NRL 2021: Which team will Brandon Smith play for in 2022? Hooker depth rated
He’s one of the NRL’s most promising hookers and Brandon Smith is on the lookout for a new team, but who should be making a play for the rake?
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Does Brandon Smith’s manager know something that we don’t?
Storm star Smith is being shopped around to every NRL club - bar one. And it’s a team that could benefit the most from Smith’s signature, with the Gold Coast Titans - who were mysteriously left off the email sent around to NRL recruitment chiefs - in need of a gun hooker.
This has led to speculation the Titans could be in the mix to sign off-contract superstar Cameron Smith, who is yet to make a call on his future.
Regardless, news of Brandon Smith’s desire to leave Melbourne in search of a starting hooker role at a new NRL club in 2022 has lit up the NRL rumour mill.
The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie reported that one NRL chief executive is adamant that Smith has already decided to join a Sydney-based club.
We look at every club’s hooking depth to see how they are placed to accommodate Brandon Smith.
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BRONCOS
Jake Turpin: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 6, SuperCoach average: 49.
Andrew McCullough: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 10, SuperCoach average: 52.
Issac Luke: Yet to re-sign for 2021. 2020 games: 15, SuperCoach average: 32.
Grade: C
Comment: Reasonably well covered with youngster Turpin and veteran McCullough who returns to the club after a stint at Newcastle. Issac Luke is still training with the club but is yet to re-sign for 2021.
BULLDOGS
Jeremy Marshall-King: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 20, SuperCoach average: 52.
Sione Katoa: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 9, SuperCoach average: 34.
Grade: F
Comment: A problem spot for Canterbury and one new coach Trent Barrett will be keen to fix as part of his Belmore rebuild.
COWBOYS
Reece Robson: Contracted until end of 2023. 2020 games: 14, SuperCoach average: 56.
Reuben Cotter: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 10, SuperCoach average: 40.
Jake Granville: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 8, SuperCoach average: 30.
Grade: B
Comment: Robson is a sharp dummy half who looks to have a bright future while Cotter is a youngster on the rise.
DRAGONS
Cameron McInnes: Off contract end of 2021. 2020 games: 18, SuperCoach average: 76.
Ben Hunt: Contracted until end of 2023. 2020 games: 19, SuperCoach average: 51.
Grade: B+
Comment: McInnes has held the Dragons together for the past couple of seasons. Spent time at lock but there is no doubt his best spot is hooker while Hunt’s preference is to play halfback.
EELS
Reed Mahoney: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 19, SuperCoach average: 54.
Grade: A
Comment: Hard to see Mahoney not staying an Eel long term, has proven himself a big game player and still has plenty of upside.
KNIGHTS
Jayden Brailey: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 2, SuperCoach average: 58.
Connor Watson: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 5, SuperCoach average: 36.
Grade: B
Comment: Brailey is coming off a serious knee injury which rattled the Knights. A key man in coach Adam O’Brien’s planning and if he stays fit, Newcastle are a much better team. Watson seems likely to play off the bench or even at lock, but is another option at 9 for O’Brien.
PANTHERS
Api Koroisau: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 17, SuperCoach average: 66.
Mitch Kenny: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 5, SuperCoach average: 39.
Grade: A+
Comment: The buy of the year and Penrith won’t make the same mistake of letting him leave the club again. One of the best dummy halves in the NRL.
RABBITOHS
Damien Cook: Contracted until end of 2023. 2020 games: 20, SuperCoach average: 70.
Grade: A+
Comment: The NSW Blues and Kangaroos No.9 is locked down for the next three seasons and will be looking to add a premiership to his impressive resume.
RAIDERS
Josh Hodgson: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 9, SuperCoach average: 42.
Tom Starling: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 11, SuperCoach average: 61.
Siliva Havili: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 20, SuperCoach average: 32.
Grade: A+
Comments: Hodgson’s season-ending knee injury was off set by the emergence of breakout star Tom Starling. The Raiders know they have plenty of hooking depth.
ROOSTERS
Jake Friend: Off contract end of 2021. 2020 games: 18, SuperCoach average: 48.
Sam Verrills: Off contract end of 2021. 2020 games: 5, SuperCoach average: 16.
Grade: A
Comment: Veteran Friend has re-signed for another season but his future beyond 2021 is up in the air while young gun Verrills returns from a season-ending knee injury and is also off contract at the end of the season.
SEA EAGLES
Manase Fainu***: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 0, SuperCoach average: N/A.
Lachlan Croker: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 20, SuperCoach average: 27.
Cade Cust: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 10, SuperCoach average: 48.
Grade C+
Comment: In a huge show of faith, Manly re-signed Fainu for two seasons in September despite him being unavailable under the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy. Without Fainu, the hooking stocks are very thin at Brookvale.
SHARKS
Blayke Brailey: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 19, SuperCoach average: 49.
Grade: A
Comment: The Sharks have a good one in Blayke Brailey who looks set for a long career in the Shire. Re-signing him should be a major priority for Cronulla.
KFC SUPERCOACH NRL: 21 PLAYERS SET TO SHINE IN 2021
STORM
Harry Grant: Contracted until end of 2022 (Mutual option for 2023). 2020 games: 15, SuperCoach average: 71.
Grade: A+
Comment: Went to the next level for the Maroons in Origin after a superb year for the Tigers. Ready to step into Cameron Smith’s giant boots at the Storm.
TITANS
Mitch Rein: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 9, SuperCoach average: 49.
Erin Clark: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 10, SuperCoach average: 30.
Grade: F
Comment: Gold Coast have recruited well in the off-season with one glaring piece of the puzzle missing for coach Justin Holbrook and that is hooker.
WARRIORS
Wayde Egan: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 18, SuperCoach average: 38.
Karl Lawton: Contracted until end of 2021. 2020 games: 18, SuperCoach average: 39.
Grade: F
Comment: Another squad in the middle of a rebuild and hooker should be a position high on new coach Nathan Brown’s list of priorities with nobody knocking the door down for the Warriros in 2020.
WESTS TIGERS
Jacob Liddle: Off contract end of 2021. 2020 games: 6, SuperCoach average: 31.
Jake Simpkin: Contracted until end of 2022. 2020 games: 0, SuperCoach average: N/A.
Grade: C+
Comments: There are high hopes for Simpkin at Concord as he takes over from Harry Grant while the injury-plagued Liddle has shown plenty of ability when he gets on the park.
***Suspended under no-fault stand-down policy
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