As the NRL season comes to a close, clubs are already strategizing for the upcoming campaign. Key players like Ben Hunt and Latrell Mitchell are poised to lead their teams to glory, while new recruits like Josh Addo-Carr and Zac Lomax aim to accelerate team rebuilds.
The dust barely settles on an NRL season before clubs start looking ahead to their next campaign – so what does a perfect off-season look like for each team?
No team has done that bar the mythical St George outfit that won 11 straight, and the chance to make that sort of history is irresistible, surging through the playing group as Ivan and Nathan Cleary return to mastermind another campaign. No one in the NRL era has done perfect quite like these Panthers, roster drain be damned. There are no major contract sagas looming this time, with all the key players locked away, so every moment is spent thinking about lifting that trophy again.By all metrics, the Broncos’ 2024 campaign was a dismal failure, but new coach Michael Maguire still has a premiership winning squad at his disposal and the Broncos can be partying like its 2006 come October.
The Broncos have kept largely the same squad together from last season, so if they can learn from their mistakes they can rocket up the ladder and return to contention in 2025. The hard-edged hallmarks of Maguire’s success at South Sydney are already there to see - complete with vomiting in pre-season, plus a reported ban on going shirtless at training. All eyes are on the trophy.Beware the wounded Craig Bellamy coached side and you can bet your bottom dollar the master coach will be using their grand final heartbreak to drive their 2025 pre-season.
The Storm have arguably the best spine in the competition and the likes of Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant will be smarting from their grand final defeat. ` However, they still have the bones of a formidable team and one of the best young coaches in the game in Andrew Webster. The Warriors should also return Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to his rightful position at fullback because it is his best position and they need some attacking spark without Johnson in the side.
Set them free Mr Webster and the players can bring home the drought-breaking maiden trophy the club has been hunting for so long.There have been plenty of one-man teams in world sport that have still got the chocolates. Think Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in 2010 and 2011. The Knights’ biggest problem to solve this pre-season is how to settle on a halves pairing to compliment their superstar.
If the Knights can bed down a halves combination in time for Round 1 and stick with it, the Ponga one man team ploy can get them the drought-breaking premiership they are desperately chasing. It is rare that such a settled halves combination contractually is so unsettled in terms of on-field roles, but that is the case at the Sharks.
The pressure is on William Kennedy to cement the fullback jersey, as he enters a contract year after an underwhelming 2024 campaign, but players usually play their best when there is money to be made. While the rest of us wait for Sam Walker to return from injury, Trent Robinson will have a plan to get the Chooks in the top four even before the cavalry returns.
Uncle Nick went out and got Chad Townsend to fill in for Walker in the No.7 jersey, while Connor Watson will step up for Smith. But Nathan Cleary only played 11 games last season and came back when it mattered to lift the trophy, so Sam Walker will be looking to do the same. The Raiders are a youthful squad with plenty of upside in the coming years, but it depends how quickly some of their young talent develops.
In the halves Jamal Fogarty is back after missing most of last year with injury, but the silver lining is Ethan Strange came of age and recruit Ethan Sanders will be ready to step up and keep Fogarty honest. Wayne Bennett put the players on notice with a ferocious serve before returning, by suggesting no one fears you anymore.That is the sort of influence that Bennett has on his players and he knows how to get the best out of them, especially players like Latrell who sometimes need a different approach.
Souths also have one of the best up and coming players in the game in Tyrone Munro to step up as a finisher to cover for Alex Johnston’s long-term injury. Peter Mamouzelos has some big shoes to fill, but there is a reason Bennett was willing to let Cook go. The kid can play and ideally takes to first grade like a duck to water.
Bennett knows how to get the best out of Mitchell in particular and if he can get his No.1 motivated to be the best player for Souths every week and stay in the game on both sides of the ball, Souths are a scary proposition again. And the fear factor will return.There’s a reason Jason Ryles was seen as the man to replace the best coach of the modern era in Craig Bellamy at the Storm.
Veteran prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard and skipper Clint Gutherson were let go to free up salary cap space and build a team for the future, but that doesn’t mean they can’t win now. Moses and Brown are arguably the best halves combination in the NRL behind Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes, and Eels teammates should be buzzing through pre-season having watched Moses star at Origin and Test level in 2024. He is unequivocally the real deal.
You can bet Payten is torturing his players under the Townsville sun this summer, so they are ready to face adversity in 2025. Karl Lawton could prove a crucial signing to give extra versatility on the bench and cover the back row and dummyhalf and give Reece Robson a breather at times.Chad Townsend has moved to the Roosters, so it is up to Jake Clifford to step up and cement a spot in the halves, but it will be interesting to see if Tom Dearden takes more ownership of the side and potentially switches to halfback at some point.
Manly made progress in 2024 to finish at the semi-finals stage, but if they can get a bit more luck with injuries they have the side to compete for a drought-breaking title. The challenge for Seibold will be how to squeeze Tonga stars Lehi Hopoate and Tolutau Koula into the backline and get them both firing.
Its been 14 years since Manly last lifted the trophy, but 2025 looms as their best shot yet for a drought-breaking title. The players will spend pre-season knowing that the clock is ticking on Cherry-Evans, turning 36 in February; which ideally serves as pure motivation.Historically teams rarely improve when master coach Wayne Bennett leaves the club, but Kristian Woolf has the best chance yet to reverse the curse and take the Dolphins to a maiden finals series.
Especially when you throw in former Cowboys back-rower Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, who gives the Dolphins some X-factor on the edge and another strong defender. The Dolphins can make Bennett regret moving on so soon and if they can get to September in good shape, why can’t they go even further?The Titans have the makings of a super competitive team and potentially one of the most dangerous forward packs in the competition.
Des Hasler is not short on options in the spine, but he has to get the combination right and work out how to get all his best players in the team and firing. Kini, Brimson and Campbell are too good to be playing reserve grade, so Hasler needs to find positions for them all and bed down some combinations if the Gold Coast are to break their finals drought in 2025.
The loss of wingers Josh Addo-Carr and Jeral Skelton leaves a void in the try-scoring department, but recruit Marcelo Montoya and Jacob Kiraz can step up and fill the void. Another pre-season under Ciraldo will hold the Bulldogs in good stead for 2025, but they need Connor Tracey and Reed Mahoney to raise their games even further to push for a drought-breaking title next season.
The fact he has brought in Lachan Ilias and Daniel Atkinson in the next two seasons shows he is focused on building a competitive roster with spots not guaranteed to anyone. But that is not to say that with increased roles and ownership of the team, Ilias and Kyle Flanagan can’t step up and realise their potential as NRL playmakers.
And serving his apprenticeship under Gutherson can mould Sloan into the Dragons’ long-term fullback of the future. Benji Marshall has made 51 roster moves and debuted 18 players since joining the club, so it has been a case of, out with the old and in with the new, and the new can turn the club around.
NRL Off-Season Strategies Ben Hunt Latrell Mitchell Josh Addo-Carr Zac Lomax
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