Mooney, Stonestreet, Tevaga, Butcher would be nice additions. I wouldn't want Cotric anywhere near the starting line-up. He has had his day.
James Schiller is definite NRL standard, crazy to think he’s still playing NSW Cup.
He’d be a brilliant centre/winger signing for us and wouldn’t come at a big cost either.
We will definitely need a big bodied winger to replace Tupou.
jrtiger mentioned Edward Kosi who wouldn’t be a bad option. Others are Semi Valemai, Jeral Skelton and although contracted Tony Francis from the Titans.
None of them are currently playing NRL, all are well over 6ft tall, weigh over 100kgs, are reasonably fast for their size, generally good under the high ball and score plenty of tries. Grab any two of those 4 and we would have competition for our big bodied winger position.
Or is Nick Cotric possibly looking to rejuvenate his career a better option than all of them ? He’s only 25 and if you get him at his highly motivated best he’s a high quality winger who is seemingly unwanted at the Raiders.
Matt Doorey and Billy Burns are both stuck playing NSW Cup. Both are big bodied mobile edge forwards who make plenty of line breaks and score their fair share of tries.
If we are adamant Kepaoa won’t work as an edge forward, then we need a decent replacement. These two would add plenty of depth to our squad, Doorey in particular looks NRL ready and could become a regular on our bench or even push for a starting spot.
Mat Croker currently not in the Knights top 17 and off contract at the end of 2024. I believe we are short on quality props if we get any injuries, signing both Trey Mooney and Mat Croker would fix that problem.
They would add good size and mobility to our middle forward stocks and the added incentive that at least one of them should be a regular part of our top 17 each week.
Aaron Schoup is a young aggressive ball runner with good speed and line breaking ability. He already has plenty of NRL experience, but not currently a part of the Titans top 17 so could be ripe for the picking. He’s a solid build weighing in at over 100kgs and although predominantly a centre, he had a few standout games playing as an edge forward in Qld Cup last season and I think his versatility would be very valuable, particularly if Kepaoa departs at the end of this season.
Ben Condon a big tall and mobile prop or edge forward from North Qld who has been with Manly for the past 2 seasons.
He’s played a couple of NRL games and didn’t look out of place, but now stuck playing NSW Cup. He’d be another forward who could add good size and mobility to our forward depth.
I’ve already mentioned and can see jrtiger agrees that Jaz Tevaga would be a good recruit, maybe even for this season. He would bring valuable hard nosed experience to possibly even start at 13 with his ball playing ability, otherwise could cover 9 or 13 off the bench.
I’ve long been a fan of the up and coming big, tall, speedy outside back from the Sharks Sam Stonestreet. At 21 he’s clearly ready to play regular NRL, but stuck behind some pretty good ones at the Sharks. He’d be a great fit for our NRL backline,
Egan Butcher would be a great signing, but I cannot see the Roosters letting him go, even though he’s currently playing NSW Cup. Likewise with the young emerging Harrison Hassett at the Panthers.
All these players would come at the lower and of the wage scale and would add plenty of size, speed and depth to our top 30.
