Monday boredom has struck so I will have a crack at things.
2022 GAINS Dale Finucane (Melbourne Storm, 2025), Nicho Hynes (Melbourne Storm, 2024), Cameron McInnes (St George Illawarra Dragons, 2025)
RE-SIGNED William Kennedy (2023), Matt Moylan (2022), Toby Rudolf (2024), Siosifa Talakai (2023), Connor Tracey (2024), Braydon Trindall (2023)
2022 LOSSES Shaun Johnson (New Zealand Warriors), Chad Townsend (North Queensland Cowboys)
OFF CONTRACT 2021 Will Chambers, Josh Dugan, Jackson Ferris, Mawene Hiroti, Nene Macdonald, Billy Magoulias, Kyle Paterson, Aiden Tolman, Daniel Vasquez, Aaron Woods, Bronson Xerri
Now take away SJ 800k, Dugan 800k, Woods 600k, Moylan 500k, Townsend 450k. Now add in Finucane 700k(given the last year is so low, prop it up for 1-3), Hynes 600k and McInnes 500k add up to be basically the same amount we are paying SJ and Dugan. Say we are -200k for those three vs losing the other two.
Now that still leaves the Townsend, Woods and Moylan savings approx 1.55m. Assume at a guess Rudolf(200k extra), Talakai(100k extra) and Kennedy(200k) raise their pays by a combined 500k which is paid for by the Moylan reduction. Tracey would have been given a bump but it wouldn't be crazy and Trindall is probably on the same sort of coin but lets say the two of them got an extra 75k combined. We still have around 975k from this bucket. Chambers and Tolman are on the minimum so I'd keep him around if they are keen as they wouldn't change the cap situation. The rest can walk but I can't imagine Ferris, Hiroti, Macdonald, Magoulias, Paterson, Vasquez free up much room. I'm assuming we have already spent the Xerri money in the gain three piss off SJ/Dugan situation above.
My numbers are rough based on media reports(plus I have not had a coffee so mistakes are surely there after a few whiskeys watching the boomers last night) and don't factor in the sliding scale contracts of those already on the books. We still have wriggle room but we also need to add a lot of depth unless we are bringing it up from within.