The NRL is considering a hard-line stance on player transfers by only having one signings window at the end of the season, in line with the AFL system.
Rugby League Central is considering its options to overhaul the controversial signings system in the wake of a spate of players signing with new clubs more than 12 months out from the start of their new deals.
Teams are having their rosters decimated with Parramatta losing Reed Mahoney (Bulldogs), Isaiah Papali’i (Tigers), Ray Stone (Dolphins), Marata Niukore (Warriors) and Oregon Kaufusi (Sharks) for 2023 before a ball was kicked this season and Melbourne facing a similar purge with Dolphins recruits Felise Kaufusi, Kenny Bromwich and Jesse Bromwich, and Roosters-bound Kiwi international Brandon Smith departing.
CEO Andrew Abdo said the NRL was negotiating with the Rugby League Players Association about the signings system as part of the collective bargaining agreement discussions.
He said a system which also included a mid-season transfer window was also one of the options on the table.
“That’s all up for debate and I don’t know where we will land,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “
“We’ve put forward natural opportunities to think about the window, particularly the main one being at the end of the season. Following the grand final, having then an opportunity for players, agents and clubs to engage and interact, and have everything done in the off-season is probably what clubs are after to give teams the ability to begin their pre-season knowing what their full squad is.”
Transfer windows generate plenty of interest in other professional sports like football, the AFL, NBA and NFL. Currently, the NRL allows for players to negotiate and sign with rival clubs from November 1 in the year preceding the final season of a contract.
Eels coach Brad Arthur told SEN Radio on Thursday morning that the current system was flawed.
“I’m don’t know what the right answer is. From a player’s perspective, they want their future sorted,” he said before adding that players at all clubs are professional enough to continue putting in for their team before joining their new one.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Walker needs to improve defence: Ennis
Roosters five-eighth Sam Walker needs to improve his tackling technique or he will continue to be targeted by opposition attackers, according to Fox League analyst.
The former premiership-winning Sharks hooker said he played alongside a five-eighth in James Maloney who also missed a lot of tackles but was not a liability.
Walker has missed 18 tackles in three outings this year as the slightly built 19-year-old looks to build on his impressive rookie campaign in 2021.
“You look at when Walker came in and I think it’s been glowingly refreshing to watch a kid come in and play the way that he plays. I think we all agree with that,” Ennis said on NRL 360 on Wednesday night.
“But if you look at the Roosters and the Bondi wall that they talk about, which Cooper [Cronk] was a huge part of that,Cooper was very good defensively. You look at some of the other great halfbacks like Joey [Andrew Johns], even Nathan Cleary at the moment. They are really good defensively.
“We do expect a lot of young kids but defensively as well, it’s tough, the NRL. And physically the more he keeps missing, the more he is going to get targeted. But I think he is going OK.”