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Thursday, 11 March 2021

NRL's next $1m players named by legends: WWOS

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thumbnail NRL's next $1m players named by legends
Mar 11th 2021, 02:14, by wwos

Rugby league legends Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler have picked the NRL's next generation of superstars likely to pick up contracts near the $1 million-a-season mark, and nominated the player they would target to build Brisbane's expansion club around.

Tasked with rating the best players in the competition under the age of 23, Johns and Fittler were mainly aligned in their assessments, although the NSW coach was surprised by one of the Eighth Immortal's picks.

Debating the topic for Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth, Johns compiled a list of players worth around $900,000-a-season and then dropped down to a second-tier category that included Eels five-eighth Dylan Brown.

Eels teen sensation Dylan Brown.

It was at that point that Fittler interrupted.

"Dylan Brown? C'mon he hasn't done much yet," Fittler said, adding that he agreed the 20-year-old Kiwi was a "good player".

But Johns was bullish, staring down Fittler before clarifying that his assessment of Brown was based on a high ceiling from a potential point-of-view.

"Not up around a million, he'd be up around 700," Johns said. He also agreed with Fittler's assessment that Panthers five-eighth Jarome Luai, 24, was currently worth more.

The top-tier young guns, worth around $900,000-a-season by Johns' assessment, were listed as follows: Cameron Murray (23, signed up until 2025), Victor Radley (22, signed up until 2023), Harry Grant (23, signed up until 2022 with an option for 2023), Tino Fa'asuamaleaui (21, signed up until 2022 with an option for 2023) and Payne Haas (21, signed up until 2024).

Johns did not include Kalyn Ponga or David Fifita because both are already signed to contracts worth in excess of $1 million-a-season.

On the next rung down, according to Johns, sits Parramatta's Brown, Storm Clive Churchill Medal winner Ryan Papenhuyzen (22) and Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs (22) who all sit in the $700,000-a-season range according to the Halfback of the Century.

That assessment follows a Sydney Morning Herald poll of all 32 NRL club chief executives and chairmen published this week that rated Papenhuyzen the equal third most valuable potential recruit in the competition.

Answering the question: 'If you could sign any player in the competition for this season, who would it be?', Storm players featured in positions one, two and three and did not include the now retired Cameron Smith.

Nine per cent of respondents voted form Papenhuyzen, putting him below only Cameron Munster (22 per cent) and Harry Grant (13 per cent).

Ryan Papenhuyzen looks set to miss Game One of the State of Origin through injury. (Getty)

So it should come as no surprise that Johns picked Grant and Munster as the two players he would target to build a new club around, should the ARL Commission tick off on an expansion club to play out of Brisbane this year.

In recent interviews the Commission boss, Peter V'landys has been bullish about picking a successful bid to take the 17th licence some time later this year, with a second Brisbane club to join the competition in 2023.

Cameron Munster

Johns is all for that idea and said Grant or Munster would be the perfect face of the franchise, while Fittler would throw the kitchen sink at Newcastle superstar Ponga.

"I'd take Kalyn. The fact is he plays for Queensland and he's a match-winner, so he scores tries, he sets tries up, so that gives players around you confidence," Fittler said.

To that, Johns replied: "What about Harry Grant? Dummy halves handle the ball more than anyone, he's a Queensland boy… There's two for me, Harry Grant and for me Munster. Queensland boy, he just markets the whole club…"

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