Buzz Rothfield picks his best NRL buys of the year — and those players who are yet to repay the investment
FROM the most exciting rookie to burst onto the scene in 20 years to the superstar who has yet to repay his club’s investment, PHIL ROTHFIELD gives his verdict on the NRL’s biggest transfers.
Opinion
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HE’S probably the most exciting rookie to burst onto the rugby league scene since Brad Fittler and Laurie Daley launched their careers in the 1980s and ‘90s.
A big statement but one that fits the teenage whiz-kid who has lifted the Newcastle Knights from the bottom of the NRL ladder into a highly competitive football side.
Now he’s been elevated into Queensland’s State of Origin team, Kalyn Ponga is clearly the best buy of the year and the future face of the game.
The fact he has performed so magnificently in a side with hardly the most dominant forward pack in the competition and without playmaker Mitchell Pearce makes his contribution even more remarkable.
This season Ponga leads the league with 17 linebreak assists and 75 tackle busts.
Imagine what he could do behind the Penrith, South Sydney, Melbourne or St George Illawarra pack.
And wouldn’t his old coach Paul Green regret the day he wouldn’t or couldn’t match the offer Knights coach Nathan Brown made to secure his signature.
Like every footy season, the teams that recruited the best are the most improved.
Ben Hunt has been the steadying influence and playmaker the Dragons have needed for years.
And don’t Brisbane miss him.
James Maloney at the Penrith Panthers is a brilliant signing who has stylishly steered the best young roster in the competition firmly into the top four.
Can he now steer them to the title, like he did at the Roosters and Sharks?
Blake Green at the Warriors has done unbelievably well to run the attack for what was previously the premiership’s most inconsistent side.
Of all the clubs the Wests Tigers probably made the best recruitment decisions.
Benji Marshall, Corey Thompson and Russell Packer have lifted a side most of us tipped to finish 15th or 16th into contention to play finals footy.
Not every club has been astute with new signings.
It’s fair to say Bryce Cartwright at the Gold Coast and Jack Bird at Brisbane have been the most disappointing considering the size of their salaries.
Check their stats. Cartwright has missed 32 tackles and failed to make a linebreak.
And this is the player who burst onto the scene two years ago with almost as much fanfare as Ponga.
Bird has no linebreaks or tries and has broken only 12 tackles in his eight matches and has let in seven tries. He is not a shadow of the player who contributed so much as a rookie in the Sharks’ 2016 grand final winning team.
There have been others to struggle as well. Brad Arthur signed Kane Evans from the Roosters to put some mongrel into Parramatta’s pack. He’s hardly been sighted.
Jarryd Hayne is in the flops category at this stage of the season, mainly due to his injury setbacks.
The same with Kieran Foran at Canterbury. He tries his heart out each week but has been playing wounded and struggling to make an impression.
And then you have the group in which the jury is still out on.
Cooper Cronk was the biggest off-season signing of them all. Has he done better than Mitchell Pearce? Only time will tell.
The same with Josh Reynolds at the Tigers. He’s on huge money but has played just one full game.
At the Sharks, Matt Moylan had a sluggish start (23 errors) but has gradually come good with 12 try assists.
He’s the sort of player who could find himself in the best buys category by the end of the season.