Honourable Mentions: Ben Hunt, Trent Hodkinson and Bryce Cartwright
See Also: Top Ten worst signings of 2018: Part One
Many deemed the Penrith Panthers insane for releasing Latu early from a rich three-year contract. However, as is the case with many on this list, poor form and injury have seen Latu manage just six appearances in the top grade in 2018.
Averaging just 46 metres and 11 tackles per game along with the fact he’s missed 14 tackles (more than double than the games he’s played this season) this year has turned out to be Latu’s worst NRL season to date.
Hopefully, he can return to the form that saw him tipped a future State of Origin forward, in 2019.
Over the past two months of football, Jarryd Hayne has returned to top flight. However; this was not the case early in the season when the struggling Eels needed him the most. In the opening 14 weeks of the season, Hayne managed just four appearances.
Averaging just 55 metres per game, having missed a combined total of seven tackles and having recorded four handling errors, Hayne was in career worst form; which at the time was unthinkable as he’d just put in two lacklustre seasons for the Gold Coast Titans.
Fortunately for Hayne and the Eels, since his return in Round 14 and in his eight games since, Hayne has been in excellent form and has shown signs of his 2006-09 glory days.
Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come and Hayne lifts the Eels from the bottom of the ladder in 2019.
Tipped to be the answer to Wests' struggling back row issues over the past several seasons, former representative forward Chris McQueen hasn’t provided the Tigers with any of these aforementioned answers in 2018.
With just three first grade games to his name this year, McQueen averages just 21 metres per game and 18 tackles from the interchange bench.
It’s a sad fall from grace for McQueen who was once regarded as one of the better backrowers in the comp between 2012 and 2015.
The decline of Kieran Foran is a real shame. At 28 years of age, you’d expect he’d still have his best years ahead of him. A mixture of poor form, personal issues and injury concerns have him on verge of retirement though.
After two below-par seasons at the Eels and Warriors, many thought a return to Sydney would bring the best out of Foran yet again. However; Foran became the Bulldogs' second big name signing to fail miserably.
Before a season ending injury struck him down in Round 13, Foran was in career-worst form, which was unthinkable at the time given his form in previous seasons being so disappointing for Parramatta and New Zealand fans alike.
Hopefully, Foran can sort out his mental health, get his injury issues sorted and return to top flight in 2019 – which is something that is looking highly unlikely at this point in time.
Jack Bird is our unlucky recipient of worst signing of the year honours. From weight battles to injury and poor form, Bird managed just eight appearances for the Broncos this season before a season-ending injury struck him down in Round 10.
Bird averaged a career-low 53 metres per game, managed just one try assist, recorded 12 errors, missed 16 tackles and was unable to cross for a try.
Unfortunately, the former New South Wales Origin representative wasn’t only our worst signing of 2018 but perhaps the worst performing player in the competition this season too. And now, a return to the Sharks may even be on the cards.
See Also: Top Ten worst signings of 2018: Part One