Which player needs to improve at your NRL club in 2017?

WHICH player from your NRL club needs to knuckle down over the off-season and lift their game in the 2017 season?

Which player needs to lift at your club?

EVERY club needs someone to lift their game if they’re to climb the ladder in 2017.

With most teams slowly but surely beginning their pre-seasons for another premiership assault, we’ve taken a look at the players who need to go to the next level for their teams to try and win the title.

Broncos

It’s not as if Ben Hunt was some terrible liability in 2016. The Brisbane halfback had his share of golden moments and his 25 try assists, 12 line breaks and 18 line break assists are strong enough without quite reaching the heights of 2015 (27 try assists, 12 line breaks and 32 line break assists).

Ben Hunt still had a good season in 2015.

But Hunt struggled for consistency in other departments, missing more tackles than anyone else in the NRL (92) and making a career high 36 errors. For Hunt to help Brisbane back to another grand final he needs to become a more efficient playmaker and hone his short kicking game — more than once in 2015 Brisbane were hamstrung in tight matches by their halves inability to find the right kick at the right time.

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Bulldogs

For the Bulldogs to make the jump back to the top of the ladder they need Moses Mbye to become the player they know he can be. Mbye’s talents are obvious — he’s a clever ballplayer and a dangerous runner.

He led the Bulldogs in 2015 in try assists (19) and line break assists (19) and had the third most line breaks of anyone on the team (11). It was a good season, albeit an inconsistent one, but the Bulldogs need more.

When Moses Mbye plays well so do the Bulldogs.

Alongside the scrappy Josh Reynolds, Mbye needs to take more control of the team’s attack particularly in the attacking quarter.

It’s no coincidence that the Bulldogs best wins this season usually coincided with good performances from Mbye.

Cowboys

Replicating his breakout 2015 campaign was always going to be a tough task for Jake Granville.

Opposition defences kept a far closer eye on the 27-year old and as a result he saw significant drops in his try assists (nine to six), line breaks (11 to four), tackle busts (45 to 19) and metres per game (54 to 25).

Jake Granville couldn’t quite match the heights of 2015.

Granville is a quality footballer and even the best can experience a quieter season now and then but if he can find a little of his spark again the Cowboys will be even more dangerous.

Titans

You might have heard that former NFL player Jarryd Hayne joined the Titans midway through 2015. There were a couple of newspaper articles about it.

Apart from his buzzer-beating field goal at Campbelltown, Hayne wasn’t the instant success some predicted in his first six matches with the Titans.

We are yet to see the best of Jarryd Hayne with the Titans.

There were flashes of his ability at times but the former Eel looked a little short of match-fitness and was perhaps unwisely shoe-horned into five-eighth, a position in which he has never excelled.

With a full off-season under his belt, Hayne could once again be one of the most dangerous players in the competition and could be the attacking force that helps the Titans climb into true premiership contention.

Knights

Dane Gagai scored more tries for Queensland than he did for Newcastle in 2015.

Admittedly he was playing outside better players when he wore Maroon but the point remains valid.

Can Dane Gagai replicate his Queensland form at club level?

Gagai spent the first half of the season playing fullback before switching back to his preferred centre position.

With a little bit of luck and a full off-season with a settled spine, Gagai could easily become the strike centre the Knights desperately need.

Sea Eagles

Despite splashing the cash in the transfer market, the Sea Eagles were very much a team in transition in 2015. The veterans from the Des Hasler golden era were being put out to pasture one by one as the club moved towards the Cherry-Evans/Trbojevic era. Having said that, there was still a tremendous amount of talent at the Sea Eagles but they ended up missing the finals for the second year in a row for the first time since 2003-04.

The Sea Eagles will expect more out of Daly Cherry-Evans.

For them to return to the promised land, they need more out of Daly Cherry-Evans, who is supposed to be the prince of the new era after signing a 20-year, $1 billion contract last year (figure may not be accurate).

Cherry-Evans struggled for fitness last season, playing a career low 19 games, and recording his lowest totals in terms of try assists (17) and line breaks (one) since 2012.

Raiders

Canberra were built a little differently to other teams in 2016 in that a lot of their points were created from outside their spine.

When you have outside backs like Joey Leilua, Jordan Rapana and Jarrod Croker it is best not to complicate things and just give them the damn ball, but it also means that the Raiders have great scope for improvement in 2017 on the back of halfback Aidan Sezer.

Aidan Sezer took a little time to get going in 2016.

The former Titan took a while to settle in with his new club and eventually notched 13 try assists (one below his career high) but he has the ability to be even better next year, especially if he can get a full off-season training alongside Blake Austin — a shoulder reconstruction and a host of niggling injuries prevented the duo from forging their combination as early as they would have liked.

Sharks

The replacement for Michael Ennis is the only major roster concern that the Sharks must confront for their premiership defence but the question is a vital one.

