There’s a very strategic Cronulla Sharks maiden premiership feel about the way Shane Flanagan has set about making some roster adjustments at the Red V.
Val Holmes will join Damien Cook at St George Illawarra over the summer as Flanagan fine tunes a roster he wants marching up the NRL ladder as quickly as possible.
The Dragons coach has also spoken to Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Daniel Saifiti and will likely add one of the front row pair over the course of the next few weeks.
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The interesting one is St George Illawarra’s monitoring of Parramatta captain and fullback Clint Gutherson who will be free to negotiate from November 1 onwards.
Gutherson has been busting a gut trying to hold the Eels together in a season that can only be described as a train wreck.
The Parramatta skipper has also had to contend with headlines about possibly having the captaincy taken off him and a positional switch into the centres prior to gun Eels junior Blaize Talagi inking a deal with triple premiers Penrith for next season.
Whether the Eels would be prepared to extend Gutherson’s contract beyond the end of 2025 or let him go a year early will be a matter for incoming coach Jason Ryles.
But the Dragons’ interest is genuine and Flanagan is confident the additions of senior players Holmes, Cook, another front rower (both RCG and Daniel Saifiti have played State of Origin football) and possibly Gutherson will add greater leadership and experience to St George Illawarra.
There’s a lot of similarities to the way Flanagan rebuilt the Cronulla Sharks roster to finally turn the porch lights off with the Sharks maiden premiership in 2016 to what he’s now doing with arch-rival club St George Illawarra.
Back then Flanagan astutely added experienced players Luke Lewis, Mick Ennis and James Maloney to a roster already containing Paul Gallen, Wade Graham, Andrew Fifita and young guns at the time in Val Holmes and Jack Bird.
It worked and the Sharks transformed into a hard-nosed, trap and scrap side who were a brutal defensive outfit who could also create points through the attacking brilliance of Maloney, Holmes, Ennis and Bird.
How the Parramatta’s incoming coach Ryles and the decision-makers holding the steering wheel at the Eels react to the Gutherson development will be fascinating.
We’ve heard all year about how they need to change the DNA and the culture at the Eels.
All of ex-coach Brad Arthur’s staff will be moving on come September when Ryles will start afresh with a new-look Parramatta coaching staff containing Nathan Brown, Scott Wisemantel and Sam Moa.
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Eels captain Gutherson has given the blue and gold club nine years of outstanding service. Put simply, the Eels don’t make the grand final in 2022 without Gutherson’s leadership and all-round work rate.
The Parramatta skipper still has one year remaining on his contract with the club so it will be fascinating to see what happens come November 1.
The Eels have already tapped RCG, Ryan Matterson and Maika Sivo on the shoulder and told them they are free to go if they can find other offers.
Gutherson is on a contract worth around $950,000 next season so if the Eels were prepared to let their captain leave a year early it would free up a significant amount of money.
We’ll wait and see how the Eels decide to respond.
The Eels have also gone public with the club’s interest in Storm superstar Ryan Papenhuyzen who is also a free agent to negotiate as of November 1.
Papenhuyzen and new Eels coach Jason Ryles are close from the pair’s time at the Melbourne Storm and the champion fullback’s parents still live in Kellyville.
But the way we’ve heard it Papenhuyzen’s preference is to remain at the Storm and it’s hard to see Melbourne not striking a deal prior to November 1.
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