NRL Rich 100: How to build a premiership-ready roster
One bad investment can set a club’s NRL premiership hopes back years. This is what a club has to consider when it comes to getting the balance right in a roster.
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What legendary NRL recruitment and talent scout Peter Mulholland doesn’t know about building a roster isn’t worth knowing.
Mulholland has more than 30 years’ experience in rugby league, having worked across nine clubs including the Wests Magpies, Western Reds, North Sydney Bears, Canterbury-Bankstown, St George Illawarra, Newcastle and his latest home, Canberra. He’s signed some of the greatest players and knows the difference between a value buy and a dud one.
With the inaugural NRL Rich 100 as his backdrop, Mulholland revealed a few of his secrets to design a premiership-ready roster.
EXCLUSIVE: We lift the lid on the game’s biggest earners. Check out the full list in our NRL Rich 100
MILLION-DOLLAR MAN
Despite the top-10 players earning the magical seven figures, Mulholland says there are a few more players worth in excess of $1 million.
“Because you’ve also got to remember the million-dollar figure is 10 per cent of your cap and you’ve got to be careful with how you spend it,’’ he said. “If you’ve got two or three players on that money in your club, that’s upwards of 20 per cent of your cap.
“What your $1 million player needs to be doing is playing 80 minutes for you.
“He needs to be in a position where he’s contributing directly to 70 per cent of your wins.
“He’s got to be having a direct impact and he’s got to be in one of those key positions that are involved in the game on a constant basis.
“I also think that, off the field, he needs to be a model citizen. I don’t think it’s just on the field, I think it’s the total package. Daly Cherry-Evans at Manly is doing that and Cameron Smith is doing that.’’
VERSATILITY
“I like the old Jack Gibson adage, ‘You’ve just got to get your best 17 players on the field’.
“And for that, a player’s interchange ability is important. When an edge forward can also play in the middle, when an edge forward can also play centre, they are the things that are really important in a roster.
“That gives the coach flexibility.
“You might have 26 players in your roster, but it’s really 32 when you factor in their interchange ability to play a number of positions, like Siliva Havili, who can play hooker and backrow, and Josh Hodgson, who is one of the game’s best hookers who can play halfback and play it well.
“But a young player, Harry Grant, can’t do that, But Cameron Smith can.’’
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CAP CHAOS
“Back-ended contracts kill you — but that comes from greed at the start of the contract and wanting the player.
“For me, it’s a lack of compassion for your players because you know you’ve signed them to ultimately get rid of them at the back-end.
“Panic, too, can lead to a disjointed salary cap.
“We all do it — sometimes we bid against ourselves. Player managers are very good at creating panic within yourself. They tell you, ‘You’ve got to sign him, someone else wants him.’
“And sometimes, too, coaches just want a quick fix.
“That comes from the uncertainty of NRL coaching. The poor buggers have a limited lifespan.
“You’ve got to be looking at your cap two and three years down the track because it will sneak up on you.
“I’m up to my eyeballs in the 2023 roster now.
“2021 is nearly done and dusted, so it’s my job to look after the cap for the next two years now.
“I need to be looking at players we might be able to capitalise on. I never sleep.”
Originally published as NRL Rich 100: How to build a premiership-ready roster