NRL 2022: Players that clubs are looking to reinvent this season to improve their squads
Jack Hetherington lives his rugby league life on the edge and now he could literally be playing there as Canterbury coach Trent Barrett weighs up a move for the hardman.
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There is finite talent available on the NRL’s open market and not all of the players available fit a team’s needs.
A club’s ability to reinvent a talent and mould them to fit their playing style cannot be underestimated.
This year NRL clubs are looking to transform the likes of an Olympic medallist, breakout stars and the game’s fastest forward and put them into new roles. Their success in 2022 could hang on the result.
ROOSTERS
Renouf Atoni
Earmarked as the replacement for Isaac Liu, who was a key member of the Roosters during the entirety of Trent Robinson’s reign. In his 202 games for the club, Liu’s extreme versatility allowed him to play in the middle, on the edge or at lock.
The challenge for Atoni, 26, is to find consistency, having played just 43 games for the Bulldogs since his NRL debut in 2018.
Being drafted in as the successor for one of Robinson’s mainstays, Atoni should take that confidence in his ability to develop his ball skills further and become the Roosters’ Mr Fix-It in the forward pack. At 190cm and 110kg, he has the potential to find a place in the Roosters’ 17-man squad and feature in the first finals campaign of his NRL career.
- Russell Jackson
STORM
William Warbrick
Come on down. The Kiwi Olympic silver medallist has switched codes from rugby to join the Storm in 2022. The now former All Blacks sevens sensation doesn’t have too much of a rugby league pedigree, although he did play the game in school.
He faces a steep learning curve at the Storm, but the club is confident the 194cm, 100kg beast can fire in the NRL. If any club can reinvent Warbrick and turn him into an NRL star, it’ll be the Storm and Craig Bellamy. Expect to see him lining up on the wing, fighting with the likes of new recruit Xavier Coates, George Jennings, Nick Meaney and local prodigy Dean Ieremia for a starting wing spot.
- Nick Smart
BRONCOS
Kotoni Staggs
The explosive Staggs only managed four appearances in 2021 due to injuries and will be a huge inclusion if he can stay fit this year.
Coach Kevin Walters has aborted plans to shift Staggs into the five-eighth role at the Broncos, which makes sense given he is one of the most damaging ballrunners in the game. With that flirtation smothered, Staggs 23, can focus on becoming the game’s premier centre.
With his ball-handling ability, strength and speed, Staggs can still be a vital cog in the Broncos’ machine. If Walters can get Staggs firing then he could terrorise defences and add 20 tries to Brisbane’s potency in 2022.
- Travis Meyn
BULLDOGS
Jack Hetherington
The NRL’s fastest forward, Canterbury’s quickest player in 2021, lives his rugby league life on the edge and now he could literally be playing there.
Hetherington has been training on the Bulldogs’ left edge at times during the pre-season, with coach Trent Barrett considering him for a back-row spot to start the season.
At 190cm and 107kg, Hetherington has gained a reputation as one of the hardest-hitting props in the game. Now the Bulldogs could use the 25-year-old to bust holes in their oppositions’ edge defences.
The arrival of Paul Vaughan and Tevita Pangai Jr to bolster the Bulldogs’ forward stocks has presented the Bulldogs with an opportunity to reinvent Hetherington, who has a mutual option in his contract with the club for next season.
Penrith’s left-edge star, Viliame Kikau, will join the club at the end of the year and further enhance competition for spots in the Canterbury pack.
- Adam Mobbs
EELS
Sean Russell
An outstanding Eels junior, Russell starred at fullback for Patrician Brothers Blacktown in their 2020 NRL Schoolboy Cup grand final win, scoring a try.
Quick, good under the high ball and with impressive footwork, Russell
With captain Clint Gutherson signing on until the end of 2025, Russell, 19, won’t be a regular fullback at the Eels for some years to come.
Having debuted on the wing for Parramatta last season, scoring a double, Russell can put forward his case to for a spot in Brad Arthur’s side. Blake Ferguson is gone and Maika Sivo will miss the first two months of the season with a knee injury, leaving Russell, new recruit Bailey Simonsson and Haze Dunster the frontrunners to start out wide.
Russell’s combination with exciting young centre Will Penisi — the pair played together in juniors — will go in his favour.
- Fatima Kdouh
DRAGONS
Moses Suli
It can be easy to forget Suli is still just 23. The former Tiger and Sea Eagle has been through plenty in his short NRL career but is still yet to realise the prodigious talent that earned him a deal worth $1.3 million before he had even played first grade.
There were glimpses of Suli’s attacking talent in his four years at Manly that were undercut by defensive issues, but there is undoubtedly plenty of good football in him somewhere.
A full pre-season building combinations, working on his defensive reads and ensuring he’s rock-hard fit will put him in good stead.
If Dragons coach Anthony Griffin can get the best out of him, Suli could be a contender for buy of the year and end the season as one of the most damaging centres in the NRL.
- Nick Campton
PANTHERS
Stephen Crichton
After spending this past year shifting between centre, wing and fullback (when Dylan Edwards was injured) Crichton finally has the chance to establish himself as one of the game’s premier three-quarters. Which isn’t exactly a reinvention, but close enough for a player who has exceptional potential and now a salary to match.
Apart from now owning one of the most unforgettable grand final tries, the 21-year-old also has the chance to become one of the first players Coach Cleary picks every week, but go earn himself that Dally M Centre gong won last year by fill-in three-quarter Matt Burton, and ascend to the State of Origin arena.
- Nick Walshaw
SEA EAGLES
Ethan Bullemor
He has arrived from Brisbane to vie for a position in a pack stocked with middle forwards — the likes of Josh Aloiai, Taniela Paseka, Jake Trbojevic, Toafofoa Sipley, Morgan Boyle and Sean Keppie.
