The Dragons face a “player cleanup” at the end of the season to stay under the head despite not recruiting new talent for next year.
St George Illawarra has Jack de Belin, Zac Lomax and Ben Hunt with a lot of money next season and are currently struggling to reach eight with an aging team.
Coach Anthony Griffin is under pressure to keep his job after two big losses and, it is said, six Dragons players are free to negotiate with rival clubs.
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Billy Burns, Poasa Faamausili, Jackson Ford, Jack Gosiewski, Josh McGuire, Tautau Moga have already been told, or have been told, that they are free to negotiate with rival clubs.
“The Dragons’ salary cap hasn’t been touched enough, ”Dave Riccio told SEN.
“They haven’t bought anyone for next year and they haven’t signed any players for next season.
“His salary cap is so tight (and) there’s not much room for maneuver.
Will the dragons seek to move Griffin? | 05:35
“They have a lot of money tied up with Jack de Belin, a lot of money tied up in Zac Lomax and Ben Hunt, obviously.
“We will see a cleaning of players at the end of the year just to try to lighten the headroom a bit.
“It’s very difficult to change the results when you can’t replenish the list and that’s the situation for the Dragons.”
MILFORD MAKES HIS CHOICE
Anthony Milford is reportedly set to pick the Dolphins over the Knights next season in a move that will see him reunite with Wayne Bennett.
Milford is about to sign a two-year deal to be the Dolphins ’No. 6 pick in time for their inaugural NRL season in 2023, according to News Corp.
The 28-year-old joined Newcastle mid-season and had been contemplating staying, but the former Brisbane star has opted to return home for family reasons.
The backbone of the Dolphins so far includes Sean O’Sullivan, Jamayne Isaac, Jeremy Marshall-King and Kodi Nikorima.
Milford played his 200th NRL game over the weekend and has impressed the Knights who were willing to sign a three-year contract.
“I’d love to sign Anthony, he’s one of the most gifted players I’ve coached,” Bennett told News Corp recently.
“He has played 200 games and still doesn’t have 30, so his best football is ahead.
“Anthony played wonderful football for the Broncos in that period when we reached the grand final in 2015. At the right club with the right coach, he will be a wonderful player again.”
Bennett continues to chase Cameron Munster hard for the 2024 season, according to News Corp.
SOUTH SEE THE BRICK EXTENSION
The Rabbitohs are set to start talks with superstar Latrell Mitchell over an overtime with the club.
A report from The Sydney Morning Heraldsuggests that Souths will close Mitchell with a three-year big money deal.
It comes after prominent rugby league journalist Phil Rothfield warned that the Rabbitohs must be careful in their negotiations with Cody Walker and Mitchell with Wayne Bennett spinning.
“The Southerners have Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell under contract for next year,” Rothfield told NRL 360 last month.
“But from November they can talk as a package or on their own with rival clubs.
“There’s a guy in Brisbane named Wayne Bennett who loves him (Walker) and is looking for a game creator.
“The problem with the Souths is that they have a history of filling negotiations.
“They had Adam Reynolds and Alex Johnston and they were all pear-shaped, so they have to do it not so publicly and without so much drama.”
It’s a safe bet that Mitchell will stick with the South Sydney colors for the future, albeit after prioritizing the Bunnies to win the selection with the Blues for Origin III.
“I’ll worry about the Souths, I’ll focus on myself,” Mitchell said on Fox Saturday’s Super Saturday coverage earlier this month.
“I just want to focus on South Sydney and myself and get well for the end of the season.”
THE EELS TRY TO CLOSE MOSES BUT IT WILL NOT BE EASY
Brent Read of the Daily Telegraph has revealed that the Parramatta Eels have their work cut out for them if they hope to retain their migback star Mitchell Moses.
Read admitted that the Wests Tigers are eager to enter the race for Moses ’signature, returning to the club that started his career.
Either way, Read believes that if the Eels want to retain the 27-year-old, it will have a high cost.
“After talking to Benji I wonder if the Tigers will look at him,” Read told Triple M.
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Mitchell Moses leading the Eels to victory over the Warriors Friday night. (Photo by Jason McCawley / Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
“As I understand it, the Tigers are very interested in Mitchell Moses and would love to bring him back to the club.
“It doesn’t hurt Mitch to have a bit of competitive tension there when it comes to negotiating a deal.
“Obviously Parramatta’s priority is to keep Mitchell because they’re desperate to do it, but it won’t come out cheap. It will cost you that seventh figure for them to have work to do.”
THE LATEST COWBOYS FILE TO ADD DEPTH TO SQAUD BASE LINE
The North Queensland Cowboys have signed former Knights and Broncos defender Gehamat Shibasaki, increasing the team’s depth just in time for the final.
With injuries starting to increase, the Cowboys quickly shrugged off Shibasaki, who has spent this year playing rugby union in Japan but spent two seasons with the Knights before his brief stint in rugby union. .
The former Knight will adapt to the Cowboys ’Townsville Blackhawks in the QLD Cup, but is expected to play in the first tier by the end of the season.
“He’s on a train and replacement contract for the rest of this season,” Cowboys coach Todd Payten confirmed to Channel 9’s Wide World of Sports.
“He’s a nice kid and he looks good training.”
DRAGONS HOLD POWER IN THE NRL DOMINO
Eels lock Nathan Brown could cause a domino effect that would cause Tariq Sims to abandon the Dragons this month.
These two are the most important names in the game that could change sides this month, and NRL players will be able to change clubs this season until August 1st.
Melbourne have signed Sims from next season and the injured club asked the Dragons last week if they would release him sooner, but that request was rejected.
Dragons striker Tariq Sims and Eels close out Nathan Brown.Source: Getty Images
However, veteran rugby league journalist Brent Read believes the storm will question him at least once again before the deadline.
If the Dragons give in, he could free up cover space to sign Brown, who the Eels have told is free to leave.
“Melbourne approached the Dragons last week and asked if they would throw (Sims) before and they said it wouldn’t happen anyway, but I don’t think that’s over,” Read told Triple M.
“I think the Dragons will have three more games before the August 1 deadline and Melbourne will be watching the results of those games closely.
“I suspect Melbourne will be back again sometime in the next two weeks and they will ask the question again and I would not be surprised if they are hit again, they will be asked again before the August 1st deadline.
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“They have some problems in terms of injury and so on, obviously Tariq will go there next year, the fact that Christian Welch won’t be back this year.”
Read on and explained how the Sims could pave the way for Brown to join the Dragons.
“The other guy I suspect we need to keep an eye on this is Nathan Brown, Parramatta’s lock, he’s now given permission to negotiate, he’s just finished a new agent, so his conversations will heat up in the coming weeks and again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he left before August 1, “said Read.
“Now I don’t know if the Dragons are interested in him, but if Tariq moved, that could open the door for the Dragons to look at a guy like Nathan Brown, and the other thing with Tariq is if the Dragons happen. To lose the next ones. three games, they drop the top eight, you drop Tariq and it frees up some money that you can use for this year or push for next year, so there are some advantages in terms of the salary cap and maybe it creates the space for someone like Nathan Brown to join the club if not this year and next.
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“I know his name was rejected, but I don’t know if they continued with that, I know the Wests Tigers are looking at Nathan Brown, I think they are the two most important names that could move before August 1st.
“If the Dragons move away from the final dispute and let Tariq Sims go, they can start looking at men over whom they haven’t made a decision for next year like Jackson Ford.
“So there are some chances that if they let Tariq go they can take a look at other guys, but I suspect they will be in the top eight on August 1st.
“But Melbourne will certainly ask …