Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Signings tracker for the 2025 season
After a few tough seasons, the Kyogle Turkeys have turned to some proven winners as they look to climb up the ladder. NRRRL signings tracker.
Tweed Heads
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tweed Heads. Followed categories will be added to My News.
With the pre-season well underway, the countdown towards this year’s NRRRL competition has begun.
As clubs prepare for the season, we’ll cast our eye over the major signings and departures for the 2025 men’s campaign, kicking off with Cudgen, Tweed Coast Raiders, Lower Clarence Magpies and the Kyogle Turkeys.
KYOGLE TURKEYS
Major gains: Tahne Robinson (Currumbin), Juwaan Terekia (Tweed Coast), James Torrens (Tugun), Hayden Pratt (Rugby union), Hakeem Torrens (Northern United), Will Ingleby (Currumbin), Lionel Johnson (South Grafton), Blake Davies (Tugun)
Major departures: Josh Beech (Casino), Oliver Regan (Ballina), Ryan Walker (Injury), Dan Gibson
After a tough few years on the park, Kyogle has turned towards a host of new names – and in particular those from winning cultures – as it looks to climb up the ladder.
“We’ve signed some good players, we’ve signed some premiership-winning players from different clubs,” said new coach Shane Robinson.
“The plan was to get some guys in who have got the experience of winning competitions on the Gold Coast, even though they’re young guys. We targeted a few key areas that the club could benefit from: some speed, some game managers, some bigger boys up front and some youth.”
One of the main signings is the coach’s son, halfback and game manager Tahne Robinson, who has won two NRRRL competitions with the Tweed Coast Raiders and also tasted glory with Tugun on the Gold Coast.
He’s joined by another winner in James Torrens. The explosive centre, who finished last season as the leading tryscorer in the Gold Coast A-grade competition for the premiership-winning Tugun Seahawks, will add plenty of strike power out wide.
“He was a big target for us and we were very happy to grab him,” said Robinson.
The strike will be bolstered by the addition of Northern United playmaker Hakeem Torrens and Robinson’s nephew and former Tweed Coast Raiders fullback Juwaan Terekia, in what is somewhat of a family affair for the club.
“He’s come along to play with his cousin Tahne,” said Robinson. “It was huge to get him on the books. Just his attitude, he doesn’t like getting beat – he’s a real competitor.”
Elsewhere, the club has built on its forward pack by signing English lock/hooker Will Ingleby, who recently played for Currumbin, South Grafton prop Lionel Johnson, local junior Blake Davies and another Kyogle product in lock Hayden Pratt.
“He’s a local junior. He’s been off the scene, playing a bit of rugby, but we’re expecting big things from him,” Robinson said of Pratt. “He’s a really good player.”
The signings have been bolstered by the retention of returning Turkeys Deon Bianchetti, Layne Hardy, Lachlan Crawter, Thomas McGrady, Kaleb Dorsman and Ashton Harley, just to name a few.
“We’ve got a lot of locals who’ve been here through the tough times. I think this is going to inspire them a bit to go on to better things this year. With all the youth and these new signings, it should hopefully lead us up the ladder a little bit,” said Robinson.
The new recruits will also offset the losses of four key players that club brought in last season: prop Josh Beech, fullback Oliver Regan, centre Dan Gibson and playmaker Ryan Walker.
“They’re all very good footballers that we lost but we targeted some other areas where we thought we needed to be stronger and that’s just how it’s panned out,” said Robinson.
“They’ll be missed but there’s an opportunity for the others now.”
LOWER CLARENCE MAGPIES
Major gains: Trae Clark (Taree City Bulls), Austin Cooper (Grafton Ghosts), Tyler Essex (Sydney Roosters), AJ Hickling (South Grafton Rebels), Tristan Lumley (Retirement), Cooper Many, Lachlan Medcraft (Mudgeeraba), Oliver Scott (Grafton Ghosts)
There is a big sense of homecoming at Lower Clarence as the club looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 by bringing a host of local juniors back to the club.
“We’ve welcomed a lot of blokes back to the club,” said first grade coach Dan Kemp. “That was our agenda: to bring all our guys back home. We’ve had a lot of people who’ve gone to neighbouring clubs over the past few years so number one was to get all those guys back and we’ve done pretty well there.”
Among those returning are some of the area’s brightest young talents.
Backrower Cooper Many is back after a 2024 hampered by injury, local junior Lachlan Medcraft joins from Mudgeeraba in the Gold Coast competition, exciting young prop AJ Hickling returns after a season at South Grafton in Group 2 while Tyler Essex will once again done the black and white after spending last year with the Sydney Roosters’ Jersey Flegg side.
“Education-wise he would have benefited 100 per cent,” Kemp said of Essex. “It’s the highest level of coaching down there and he’s come back with a new look on footy – and spent 12 months in the gym – so he’s in pretty good nick. I’m pretty excited to see what he does.”
The coach is also keen to see Hickling back in Magpies colours.
“He had a disrupted year last year, he broke his jaw in the junior reps at the start of the year and only came back for half a dozen games at the end. But he had a year in the gym and he’s a good kid. We’ve got high hopes for AJ.”
Those key signatures also mark a return to the breakthrough season of 2023, where the Magpies were arguably the feel-good story of the competition as they defied the odds by charging all the way to the finals.
