NRL pre-season training camps: Rookie Raiders show their wares, Jackson Hastings gets to work at Knights
The Raiders welcomed a batch of fresh faces to their first pre-season training session, while at the Knights and Titans some unexpected veterans joined their teammates in the sweat box. See the pictures.
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Canberra coach Ricky Stuart’s baby-faced revolution is in full swing in the nation’s capital.
Former Parramatta youngster Ethan Sanders and ex-St George Illawarra rising centre Savelio Tamale were spotted among the first crop of players to kick-off Canberra’s pre-season.
Stuck behind Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown at Parramatta, Sanders, a highly touted Eels junior, defected from the western Sydney club in search of a starting opportunity in the halves.
He’ll spend the summer in a halves battle with Ethan Strange but is viewed as a succession plan in the no.7 jumper to Jamal Fogarty, who is signed until the end of 2026.
Tamale, a hard running tackle busting centre who can also cover on the wing and at fullback. will also be pushing for round one selection but like Sanders is likely to be a depth player in 2025.
The under 19’s NSW representatives were joined by Origin teammate Myles Martin on day one. The former Newcastle SG Ball captain and lock forward has also joined the top 30 for 2025.
The rising trio are part of Stuart’s youth policy and have been added to a Raiders roster already boasting young talent including the likes of Kaeo Weekes, Xavier Savage and Chevy Stewart, who all returned to training this week.
At the Knights, Jackson Hastings was part of the second crop of players to report to training amid ongoing speculation about his future at the club.
Hastings is signed until the end of 2025 but was dropped to reserve grade at the back end of last season after reportedly falling out of favour with coach Adam O’Brien.
But with O’Brien unable to settle on a halves combination in 2024, a solid summer from Hastings could see the experienced playmaker fight his way back into the side for round one.
Star fullback Kalyn Ponga isn’t due to start pre-season until November 21 but has been spotted at training in the gym.
On the Gold Coast, Titans skipper Tino Fa'asuamaleaui was on hand to offer some moral support as coach Des Hasler hit players with a yoyo test – a running drill that measures a player’s endurance levels – on the first day of training.
It was a brutal welcome for rugby convert Carter Gordon, who is eyeing a round one centre spot.
But Gordon instantly impressed, finishing first in the yoyo test, during his first ever NRL pre-season.
Gordon wasn’t the only one feeling the pain, the tough day at the office left most players strewn on the training paddock.
Fa'asuamaleaui spent two weeks in America last month rehabbing his ACL injury and is expected to be back into full training after Christmas.
New recruit Reagan Campbell-Gillard and David Fifita, who had off-season ankle surgery, will return in the coming weeks.
FLANNO’S BRUTAL DAY ONE SURPRISE FOR DRAGONS
Shane Flanagan has a brutal reputation when it comes to pre-season training and the St George Illawarra coach wasted no time in living up to it this week.
Flanagan hit the first crop of returning players, including young forwards and twins Ryan and Toby Couchman, with a surprise 20 kilometre road run on the first day of training on November 2.
Players arrived to what they thought would be a routine day only to be told they had to run from their base at WIN Stadium to Mount Keira and back again.
The brutal run was designed to test the condition that players had returned to training and set the tone for the rest of the summer. Fitness and conditioning has always been a cornerstone of Flanagan’s training regimens.
Rookie playmaker Lyhkan King-Togia, who also completed the road run, is preparing for a huge pre-season with Ben Hunt’s halve spot up for grabs for round one.
Flanagan’s non-representative top-30 stars will starting arriving for pre-season from November 15.
Corey Allan, who suffered an ACL injury last pre-season, will also start training that same week as he pushes for Round 1 selection.
New recruits Damien Cook and Valentine Holmes won’t arrive in Wollongong until December, when Parramatta skipper Clint Gutherson is also expected to start training once his immediate switch to the club is finalised.
The Dragons officially offered Gutherson a three-year deal from 2025, worth around $2.5 million, after the veteran fullback passed a medical assessment.
Wingers Sione Finau and Christian Tuipulotu will remain on a modified program in the early weeks of pre-season with both players managing troublesome hamstring injuries.
Forward Hame Sele has been restricted to training in the gym but has been cleared for full-contact training in late November after he was diagnosed with pericarditis following a medical episode, thought to be a heartache, during a clash against Canterbury in August.
WARRIORS: WRESTLEMANIA IN NZ
Across the ditch, Warriors coach Andrew Webster had his young players hit the wrestling mat in the first week of training, were the likes Ali Leiataua, Jacob Laban and Zyon Maiu’u were put their paces.
The sessions have been run by New Zealand UFC flyweight Kia Kara-France, who was brought in as the club’s wrestling coach in 2023.
Defence will be a key focus for Webster after the Warriors crashed out of the finals race last year after a top-four finish in 2023.
While Penrith premiership winner James Fisher-Harris won’t report to training until the new year, Panthers rookie Jet Cleary started his journey to the NRL with the Warriors earlier this week.
SOUTHS: MITCHELL’S STUNNING TRANSFORMATION
Cheer up South Sydney fans, the big guns are back.
The Rabbitohs, reeling after a season of disappointment, were given renewed hope that this season would be different as superstars Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton, Cody Walker and Campbell Graham wasted no time kicking off their pre-season training.
Mitchell, Wighton and Graham all hit the ground running on day one of Souths’ pre-season.
The trio, along with the likes of Lachlan Ilias and new face Euan Aitken from the Dolphins, weren’t expected back until November 18.
However, Mitchell and co have been heading to the club’s Heffron Park base over the off-season as they rehabilitate from long-term injury.