At 190cm and 110kg, the 21-year-old could be deployed as an edge option for the premiership-hunting Sea Eagles, with back-rowers at a premium in the NRL at the moment.
Haumole Olakau’atu and Josh Schuster excelled in starting edge roles in 2021 at Manly, who lost new signing Andrew Davey to a season-ending injury early in the year. With Davey fit, Bullemor can join the likes of Karl Lawton and Ben Trbovejic to push for places in Des Hasler’s 17-man squad.
All but two of Bullemor’s NRL starts have come from the interchange bench.
- Adam Mobbs
RABBITOHS
Blake Taaffe
Made his debut off the bench midway through last season and was thrust into a grand final after just seven NRL appearances.
Taaffe will continue to replace Latrell Mitchell at fullback until the suspended star’s return in round three. That gives him time to force new coach Jason Demetriou’s hand by keeping him in the Rabbitohs’ starting side.
Still only 22 and with tremendous vision and a good running and passing game, Taaffe has played in the No.1 jersey and in the halves as he’s graduated through the grades and will battle it out with Lachlan Ilias to be Adam Reynolds’ halfback replacement.
- Russell Jackson
COWBOYS
Tom Dearden
The young playmaker was meant to be the future Broncos No.7 before leaving to join the Cowboys midway through the 2021 season. And it wasn’t the fresh new start he would have been hoping for either, after suffering 10 straight losses when he joined North Queensland in June.
There’s no denying the kid has talent and plenty of it. With premiership-winning halfback Chad Townsend joining the Cowboys in 2022, Dearden will have a quality mentor to work with. Despite Dearden’s one win in his first 12 games with North Queensland, he proved he was a danger in the No.7 jersey – scoring six tries and making 26 tackle busts.
It was always going to be a challenge for the 20-year-old Dearden to come into a new club halfway through a season and turn their fortunes around but the experience of the 2021 season as well as a full pre-season with his teammates under his belt, the playmaker should be all the better for it.
- Chris Honnery
SHARKS
Nicho Hynes
It sounds odd given his tremendous form over the past 18 months. But at the Sharks, Hynes is the man. No longer the Mr Fix-It like he was at the Storm, new coach Craig Fitzgibbon will ask Hynes to run the team by returning to the halfback position he played throughout his elevation through the grades.
A fantastic ball runner and lethal in broken play, Hynes will need to show a lot more in his role at his new club, and this includes communicating and leadership.
As a Storm supersub, he also wasn’t relied upon for his kicking game, and it hasn’t been seen consistently at NRL level, although he did play in the halves throughout his junior career, leading Manly to the 2015 SG Ball grand final alongside Tom Trbojevic.
At the Sharks, that responsibility will be his, as Fitzgibbon decides whether to partner him with veteran Matt Moylan or impressive youngsters Connor Tracey or Braydon Trindall.
He has already put his hand up to be the club’s frontline goalkicker.
- David Riccio
TITANS
AJ Brimson
His move to five-eighth in 2022 will be an interesting one to watch. The Queensland Maroons representative admitted he was relishing the chance to wear the No.6 jersey, however it’s a position he hasn’t played much in following his foray at fullback.
The move allows the Titans to give Jayden Campbell a permanent spot in the team at fullback, while also getting the Gold Coast’s most creative player closer to the action, helping steer the likes of David Fifita and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui around the park.
If there’s one player in the Titans’ system who can elevate his side’s fortunes in a new position, it’s Brimson.
- Chris Honnery
RAIDERS
Corey Horsburgh
It’s been a tough couple of years for Horsburgh – he missed much of 2020 with a foot injury and struggled for fitness and form last season – but the 23-year old is a top-class NRL prop in the making. Horsburgh has the size and athleticism to make an impact with his running game as well as the passing and offloading skill required of a modern middle. So long as he has a big pre-season, cracking the Queensland Origin side is well within his capabilities next year and given Canberra’s lacklustre 2021 performance, the Raiders will need the likes of Horsburgh to step up.
- Nick Campton
TIGERS
Luke Brooks
It’s a copy and paste each season when it comes to the Tigers but how can they get the best out of Luke Brooks? His off-season was marred by suggestions he would leave for Newcastle but as has always been the case, the club backed their halfback.
He is coming off a player of the year award but the Tigers need to find his running game. The addition of Jackson Hastings could be pivotal.
Although, Brooks will never silence the critics until he leads them into the finals, something the club hasn’t achieved since 2011.
- Michael Carayannis
KNIGHTS
Phoenix Crossland
He is the most obvious choice. But as for what shape that reinvention takes? This shapes as the $64 question for Knights coach Adam O’Brien. Despite growing up as a playmaker, Crossland’s toughness and ability to defend has led to talk over the past year about him playing hooker or even No.13. Yet with Pearce now gone, the 21-year-old also finds himself on a shortlist of potential halves replacements to start the season. Better, the reports of his efforts in pre-season training have been outstanding. Which is a positive sign for the utility whose past two summers have been interrupted by injury recovery.
- Nick Walshaw
WARRIORS
Ashley Taylor
Taylor’s struggles, both on and off the field, have been widely publicised. The 27-year-old couldn’t live up to the expectations of a marquee halfback and it showed in his performances for the Titans.
But, unshackled from the weight of expectation, Taylor will have an experienced, dominant half in Shaun Johnson alongside him to carry the load. That’s something he didn’t have at the Gold Coast and it could be the key to Taylor’s success.
Coach Nathan Brown is confident Taylor can tap into his undeniable talent and finally play to his potential. But Brown knows Taylor will only be truly reinvented as a player only when that potential is reproduced on a week-in, week-out basis.
- Fatima Kdouh
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