A star is torn: Why mid-season signings can be a blessing or a curse

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For all of St George Illawarra’s tough talk about Ben Hunt, it appears it’s a matter of when, rather than if, the disgruntled star makes his exit.

Hunt’s initial release request was blocked, but another is sure to follow well before the August 7 mid-season signing window closes. The Broncos believe they are in a window of their own, the premiership variety, and feel Hunt’s addition could catapult them towards a title. Gold Coast, meanwhile, want Hunt to be the halfback when Des Hasler arrives on the glitter strip in 2024.

They aren’t the only options for the Maroons ace. Several other clubs are lining up to take him, either straight away or for next year. For that to occur the Dragons, who require a circuit-breaker after consecutive hidings, need to be adequately compensated.

The whole sad affair – in which the captain and best player of a last-placed club could end up at a team vying for a premiership – further highlights the sorry state of the transfer market. The NRL is keen for reform, in the shape of formalised trade windows, but the players’ union refuses to budge.

“I made that clear in my discussions with the RLPA,” NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said during the week. “We want a more professional system, and we want a system that’s more orderly.

“What that looks like, that’s now up to us to negotiate.”

Ben Hunt’s days at St George Illawarra appear numbered.Credit: Getty

The lateness of the current mid-season switches is a concern for many in the game. The cut-off used to be June 30, but the extension to August 7, introduced to negotiate the COVID period, remains. If the Dragons release Hunt, they are left in better shape for next season, but the perception is they have given up on the current one.

“That’s why the earlier the better,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson says.

“Most teams are really still in the hunt now and there’s still hope there. The later you put that [transfer deadline], the more that they want to save cap [space] and offload and save a couple of months and put forward to the following year. Whereas the earlier in the season that that can happen, the better it is for the stuff that you’re talking about there … We used to be June 30 now I think it’s pushed back to, is it August 7? That seems really late.”

The Broncos are hoping to exploit the system. But could the ploy to bring Hunt back to Red Hill backfire? How will coach Kevin Walters explain to his son, current hooker Billy, that he is about to get pushed out of the No.9 jersey? Will Hunt bring the circus surrounding his future north and disrupt the harmony of a team already in contention?

While some late arrivals have paid off spectacularly, there are also cautionary tales worth heeding.

Jarryd Hayne joins Gold Coast after stint with 49ers

This was, pardon the pun, a “Plane” crash. Neil Henry had the Titans humming, sitting in seventh spot on the ladder after 21 rounds. The side was playing a tough, cohesive brand of football and it was thought the addition of the biggest name in Australian football, Jarryd Hayne, would provide the spark to become a genuine contender.

Instead, it upset the apple cart.

Jarryd Hayne at the Titans in 2017.Credit: NRL Photos

The Titans still squeaked into the top eight but went out in the first week of the finals. However, Hayne again proved a divisive figure: Henry was sacked the following year while trying to pull him into line. He gave the Titans, who normally struggle for publicity, plenty of headlines, but many of them were adverse.

It became apparent Hayne was longing to return to Parramatta, which he did in 2018. The cross-code star finished his Titans stint with a winning rate of just 33 per cent. There are many reasons for the club’s decline, but the Hayne stint is a timely reminder that a star mid-season signing isn’t always the final piece of the puzzle.

Hayne’s life has since unravelled, and he is now serving three years in jail for sexually assaulting a woman.

Mark Gasnier returns to Dragons in 2010 after rugby stint

When the collapse of his third-party deals forced Mark Gasnier to leave St George Illawarra after the 2008 season, it appeared his NRL career was over. But then, after a 661-day sabbatical, he sensationally left French club Stade Francais for another crack with the Red V. Wayne Bennett’s side was already on top of the ladder when Gasnier played his comeback game, a round 17 loss to Penrith on July 5.

Mark Gasnier celebrates with Ben Hornby after their title triumph in 2010.Credit: Steve Christo

However, the return of Gasnier was crucial. Although his comeback came late in the season – he played 12 games in all – it was enough time for the star centre to regain something resembling his best form.

In the grand final against the Roosters, Gasnier showcased his speed and anticipation to reel in a Ben Hornby kick and touch down just before the dead-ball line. It was the opening try of the decider and set the tone for the club’s only title since its merger.

Brett Finch leaves Parramatta in 2009 to join Melbourne

Even after all these years, it’s still difficult to evaluate who the winner was in this mid-season move.

At the time, the answer would have been Brett Finch and Melbourne. The former Blues half had fallen out with Parramatta and was released just four games into the season. The Storm duly picked him up and progressed to the grand final where they took on, as fate would have it, Finch’s former side.

When the Storm beat the Eels in the decider, it appeared the ultimate revenge. However, that premiership title, as well as the one Craig Bellamy’s men won in 2007, was stripped following revelations the club was systematically rorting the salary cap.

Given Parramatta weren’t named premiers by default – an asterisk remains over that season – there are no real winners from the whole sorry saga.

Finch’s personal life has subsequently unravelled: the fallen star narrowly avoided jail after an attempt to buy drugs ended with him pleading guilty to child abuse charges.

Tevita Pangai leaves Brisbane in 2021 to join Penrith

While injury robbed him of a place in the 2021 grand final, Penrith may have struggled to get there without Tevita Pangai jnr. The Panthers felt they needed an X-factor in their push for a premiership and got it in the form of “TPJ”.

Tevita Pangai jnr scores for Penrith in 2021.Credit: Getty

His signing from Brisbane came late in the season – on July 21 – and he played only six games. It was enough time to make a significant impact, to the point where several of his star ex-Panthers teammates reportedly made a successful push for him to be included in this year’s team for State of Origin I.

However, this is where the transfer system comes in for most criticism. It’s an example of a club out of contention – the Broncos finished 14th that season – putting a star on a platter for a team that was already a powerhouse.

Pangai wasn’t there long enough for fans to consider him a genuine Panther, and never even stepped into the club’s western Sydney headquarters during his short stint due to the relocation of the competition to Queensland. The Panthers saw a loophole, exploited it and duly won the competition.

Harry Grant was superb for the Tigers during his loan move.Credit: Getty

Grant heads to Tigers, Momirovski moves the other way

This is perhaps the best example of symbiosis in rugby league. Stuck behind star hookers Cameron Smith and Brandon Smith at Melbourne, Harry Grant headed to the Wests Tigers on a loan deal. In return, the Storm got Wests Tigers centre Paul Momirovski.

The clubs entered into the landmark agreement to bolster positions where their depth was tested, on the proviso they returned at the end of the season. On this occasion, everyone emerged a winner.

Grant, who had made just two first-grade appearances at the Storm at the time, made the most of the opportunity. After arriving at Concord as a relative unknown, he stamped himself as one of the most promising young players in the game under Michael Maguire. The dummy half finished the season as the Dally M rookie of the year and capped his remarkable rise with a State of Origin debut for the Maroons.

Cameron Smith, after captaining the club to a premiership in 2020, was then able to retire, secure in the knowledge the Storm had two ready-made No.9 replacements.

Momirovski, meanwhile, has made a habit of bobbing up in the right place at the right time. Although he played only half-a-dozen games for Melbourne in 2020, he has been at the Roosters, Storm and Panthers when those teams have won premierships.

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