NRL Offseason Week 7: Player Transfers

NRL Offseason Week 7: Player Transfers

Oscar Pannifex

We’re barely into our second week without rugby league but there’s already plenty to discuss across a turbulent player market.

While we all wait to see where Ben Hunt lands for 2025, other chess pieces are falling into place around him, headlined most recently by Terrell May, Clint Gutherson and Josh Addo-Carr.

With movements still to come, let’s dive into some of the big player transfer news for NRL season 2025.

Are the Wests Tigers really finals relevant in ‘25?

I can’t be the only one in a group chat that lit up with Wests Tigers rhetoric this week.

The socials produced their inevitable overreaction to the acquisition of Terrell May (admittedly an astute signing in a position of dire need for the Tigers) on Monday, officially declaring Wests’ recruitment drive over.

With May, Royce Hunt, Jack Bird, Jarome Luai, Jeral Skelton and Sunia Turuva all arriving at the club over the offseason, there’s a bit of the 2022-23 Bulldogs about this evolving Tigers squad.

They’ve managed to attract a marquee name (Luai) and the flow-on effect of that can be seen in the quality of cattle recruited since.

It’s undoubtedly an improvement on what Benji Marshall had to work with this season, but is it enough to see the Tigers immediately become finals relevant in season 2025?

I’m not so sure.

As always, combinations and cohesion are a sorely underrated aspect of rugby league.

How does an on-the-ball half like Luai – who is officially transitioning into the halfback role for the first time in his NRL career – combine with a similarly high-volume playmaker like Lachlan Galvin?

Can two running halves and a ball dominant hooker in Api Koroisau help to get the best out of emerging fullback Jahream Bula?

Can May and Hunt improve this forward pack enough to earn a revamped spine the looks they need in attack?

I’m tipping marked improvements from Wests across the board in season 2025, but they’re not just competing against their current or historical form.

How this new-look Tigers squad stacks up against the rest of an improving competition now becomes the question.

Profiling Ryles’ roster rebuild

Just a few weeks ago, Parramatta fans were welcoming new Head Coach Jason Ryles to the club.

Since then, they’ve farewelled three of their biggest names (and earners) in Maika Sivo, Clint Gutherson and Reagan Campbell-Gillard.

It’s no secret we’re going to see a very different Eels outfit in season 2025, headlined by Zac Lomax and Josh Addo-Carr on the edges.

Where Lomax plays will be debated all the way up to Round One (and probably beyond) but regardless of the number on his back, he’s going to be a kick target for Mitchell Moses in good-ball.

The best attacking kicker in the NRL playing for the best aerial target in the game right now is a winning formula that opposing teams will be forced to consider, while the speed of ‘The Foxx’ on the far edge can help to stretch the defence across the field.

Rebuild is an ugly word in rugby league circles but Parramatta’s top heavy list has been crying out for one for a few years now.

I’m expecting we’ll see another few names added to Ryles’ roster between now and February that will provide a few more hints as to how the Eels might look in 2025.

How do the Dragons replace Hunt?

He’s the domino that started this whole transfer merry-go-round and we’re no closer to learning how St George-Illawarra plan to replace their marquee man.

Clint Gutherson is a wonderful pickup for Shane Flanagan and will join Damien Cook and Valentine Holmes as senior leaders at the club.

Not only do we know what we’re going to get from these three each week, but the standards they set for training, prep and rehab will be invaluable for this young Dragons roster.

With Gutherson an option at five-eighth or fullback, the Dragons have options themselves in the player market right now.

Lachlan Ilias has been mentioned as a potential halfback target but he profiles very similarly to Kyle Flanagan as a conventional playmaker.

A little higher up the list and Ryan Papenhuyzen is suddenly an option at fullback while one of Daniel Atkinson or Will Kennedy could become available depending on what Cronulla do with Nicho Hynes, moving forward.

Further left-field and will guys like Adam Douiehi or AJ Brimson be looking for an opportunity in the spine given the competition for spots at their respective clubs?

Where does the last piece of the puzzle finally fall?

It feels like Ben Hunt has been linked with just about every other NRL club over the past few weeks.

Redcliffe felt almost too obvious when the news first broke and since then Brisbane, Gold Coast, Easts, St George and Canterbury have added themselves to the list.

You can make a case for most clubs (now that Hunt has declared his main priority is not to return to QLD but is instead to win a premiership) with Brisbane, Easts or Redcliffe feeling the most likely at time of writing.

I want to throw another hat in the ring, however.

Wayne Bennett has form in getting big deals done before the media catches a sniff of the story.

He’s got history with Hunt and he’s also made no secret of his desire to win a premiership now he’s back in Redfern.

You could argue that slotting Hunt into Souths’ No.7 jumper very quickly makes them NRL premiership relevant again, and the recent reports linking Lachlan Ilias with St George only adds fuel to the fire…

Where do you think Ben Hunt will land in 2025, and what players do you hope your club targets for next season? Let us know in the comments.

Written by Oscar Pannifex | RLWAPPAREL.COM