“The club was unlucky. After all the good stuff they did in 2023, for differing circumstances the club lost some good players,” said Kemp.
“Some guys went away and tried to play some higher-level footy in Sydney, some went to the other side of Australia for work, some went to the army and some guys went to some neighbouring clubs.
“All of a sudden that 2023 side was all split up, which made it hard. But some of those guys from ‘23 are back. And I suppose the goal is to create the mood of where we were in ‘23 and so far pre-season has been great in that respect.”
In addition to the returning juniors, the Magpies have also bolstered their squad with experienced campaigners, forward Tristan Lumley and outside back Trae Clark, both of whom have plenty of experience at Q Cup level.
“Trae and ‘Tritto’ are good mates from their time together in Q Cup, so that’s a nice little connection for the club,” said Kemp.
The club has also been buoyed by the fact that it has been able to retain its first grade squad from last season, including the likes of skipper and former NRL player Luke Douglas.
“Number one was to re-sign every player we had, even though it was a disappointing season on the field,” said Kemp.
“For the players that we believed were of first grade standard it was imperative that we re-signed them so we knew our baseline and exactly what we had to work with. Then we had to get back all the blokes who went away, and we’ve gone close to doing that, there’s only a few we weren’t able to get back. That was always the agenda.”
TWEED COAST RAIDERS
It has been a fairly stable off-season for the Raiders, who’ve kept the bulk of their young squad for 2025.
With club stalwart Drew Lanston taking over coaching duties alongside Geoff Wallis, key local players Dan Willoughby, Dan Ross, Oliver Blood and Spencer Jackson have all committed to another season in lime green.
However the Cabarita side has sought to strengthen its squad with some strike power in the form of Byron Bay and Northern Rivers representative winger Abele Atunaisa and his cousin Tuks Vota, who can play either in the back row or at centre.
“Tuks and Abele are going to be huge for us,” said Raiders vice-president and first grade utility Owen Fredericks. “They’re super committed, they’ve been to every training sessions, they train really hard and are set for a big one.”
Elsewhere, the club has bolstered its pack with the signing of former under-18s Country representative front-rower Oscar Holt, who has been on a train-and-trial deal with the Tweed Seagulls, and added a familiar face in the form of outside back Dom Murray, who returns to the club after a few years away from the game.
“He’s played a lot of A-grade, he’s got plenty of experience. He has had a few years out of the game but has won a premiership with the Raiders and he’s really keen to rip in.”
A string of local juniors have also impressed over the course of the pre-season and are expected to get a shot in A-grade, headlined by no nonsense forward Jacob Irons.
“He’s a guy who’s been in and around ressies but has been training really hard with A-grade,” said Fredericks.
“He actually broke his finger in a trial on the weekend and was at training yesterday. He’s tough as nails. We actually call him granite because he’s tough as, never says no, never gives up – just one of those people you want in your club.”
The offset the loss of club legend and former NRL star Michael Gordon, who retired at the end of the 2024, and the departure of brothers Cooper Wolf and Kwinn Wolf, who have returned to Murwillumbah.
CUDGEN HORNETS
Major gains: Malachai Dumas (Tweed Heads Seagulls), Jordan Kempnich (Villefranche XIII Aveyron, France), Jaxson Longa (Old Bar), Elliott Speed (Currumbin Eagles)
It has been an impressive off-season for the Hornets, who on top keeping the bulk of its already strong squad have bolstered it with plenty of attacking firepower ahead of the 2025 season.
“We’ve got a few pretty significant signings in our backline and outside backs in particular,” said coach Wayne Forbes.
They are headlined by that of halfback Elliott Speed, who joins the club after a successful season for the Currumbin Eagles in the Gold Coast A-grade competition.
A quality footballer in his own right who has spent some time with the Tweed Seagulls in the Q Cup, Speed’s acquisition also allows star man Caleb Ziebell to shift back into the middle after filling in at five-eighth last season.
“One of the main reasons we chased a halfback was to get ‘Buddha’ back into the forwards,” said Forbes. “Last year he was the biggest five-eighth ever. We’ll be able to push him back into his preferred position of 13, which will be able to plug even more holes and strengthen our forwards.”
Elsewhere, the club has exciting outside backs Jaxson Longa from the Old Bar Beach Pirates in Group 3 and Malachi Dumas from last year’s Tweed Seagulls reserve grade-winning side.
In addition, the Hornets will also benefit from their extensive production line, with Cudgen’s 2023 premiership-winning fullback Jordan Kempnich set to return shortly from his spell with Villefranche XIII Aveyron in the French top-tier Super XIII competition, and young utility Callum Prichard making the step up from under-18s into the first grade squad.
“He’s a pretty handy footballer so it’s a case of ‘watch this space’ with Cal,” said Forbes. “He’s just a tough, young, no-nonsense footy player.”
Originally published as Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL): Signings tracker for the 2025 season
Join the conversation
Worst areas for mortgage arrears in NSW
Soaring mortgage costs have pushed thousands of homeowners in NSW to the brink of defaulting on their loans. See who is the hardest hit.
Read more
Drunk fool who drove through cyclone flood waters fronts court
They say if it’s flooded, forget it. But it didn’t stop this drink driver who thought it would be a smart idea to cruise through flood waters during Cyclone Alfred, prompting a full-on rescue.
Read more