On Wednesday, they joined their younger teammates on the training track as they stepped up their rehabilitation.
Cameron Murray had successful surgery on the wrist injury he sustained while on Kangaroos duty.
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) November 6, 2024
Procedure was to repair his scapholunate ligament - will spend 6 weeks in a brace with the Rabbitohs saying a return date is TBD. Usual recovery range is 3-5 months post surgery.
Mitchell, who is recovering from a foot injury, cut a svelte figure as he was put through his paces in a sign of his desire to get off to a fast start under seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett.
Last week, this masthead revealed that Mitchell had demolished a bar in his family home and replaced it with a gym, complete with weights, and a sauna.
Bennett had warned his troops to the 2025 pre-season in peak fitness or face consequences.
The Rabbitohs will also need a fast start on the field in a bid to avoid a repeat of last season, when the Bunnies slumped to nine from 10 losses to open their 2024 campaign.
Star centre Graham missed all of 2024 after he succumbed to a sternum injury but will be available for Round 1 selection.
Another looking to impress the master coach is former Manly forward Josh Schuster.
The back rower was handed an NRL lifeline by Bennett and the Rabbitohs after a messy break-up with the Sea Eagles, with the club agreeing to release him from the final three-years of his deal.
Ilias’ future at South Sydney remains uncertain and he’ll spend the summer in a halves duel with new-signing Lewis Dodd. Englishman Dodd won’t report to training until early December.
Caretaker coach Ben Hornby will continue to run training sessions in the pre-season until Bennett arrives later this month.
Former Parramatta trainer Trent Elkin has also joined the club.
EELS: NEW-LOOK COACHING CREW
Jason Ryles has officially ushered in a new era at Parramatta as the coach got a first glimpse of the club’s brightest prospect on the opening day of pre-season training.
Parramatta’s next generation of stars, including Charlie Guymer and Richard Penisini, were put through their paces on day one under the watchful eye of Ryles.
Ryles’ newly appointed assistants Nathan Brown and Sam Moa also kept a close eye on proceedings on Monday, as the Eels desperately attempt to turn around their on-field fortunes after missing the finals for a consecutive year.
Guymer, a highly-rated forward, played two games in 2024 and a strong pre-season will put him in the frame for selection come round one.
Guymer, who was part of the title winning SG Ball (under 19’s) side in 2023, committed his future to the club until the end of 2026 after his management requested permission to talk to rivals earlier in the year.
Penisini, the younger brother of Eels centre Will, is back at training after missing the entire 2024 due to an ACL injury.
Boom prop Sam Tuivaiti also has a chance to impress Ryles over the summer as the front rower edges closer to an NRL debut. Tuivaiti was promoted into the top 30 for 2025 and is poised to add fresh legs to the Eels’ ageing forward pack.
Penrith recruit Isaiah Iongi, who is poised to replace skipper Clint Gutherson at fullback will arrive for his first day as an Eel in late November.
Senior players like Junior Paulo and Dylan Brown will trick back from next week.
But marquee recruit and former Dragons winger Zac Lomax won’t report for training until Christmas, alongside side his Kangaroos teammate Mitchell Moses.
TIGERS: ROOKIE’S EARLY RETURN
Boom rookie Lachlan Galvin was among 20 Wests Tigers players to hit the ground running for coach Benji Marshall’s first day of pre-season at Concord, which featured a new-look training kit.
Players reported to the club’s centre of excellence on Monday, sporting a new orange training shirt with the word ‘EMPOWER’ embossed on the front along with three Tigers in the shape of a heart.
Empower is the Tigers Foundation community program and will remain on the training kit while the club searches for a new major sponsor.
But it also shapes as the perfect theme to springboard the side into the gruelling summer ahead, as Marshall begins preparations for the upcoming season after the club slumped to three-straight wooden spoons in 2024.
Galvin wasn’t officially set to begin training until next week after representative duties with the Prime Minister’s XIII but eager to kickstart the club’s 2025 campaign, the 19-year old cut his holiday short.
Galvin won’t get to start working on his halves combination with new marquee recruit Jarome Luai until late December. But the four-time Penrith premiership winner has indicated he would report to Concord sooner than expected.
For now, Galvin will be left to work on his spine combination with Jahream Bula. Bula is back on the training field after a shoulder reconstruction in August, but will be restricted to running duties early on. The fullback will be available for round one selection.
Around 12 more senior players will start training from November 18 including skipper Api Koroisau, David Klemmer, Adam Doueihi, Justin Olam and new recruit Jack Bird.
Fellow newcomers Royce Hunt and Jeral Skelton will report to Concord in the first week of December.
In Newcastle, the club’s youngsters continued to trickle back to training on Monday.
Emerging prop and HSC student Cody Hopwood, 18, who is widely considered the best front row prospect in the country, reported for his first ever NRL pre-season on Monday.
But Hopwood, a two-time Australian schoolboys and NSW Under-19s Origin representative, will replace the training field for an exam hall on Tuesday.
“I actually have an exam tomorrow so I won’t be at training. But after that, I’ll be back here and ready to rip in,” Hopwood said.
“I would have come in to training for free if they’d let me just for the experience so to get paid to do something I love is pretty awesome.”
South Sydney also began pre-season preparations on Monday but players won’t hit the training field for the first time until Wednesday.
New coach Wayne Bennett will welcome his more senior troops like Latrell Mitchell until November 18.
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Originally published as NRL pre-season training camps: Rookie Raiders show their wares, Jackson Hastings gets to work at Knights
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