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Opinion
Sometimes all a rugby league player needs to kick on in his career is an opportunity, to be in the right place at the right time, and to be playing in a team where their unique talents are not only appreciated, but also fit the coach’s overall game plan.
Too often, players can get stuck in the groove, become comfortable with the cash, not risk change for change’s sake and wait to get moved on. Fortunately, when some players do make the move to a new club, they take their careers forward in leaps and bounds.
Here’s a side selected from those players who are in fine form now after having made a timely move over the last two seasons. The only criteria are that the player was playing first grade elsewhere and changed to their current club for either the 2022 or 2023 season.
Meaney always looked to be a special talent after debuting with Newcastle way back in 2018 but shifted to Canterbury in 2019 when the Knights signed Kalyn Ponga. Unfortunately, his arrival at the Bulldogs coincided with their “lost years” under coaches Dean Pay and Trent Barrett, and he was going nowhere fast before joining the Storm in 2022.
Now, under Craig Bellamy and in the strong Storm system, Meaney has blossomed into one of the best fullbacks in the game, can also play wing and five-eighth with ease, and is kicking goals at around 72 per cent success rate. The 25-year-old will be hot property come the November trade window.
Isaako looked to be the next big thing after establishing himself in the Broncos first grade team in 2018, was one of the best movers in the game, and could land goals from anywhere. His early form was so good that he found himself in the NZ Test team, but an increasing error rate and the intervention of COVID saw him fall from grace, before switching to the Titans in 2022 after turning out for the Broncos in Round 1 of that year.
Isaako was somewhat surprisingly one of the first players signed by the Dolphins, to a three-year contract no less, but Wayne Bennett obviously knows what he’s doing, and Isaako has been in red-hot form from Round 1, scoring eight tries from seven games, including a treble and two doubles, and kicking beautifully.
Jamayne Isaako is tackled. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Suli has always been a rugby league career waiting to happen, if only he could find the attitude and commitment to match his natural skill and impressive physical attributes.
A poor attitude has seen him wear out his welcome at the Tigers, Bulldogs and Manly in his career to date, but since joining the Dragons in 2022, he’s been one of their few success stories, after coach Anthony Griffin moved him to the centres to increase his game involvement and encourage him to put his running power to good use. I suspect that Suli has another couple of unused gears, so what he does next will be interesting.
Just like every other player to emerge from the Thirroul Butchers club, Schoupp is tough and uncompromising, and it was surprising to see the Bulldogs push the 21-year-old out of the club after his strong form across both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
While Canterbury may eventually regret that decision, it hasn’t stopped Schoupp from grabbing the opportunity at the Titans with both hands, with his season highlight so far being a two-try performance in the Titans’ Round 3 victory over the Storm.
Paulo is big, fast and powerful, and looked to have a blossoming career with South Sydney after making his first grade debut for the club as a 20-year-old in 2020, however things went pear-shaped for him in 2022 when he received online death threats after some error-ridden performances towards the end of the year.
Changing postcodes to the Roosters seems to have worked a charm, though, and he’s now in career-best form, really staking a claim for his position on the Roosters’ right wing, and has crossed for six tries in seven games.
Gamble is an old-school player who loves to make the opposition uncomfortable, and he’s a great competitor who plays ‘till the final whistle. After squeezing out just 24 games across three seasons for the Broncos, he’s helped the Knights rediscover their hard edge, and to stay in the contest for the whole game, adding new meaning to the term “spine”.
Hynes soon established himself as Melbourne’s “Mr Fix It” after becoming a regular part of the side in 2020, but he really blew the covers off after becoming Cronulla’s halfback in 2022, guiding them to second position on the ladder and taking out the Dally M Medal along the way. He’s now the Sharks’ main man, and when he’s on song, their attack is almost irresistible.
Nicho Hynes (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
After getting his career off to a solid start with the Cowboys in 2017, Jensen struggled for regular game time across the 2019 to 2021 seasons, playing just an average of eight games per year in that time. He was very much an unheralded signing by the Broncos in 2022, but proved his doubters wrong, playing 18 games for the club that year, primarily in the run-on side.
Every team needs a hard grafter like Jensen, and he’s added a lot of starch to an already impressive Broncos pack.
Marshall-King always seemingly had the talent during his time at the Bulldogs but clearly not enough for them to consider him a long-term first choice dummy-half, and he jumped ship to the Dolphins once the Bulldogs signed Reed Mahoney to wear the No.9 jersey.
So good has his early form been for the Dolphins that they’ve already extended his contract from two to three years, and his live wire performances have been a big part of the new club’s early success.
Craig Bellamy knows a good forward when he sees one, so he must have been delighted to get his coaching paws on Josh King. After spending six years primarily coming off the bench for Newcastle, King hasn’t looked back since moving to bleak city, and has barely missed starting team selection.
St George Illawarra have a terrible track record of recognising and utilising homegrown talent in recent years and there’s no better example of their ineptitude than Jackson Ford.
Always a talented and hardworking forward, he played just 16 games across 2021 and 2022 for the Dragons before joining the Warriors to become a key part of their unexpected surge towards the top of the table.
Hosking was a late bloomer, playing his first game in the top grade at the age of 25, and despite making a good early impression, wasn’t seen as part of the Broncos’ future plans. A surprise recruitment choice by the Panthers, his great line-running and rugged style of play now has him locked into the Penrith starting team.
Hopgood was always going to make it, and was very highly thought of at Penrith, but playing just 10 first grade games in two years clearly demonstrated the forward talent lined up in front of him. A quick trip down the highway to Parramatta now finds him as the Eels’ in-form forward, and a big chance to play Origin for Queensland in 2023.
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