Buyer’s remorse: Ten NRL contracts that may end in tears of disappointment

Admit it, we’ve all been there.

We’ve purchased the latest ab workout machine on the late-night shopping channel used it once and stuck it under the bed.

Or how about those jeans that the young sales assistant said you looked great in but were never really going to fit? Or worse still, the sports car you purchased in a mid-life crisis moment that does your back in every time you try to get into or out of it?

We make irrational purchase decisions time after time and end up with that feeling of post-purchase dread, better known as buyer’s remorse. It’s even got a fancy name – cognitive dissonance, or the feeling of psychological unease that happens when you’re at odds with your own thoughts.

Fortunately, most of our dumb purchase decisions can soon be forgotten without any long-term financial or psychological damage, but what happens when your NRL club enters into a contract that just doesn’t stack up?

Here’s my take on the top 10 current NRL contracts that will have the club CEOs who signed them with a chronic case of buyer’s remorse.

Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys)

Signing anyone to a 10-year deal in a contact sport like rugby league looks to be a giant leap of faith, particularly at a reported cost of around $1m per year.

No doubt it seemed to some to be a good idea way back in 2017 when JT13 was at the top of his game, fresh off a Dally M Medal win, regularly churning out 200 plus running metres per game, and leading the way.

These days though, he’s come back to the field, playing just an average of 53 minutes per game for an average of 151 metres gained, and with just the one offload in 2023.

The role of the lock forward has moved on since Taumalolo landed his big contract, with ball-playing skills and creativity now highly desirable, and with Taumalolo about to turn 30 and still another four years to run on his contract after this year, he’s beginning to look like an expensive luxury.

Jason Taumalolo. (Photo by Andy Jackson/Getty Images)

John Bateman (Tigers)

Astute player signings have been thin on the ground at the Tigers over the last decade, and the recruitment of the 29-year-old Bateman this season for four years at a reported $900k per year looks to be true to form for a club who are well on their way to back-to-back wooden spoons.

By my reckoning, the last time Bateman played his best and managed three consecutive good performances was in 2019 with Canberra, and he never gives me the impression that he’s a team player.

His early season form in 2023 has been unremarkable, and Tigers fans will be hoping to see some sort of return on their investment in the very near future.

Zac Lomax (Dragons)

There’s no better example of Dragons’ coach Anthony Griffin’s inability to get the best out of a young player than Zac Lomax. Lomax burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old in 2018 and looked to have the world at his feet.

At the end of 2020, after just 37 games, he had his contract extended until the end of 2026 at a reported $700k per year, a big gamble on such a young player. Enter Anthony Griffin as coach in 2021, and Lomax’s game has now stalled significantly, and now he’s not even rated by his coach as the best centre at his club.

(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Josh Schuster (Sea Eagles)

There’s no doubting Schuster’s pedigree and his skill with the ball in hand, but he’s a long way from the finished product, as he just doesn’t look anywhere near fit enough to play 80 minutes and appears to have little commitment in defence.

Manly obviously thought they saw something in him though and had little hesitation in signing him until the end of 2024 on a reported $800k plus per year in the hope that he was going to take the place of the veteran 5/8 Kieran Foran.

This was a crazy decision for a player who had just eight games under his belt at the time, and only one of those at 5/8, and he certainly hasn’t lived up to his price tag since putting pen to paper.

Kalyn Ponga (Knights)

The next time I enter into a contract, I’ll be getting Kalyn Ponga’s father Andre to do the negotiating for me. Last year he somehow panicked the Knights bean counters into signing his talented, but inconsistent and frequently injured son for a further five years at a reported $1.4m per year, which makes Ponga the highest paid player in the game.

This is a remarkable price when you consider that James Tedesco, Cameron Munster and Nicho Hynes are all playing for a reported $300k less per season.

A great result for Kalyn and the extended Ponga family, but not such a great deal for the Knights, as Kalyn’s not really as good as Andre says he is, and he’s just as likely to be watching the game from the sidelines as donning the headgear.

(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

Tevita Pangai Jr (Bulldogs)

Big, tough, lazy, unfit, ill-disciplined, and overpaid. That just about covers it. Pangai is in the second year of a three-year deal worth a reported $925k per year, and for that sort of money should be winning games single handedly for the Dogs rather than watching from the sideline while he catches his breath.

He averaged just 112 running metres and 20 odd tackles per game last year, and while the Bulldogs have made some good recent signings, he isn’t one of them.

Jeremiah Nanai (Cowboys)

Few players have hit the NRL with a bigger impact than Nanai. He was part of the Cowboys race to the 2022 finals, played three origin games for QLD and then found himself on the plane to England in Australia’s World Cup squad, and all before he turned 20!

The Cowboys then went all-in by immediately extending his contract to the end of 2027 at a reported $900k per year, but now, with Nanai seemingly deep in “second year syndrome”, may live to regret that decision.

David Nofoaluma (Tigers)

Confusion always seems to reign at the Tigers, and never more so than with their relationship with David Nofoaluma. He’s been at the club his whole career, this being his 11th year in the top grade, and in 2021 they extended his contract to the end of 2025 at a reported $525k per year, which is top freight for a winger when you consider that Josh Addo-Carr is reportedly paid $550k per year.

Since inking the deal Nofoaluma’s form has been unremarkable, seeing him on loan to the Storm at the end of 2022 and struggling for game time with the Tigers. Sometimes it seems that the more you pay, the less you get.

Scott Drinkwater (Cowboys)

Scott Drinkwater played well in 2022, and although already signed for the 2023 season, the Cowboys’ brains trust jumped in and extended his contract until the end of 2027 at a reported $650k per year.

That’s a big call that they might live to regret, as Drinkwater is prone to inconsistency and some classic brain fades at times, and may find himself under threat for his number 1 jersey well before the season’s out.

Luke Brooks (Tigers)

In 2018, on the back of absolutely nothing, Luke Brooks was signed for another five years at a reported $1.1m per season. Nothing more needs to be said.

Wests have no peer when it comes to contract Russian roulette.