubs are under pressure through injuries, so this is a fantastic gesture from the Eels to help us at a time when we’re certainly thin on players.”
Alvaro and Jennings have been used just once by the Eels so far this season.
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Originally published as NRL 2020: Titans’ Ryan James to sign with Canberra; Daniel Alvaro, George Jennings join Warriors