Veteran playmaker returns to childhood club for 2024 season

A TRL A-grade side is in the prime position for a premiership push following the signing of a key playmaker. Find out which club has inked the deal along with all the other major off-season player movements here.

Matt Duggan will line up for Wattles this year after a brief stint with the Western Clydesdales. Picture: Nev Madsen.

As the sun set on Toowoomba Sports Ground Matt Duggan hinted at the ‘end of era’ for Wattles in the wake of their 2022 TRL A-grade premiership win.

In the days and weeks after their 51-20 demolition of Gatton Hawks in the grand final, Duggan and a host of other Wattles veterans retired.

The lure of rugby league has proven too much for the veteran though. with Duggan signing on for the 2024 A-grade season with his beloved Wattles.

Duggan’s return comes after a brief stint with the Western Clydesdales last season.

Unfortunately work commitments forced him to step away from the Clydesdales after just a handful of games for the team.

Once described by 202-game NRL and Super League star Travis Burns as the TRL’s best half Duggan is the perfect addition to a Wattles side in need of good leadership.

Matt Duggan for Wattles.

Dalby Diehards

Eager to defend their A-grade premiership the Diehards have made some key off-season signings.

Former Diehards junior Sam Fermor has come home after lining up in France as part of the Australian team competing in the International Defence Rugby Competition.

Fermor, who made his Dalby A-grade debut at 17 in 2013, is back on the Darling Downs as following a career posting.

The second-rower bring experience and passion with the Fermor family ties running deep at Dalby.

The 2023 premiers also bolstered their forward stocks with the acquisition of Patrick O’Callaghan from Valleys.

O’Callaghan was a member of the Western Clydesdales side last year, playing three games in the Hostplus Cup and helped the Roosters to the grand final.

Dalby has also signed talented halfback Josh Chappell.

Chappell spent three years with the Parramatta Eels and was a part of the Sunshine Coast Falcons set up in 2023.

Goondiwindi Boars

The border club have made an exciting young signing welcoming Nathaniel Ord into their A-grade squad.

Ord was a key figure in the side’s under-19 team last year helping lead them deep into the finals.

The talented young back can play anywhere from fullback to five-eighth and didn’t look out of place in the handful of A-grade games he played last year.

Ord joins hooker Joel Holdsworth at the Boars.

A versatile playmaker, Holdsworth was a part of the St George Illawarra Dragons system and has spent the last three seasons playing in the Hostplus Cup for the Central Queensland Capras and Ipswich Jets.

Michael Hazard for Goondiwindi Hawks against Toowoomba Tigers during the 2023 AFL Darling Downs Allied Cup senior men’s preliminary final a. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Goondiwindi has also signed former player Michael Hazard.

Hazard returns to the club after spending 2023 playing Aussie Rules for the Goondiwindi Hawks.

He is a lightning quick player who is an exciting talent and will bring plenty of energy to the Boars line up in 2024.

Warwick Cowboys

The Cowboys moved quick to retain their Clydesdales aligned stars in the off-season.

Hayden Ensbey, Tui Oloapu, Nick Carrie and Brock Patti all signed deals in December.

Western Clydesdales aligned player Hayden Ensbey has agreed to join the Warwick Cowboys. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Brothers

Former Southport Tigers second row star Simi Ata has joined the Leprechauns for the 2024 season.

Brothers approached Ata after connections on the Gold Coast told them he and his family were moving to the Garden City this year.

“He’s exactly the type of player we want at the club right now,” a Brothers official said.

“Simi is a talented footballer and he brings plenty of experience to the side.

“More importantly though he is the type of character we want right now.

“He’s passionate, determined and committed to helping the club on and off the field.”

Brothers made the first big signing of the off-season when they captured the signature of Ash Taylor.

Taylor, who played more than 100 NRL games, returns to the club he once called his own as a junior as captain-coach for the 2024 season.

The former Gold Coast Titans halfback joins from Newtown, where he signed on for his first ever coaching role before later taking to the field in a handful of games later in the season.

Taylor was one of the most promising talents in the NRL before injury forced him to retire from the sport professionally in 2022.

Highfields Eagles

Eagles officials have worked hard to retain some of the players that featured heavily for the club in 2023.

Joe Cleary, Malinga Likio, Will Sheath, Connor Nichols, Dan Betros, Lachy Fanning, Jake Brauer, Kyle Betros, Josh Quinlan, Cory Haywood and Carl Clement have committed to the club for 2024.