I feel some are over rating Marata. How often has he been in the top 3 players on the park? Or even top 5? It is rare. I think he is a good hard running mobile forward. Manu Mau and K.Edwards where better 2nd rowers imo. Marata also has a head high problem. It's his technique. The thing with Marata he wouldn't be on heaps and provides good value. My guess is 250k and worth 400k.
Rcg would cost us 750k in 2023. Right now he is good value due to Panthers chipping in. At 750k and 30yld I would rather him off our books. If his form dipped he could be worth 300k very quickly.
A guy like Klemmer might be worth a look at for 2023. And I think he'd be a decent price.
I agree, if Marata's form doesn't get any better then what it is right now, he is $400K-500K player max. But as we have seen, he has gotten better with each season from the last and his versatility is exceptional. I mean there aren't many players that can cover Lock, Second Row, Prop and Centre as well as he can. That is what we will miss from him when he goes the most. By him being able to cover so many positions if needed, he is the type of player all coaches want. It changes and strengthens the bench and the team overall under many scenarios that play out during a season. It allows for the coach to not worry if we lose a forward or any outside back. That is a luxury of a very strong roster and saved our bacon a lot this last season.
Also if he were to keep improving, which is very possible still, then his worth is even greater. His only real downsides are his regular suspensions and that he needs to learn footwork and get a pass in his game. Which again, if he had the right coaching and persistence, he could develop, especially the footwork just before the line. That alone would make him a better player and increase his longevity too.
Yeah Klemmer would be a decent option and may also rekindle and spark up his enthusiasm and career which seems to have plateaued somewhat recently. Depends on how much of course. I think he would be around 29 years in 2023, so still reasonably young for a prop.
As for RCG's form dipping, well yeah if that happened, we would be cactus. But I feel the reason his form dipped at the Panthers was because of the broken jaw and loss of confidence and then the lack of love that Cleary showed him, he even said so much at the time. He felt like an outsider and unwanted. We seem to have given everything he wants and needs to perform at the top of his game. But form, especially for battering rams like him can quickly drop off unless they have more to their game, which unfortunately RCG doesn't. So sure he could be a risk, but no one will truly know until his career is done and dusted. If he were to start getting injuries especially bone and cartilage leg ones then sure he would quickly become a financial liability.
But at present I would put him equal to any prop in the game other then P. Haas who is an absolute freak. How Freddy didn't pick RCG in the SOO this year stuns me, but was to our benefit so I am not complaining. But for mine I wouldn't trade either of our starting props for any other(except Haas). They are the perfect yin and yang. But come 2023, who knows?
Either way though what I do know is that we will be a damn sight weaker without both Niukore and RCG in the side unless we can pull a rabbit out of our arse and replace at least RCG with someone that can take the metres like he can and play for the minutes he can without losing momentum. Remember, Junior will also be older then too, so who knows where his game will be at by then, especially if he feels the burden of now being the main metre eater in the team.
