Off Contract in 2009

[TOCC]

This is copied from theyellowscarf , a person named 'Noddy' is responsible for this great list

Reds:

Ben Daley
Berrick Barnes
Digby Ione
Greg Holmes
Hugh McMeniman
James Horwill
Leroy Houston
Sean Hardman
Daniel Braid

Tahs:

Tatafu Nau
Sekope Kepu
Sam Norton-Knight
Phil Waugh
Matt Dunning
Luke Burgess
Kurtley Beale
Jeremy Tilse
Dean Mumm
Daniel Halangahu
Chris Thomson
Brett Sheehan
Ben Batger
Beau Robinson
David Dennis

Brums:

Afusipa Taumoepeau
Ben Alexander
Clyde Rathbone
Francis Fainifo
George Smith
Huia Edmonds
John Ulugia
Josh Holmes
Mark Chisolm
Mitchell Chapman
Nick Henderson
Patrick Phibbs
Peter Betham
Peter Kimlin
Shaun Mackay
Stephen Moore
Tryone Smith
James Stannard

Force:

Richard Stanford
Drew Mitchell
Gareth Hardy
James O'Connor
Josh Valentine
Junior Pelesasa
Matt Giteau
Nick Cummins
Pat O'Connor
Richard Brown
Tamaiti Horua

So the Reds have 9 and the Force only have 11 players to re-sign (if needed), the Tahs have 15 whilst the Brums have 18! There will be some interesting decisions having to be made about who to keep, who to ditch and who to poach.

For the Reds, the key will be to re-sign Horwill and Barnes ASAP, from there hopefully the likes of Holmes & MMM will follow. Digby was talking of going back west, to the nrl, so who knows. Braid has the option after one year. Both Houston and Daley have all to play for this year to prove they have a future, and it must surely be Hardman's last year?

For the Tahs there will be interest surrounding what happens with Waugh, Sheehan and Dunning (who won't have the benefit of proving himself deserving of a contract on the field this S14 season). I would've thought Beale, TPN, SNK, Kepu, Burgess, Mumm and Robinson (Beau) will all be re-signed with the last 4 deserving of upgrades? Dennis, Batger, Thompson and Tilse are, you would think, under pressure. As for Halangahu, well it depends on what happens on the field I reckon. And at other teams.

So the Brums have more than an entire team off contract. Rathbone, Fainifo, Edmonds, Chapman, Holmes, Henderson and Mackay under pressure? They'll be wanting to get onto Smith (both), Alexander, Moore and Kimlin pretty quickly. And then there's Gits....

...from the Force, who also have another young, quick stepping inside back off contract in JOC. Plus another Wallaby back in Drew Mitchell. Pelesasa probably needs to pull out a big year, although game time may be difficult. Brown will be due an upgrade, whilst Horua could force the same with a big year.

Let the fun times begin!

[travelling_gerry]

Brownie said at the TWF Award Presentation that he hadnt even thought about next year and probably wouldnt until later in the year.

He doesnt even have a manager as yet - to which about 30 TWF'ers offered him a card.

[slomo]

thats alot of quality players out of contract at the same time....

did stevie moore only sign for the brumbies for one year?...

[TOCC]

^^ yeah

when Moore re-signed in 2007, he signed for 2 years with the ARU, and 1 year with the reds with a option for a 2nd. He then signed with the Brumbies, but only for 2009.

[travelling_gerry]

Weren't in all sorts of trouble with 22 to sign this year?

Or was that just the rantings of a confused individual who didnt know what they were talking about?

[slomo]

^^ yeah

when Moore re-signed in 2007, he signed for 2 years with the ARU, and 1 year with the reds with a option for a 2nd. He then signed with the Brumbies, but only for 2009.

look forward to the force signing him for 2010......

[James]

Weren't in all sorts of trouble with 22 to sign this year?

Or was that just the rantings of a confused individual who didnt know what they were talking about?

I counted close to 17 but then again only a handful of those are prime quality poaching material.

The big five to hold on to are Richard Brown, James O'Connor, Nick Cummins, Drew Mitchell and of course Matt Giteau (if at all possible). I'd be really happy with just Brownie and O'Connor but anything else is a bonus.

[jargan83]

Thats alot of players across the provinces to be off contract. Nice to know if we miss out on someone in particular there is a good chance of landing a decent quality replacement

Or was that just the rantings of a confused individual who didnt know what they were talking about?

has this individual proved that they knew what they were on about yet?

[BDAVEY]

I feel we need some grunty props to help AJ! Be interesting to see who takes the run on hooker position

[slomo]

holmsie deserves the starting position this year.....we can't keep him on the bench forever...

[robyn <3]

Thankyou TOCC, I was curious as to who was there.

Big boy's names on our off list... Cummins is also someone we want to keep. A lot.

I want all of those boys on our list to stay, they are all important (I don't know Standford, but I'm sure he is important too)... Should we be looking at Ben Alexander perhaps? He's on the list.

[James]

I feel we need some grunty props to help AJ! Be interesting to see who takes the run on hooker position

Both spots likely to be filled by development/marquee non-Aussies. Don't think Tai wants to keep playing many more seasons and Luke Holmes can't do the job solo.

[TOCC]

this list isnt 100%, the person who made the list has just pieced it together from articles and inside info.. Especially in regards to the Force, there could be a few people who are off-contract which arent on the list.

[mudskipper]

TOCC... thats a good post... well research... plenty of good players for a 5th AUS team come 2010...

[mudskipper]

this list isnt 100%, the person who made the list has just pieced it together from articles and inside info.. Especially in regards to the Force, there could be a few people who are off-contract which arent on the list.

The Brumbies list look right to me... most have only been offered two contracts and are now in their 2nd year...Moore signed for one so he can leave or get up graded for 2010 (new Coach also). Some guys are academy players which got rookie contracts last year...nice to keep them but may not happen.... Rathbone is playing for his career this year after a long injury spell, I wish him well...