As a niggling, skilful playmaker who is great at managing his forwards, Ennis was perfect for Cronulla and finding the right man to step into his shoes. Manaia Cherrington has joined the club from the Tigers and has long been regarded as a player of great promise while the other major contenders are Under 20s rake Jayden Brailey and new recruit Daniel Mortimer.

Manaia Cherrington could replace Michael Ennis as Sharks hooker.

Both players will likely find themselves in the starting 17 in Round 1 but ultimately, as they say in the classics, there can be only one.

Rabbitohs

The Burgess brothers are all massive human beings who can scatter defenders like they’re Godzilla doing work on the Tokyo skyline.

But they make errors, and lots of them. Sam Burgess made 27 errors in 23 matches in his comeback season, which is actually the lowest season total of his career (apart from 2011 when he only played four matches) while the twins combined for 20.

Sam and Tom both played plenty of good footy when they held onto the pill but George was out of sorts all year.

George Burgess struggled to get going in 2016.

His 88 running metres per game was his lowest season total since his three-game rookie season in 2012 and he made no line breaks and busted just 10 tackles (a far cry from his eight line breaks and 97 tackle busts in 2013 or even his six line breaks and 55 tackle busts from 2015). At their core, Souths are still a team who rely on their forwards to dominate matches and for that to happen regularly in 2017 they need some classic George Burgess form.

Roosters

An ill-timed knee injury in 2015 meant that Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was out of commission for 2016 until the season was just about gone and even when he returned he didn’t quite have the impact one would expect from a player of his pedigree.

A knee injury stopped Jared Waerea-Hargreaves from hitting top form.

In 14 matches he cracked the 100 metre barrier just seven times but clearly got better as he gained more fitness, running for 164, 167, 109 and 167 in his last four games.

With Sam Moa hitting the road and Sio Suia Taukeiaho to miss the first few weeks of 2017 the Tricolours need JWH to bring the pain from the get go next season.

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Tigers

Luke Brooks and Mitch Moses have long been regarded as a singular entity but until 2016 most judges would have chosen Brooks if forced to pick one of the pair for the Tigers to keep. That way of thinking has swung completely after Moses had a strong 2016 where he emerged as one of the Tigers best while Brooks struggled for fitness and consistency.

The career of Luke Brooks has stalled a little.

A Brooks, Moses and Tedesco combination is the best thing the Tigers have going for them at the moment but with all three approaching the end of their contracts Brooks looms as the man most likely to be deemed surplus to requirements should the club be forced to choose between their three wunderkinds.

The talent of the 2014 rookie of the year is undeniable, but it’s time for that talent to show itself week in, week out.

Eels

The stats say that Michael Jennings had the worst season of his entire career in 2016. His 91 metres per game, three try assists, five line breaks and 50 tackle busts were all career lows and his nine tries was the third lowest season total of his career.

The Eels need to use Michael Jennings the right way.

Part of this was due to the inconsistency in the Eels halves — Jennings is a finisher rather than a creator of tries. He can turn a half-chance into points like few others, but he’s not going to do it all on his own, particularly at this stage of his career.

So long as the Eels can consistently give Jennings the type of ball he needs, he could be a much bigger weapon for them in 2017.

Storm

Kenny Bromwich didn’t have a bad season for Melbourne and he did well when he was given significant minutes, but the Storm need far greater output from him in 2017.

Its time for Kenny Bromwich to step up.

With Kevin Proctor hitting the road Melbourne need a new right edge backrower and either Bromwich or Felise Kaufusi shapes as the likeliest candidates.

After making his Test debut last season, Bromwich seems ready to take on the extra responsibility.

Warriors

Everyone. Everyone needs to lift because this team cannot have any more excuses.

The quality in their squad is ridiculous, the addition of Kieran Foran should make them the most devastating attacking team in the competition.

There can be no more excuses for the Warriors.

Stephen Kearney has coached many of these players before in the Test side.

If the season does not end in a finals berth then it is a failure, pure and simple.

Dragons

The Dragons attack could cure insomnia and if they are to change that it needs to be because Gareth Widdop leads the way.

Widdop has attacking skills but his instincts appear to have been blunted by the prosaic structures employed by the Dragons and with rookie halfback Drew Hutchinson, Widdop has even more responsibility on his shoulders.

Gareth Widdop has the ability to lead the Dragons attack.

The Englishman has the ability to engage the line with his running game and create opportunities for himself and others but looks desperately short of confidence.

Panthers

One of the understated aspects of Penrith’s run to the finals last season was they managed to go as far as they did with an 18-year old and a backrower in the halves.

Nathan Cleary is plainly a special talent but asking him to carry that much playmaking responsibility over the course of a full season is just unrealistic.

We only got a glimpse of Te Maire Martin in 2016.

Te Maire Martin needs to replicate the good signs he showed in his limited first grade matches in 2016 and ease the pressure on Cleary.

A full off-season training alongside Cleary will no doubt make the Panthers an even more creative attacking unit.

Originally published as Which player needs to improve at your NRL club in 2017?