NRL loan deals are the next evolution in player movements

All players need to be swapped prior to the season starting. If a swapped player is injured during the season then their temporary club should wear the consequences without affecting the other club. Its the luck of the draw. No player should be swapped during the season as it opens too many questions and issues.

There is no way in hell this type of deal should be ratified. It will simply allow the NRL darlings to stockpile the games best up and comers. If Melbourne through their roster mis management have too many hookers and not enough backs they need to make the call on who they let go. It is contrary to one of the Salary Caps goals which is to distribute talent across the comp. If this type of deal gets the tick of approval from the NRLol we will see teams like the Tigpies become nothing more than a development club for the Big 4.

Keep an eye out for Keaon Koloamatangi. Big things are expected from "Big Mac Daddy". https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/teams/nsw-cup/south-sydney-rabbitohs-nsw/keaon-koloamatangi/

Well what if they just recruit a lot of players now and pay them under the table? I don’t see any “look after us now and we will look after you later” situation occurring. Who is going to give something up today, for an undefined future return based purely on trust? You really can’t be sure where that other team will be when you are in contention for finals and have an injury void to fill.

What if JT approaches the Cowboys and says something like “we can’t make the eight, this is a chance for me to go out playing finals footy, please let me have a crack...” What if there’s a handshake deal where the roosters say something like “next time positions are reversed we’ll look after you? What if brown paper bags of cash are involved to sweeten the deal? You can say that about any situation but this actually creates an incentive to do that I don’t think any of these situations are particularly likely but they’re not impossible and having these arrangements in place opens the door NRL clubs don’t need much encouragement to find ways to bend the rules and the NRL isn’t particularly known for forward thinking

I get your line of thinking but I would think that Mguire and the playing roster do think they have a team capable of winning the comp this year and his job as a coach is to put together the best team he can to win the comp this year. Seeing as Liddle is likely to be out for a few months having Grant play strengthens the team. Once Liddle is fully fit then Mcguire will then have the option of playing him and sitting Grant out or as a bench player. The fact that Grant is on loan and Liddle is a long term Tiger will impact his selection decisions. Tigers have signed Lelua and now Doueihi to strengthen the outside backs. Momirovski was surplus and either way would likely have tested his value on the open market once his contract was done so no guarantee he would have been a long term Tiger. I think Mguire has done the right thing for the Tigers.

I get your point that an outside back for a hooker sounds like a good deal, but effectively Momirovski isn't on loan, he has been released as he is off contract. They have given away a player for a player they can't keep. The likely scenario (assuming both players progress in their development) is that in 2021 the Storm will have a centre (if they opt to sign him) with about 40 games of experience and a hooker with 25 NRL games under his belt. The Tigers will have nothing. Again, I understand doing that if you are a chance of winning the comp, but realistically the Tigers are not close to a team capable of winning.

But Barry somebody is paying that. If Easts are paying some of Mitchell's salary at Souths do we consider this an issue?

Well firstly, they would only be liable for the duration of the loan. So if a player is on $700k a year and you need him for 3 months, it's only a quarter. And secondly when you are exchanging money it would have to be considered in the cap, because that money is going towards the acquisition of a player.

Also it won't become the norm because it requires a unique situation where both clubs have something the other wants/needs.

You are proposing hypotheticals which would never happen, because they only have benefit for one party. It's nothing about equal. Just on your example. Easts get JT. What to NQ get? They have to get something good, otherwise why would they agree? But also, being out of finals contention, why would they care? Nothing to gain so they wouldn't do it. One side deals won't happen, because the deals require agreement from two sides.

Is Liddle still out? I thought he'd be close by now.

It's a hypothetical possibility. I'm not going to get into what's an equal trade at that level.

This kid is good Fred. He's a good get for the club if only for a little while. McGuire has done pretty well this off-season.

PS Wests Tigers don't need this hooker next year. They have two good hookers on the books, Jacob Liddle and Jake Simpkin. Liddle's injured and Simpkin's probably still too young. So it's just filling a gap for this season.

Much of this comes down to who the loaned players are contracted to, TB. The guy on 200k is still being paid under his old contract, so even though he's in a different squad, would not be counted against their salary cap and obviously the same with a guy on 800k. I agree the potential is there for rorts but I still can't see a guy on serious money being loaned to another Club without a serious quid pro quo. As I said elsewhere, for these deals to work there's 4 working parts; the 2 Clubs doing the swaps and the two players from those Clubs. ALL have to agree and obviously if a quality player is in the mix, I'll bet the NRL will be looking really closely at what trade off is done, both at the time and further down the track

I disagree. I think the Tigers are getting a very good deal. A spine position player for an outside back where they've got a surplus after signing Leilua. Also he may be a rookie hooker but he should have been playing first grade last year but is unfortunately stuck behind the greatest hooker to lace a boot and the current NZ hooker. I don't think the fact that he is a rookie should play into it (technically he has played 2 NRL games). Rookie Fainu was a revelation at Manly last year, Koroisau actually won a GF as a rookie hooker although Luke played the season. I think Cook's breakout season at the Rabbitohs was pretty much as a few gamer at the Dogs. I think you'll find that both clubs will benefit a lot this year from this swap.

Actually a June swap deadline same as the player signing deadline would work as well.