With the Roosters staring at their most challenging season in a decade after losing a host of star players, coach Trent Robinson has gone global in his preparation for 2025.
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Roosters off the Cheese
The Roosters are prepared to let Brandon Smith leave the club next year before he returns to the field following a knee reconstruction.
It has long been believed Smith would not be required at the end of next year, when his contract ends, but if a club wanted to bring Smith into their system early, the Roosters are happy for that to happen.
It has been a tough transition to Sydney for Smith. He arrived from Melbourne with big expectations, and while he has shown glimpses of what he can do, overall it has been a troubled move. Smith’s anterior cruciate ligament injury may not make him an attractive proposition to clubs that would only get half a year of service out of him in 2025, but if someone is keen to sign him, it may be an opportunity to show their faith in the player by taking him on even when injured.
The Roosters have worked hard with Smith off the field and that support will not go away, but the truth is he is not part of their plans for 2026, so they would be happy to move him on early.
Smith has plenty of good football head of him, and if his focus is just on the game, he will be a good pick-up for a club. On his day, he is a tremendous threat with the ball.
Pappy days for Dogs?
The Bulldogs would have been the best home for Terrell May, but the club has informed his agent they won’t be making a play for him. Instead, they have been putting the finishing touches on a two-year extension for one of the best buys of 2024, Bronson Xerri.
The chat around Ryan Papenhuyzen has gone quiet and it appears it is now a race in two between the Storm and Bulldogs when his deal with Melbourne expires at the end of next season. The easy and safe option for Papenhuyzen is to stay put – even on a short-term deal. The issue for Melbourne since signing Stefano Utoikamanu is their inability to pay Papenhuyzen what he is on now.
Oh brother
Rising star Latu Fainu is one of five players who received a breach notice from Wests Tigers for his fitness not being up to scratch when he returned for pre-season training. He was poor in a time trial and will need to explain himself.
The problem for the Tigers is twofold with Fainu. First, he has been getting mixed messages, with some at the club telling him not to worry about it. Secondly, the Fainu brothers – Latu and Samuela signed long-term deals with the Tigers in 2023, joining Sione, who had signed the year before – are significant figures in the joint venture’s plans to turn the club around. And if you upset one you risk having an issue with all three of them. The Tigers are only focused on standards, however.
