After another bumper off-season of player movement, take a look below at who we think will have the biggest impact at their new club in 2019.
4. Blake Ferguson
After an extremely successful four-year stint at the Roosters, that included numerous Australian and NSW jerseys as well as a premiership ring, Blake Ferguson has swapped the beaches of Bondi for Parramatta.
Whilst he may have lost his incumbent wing positions for both NSW and Australia in 2018, Ferguson is coming off his finest season to date in the NRL. Topping the competition for runs, run metres, post contact metres, as well as coming 2nd for linebreaks and 5th for total tries.
Although it may be a year late, Ferguson is a like-for-like replacement for the departed Semi Radradra. The arrival of Ferguson will provide the Eels with another big body to get themselves out of the danger zone which they have so dearly missed since Radradra left for French rugby, as well as taking regular hit-ups to reduce the load on his forward pack.
While many people focused on the incredible statistical output of Ferguson in 2018, it should also be noted that it was a big year for him in terms of his personal development. Having told The Australian that he swore off alcohol for the entire season (we're sure he enjoyed a few in the post-Grand Final festivities), as well as displaying incredible mental toughness by playing through a broken leg in the Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm.
Set to be deployed on the wing once again, the Wellington Cowboys junior will be out to prove a point in 2019 that his form last season wasn’t a one-off, and will be looking to force his way back into representative calculations.
Klemmer is a cat… he will make meters I give him that, but rarely wins a battle when it is taken to him
Fergo will smash up kick returns, quick ball plays to start sets in the best possible ways.
The rest of the team decides if he can finish sets with tries in the corner.
All five are great players. Good pickups.
I dont agree these are the 5 best recruits. These are the 5 best players changing clubs but outside of Ferguson i dont think these players are what their club needed.
E.g. cowboys already had a strong forward pack, did they really need McGuire??.
I think the top 5 recruits are Ferguson for reasons already mentioned.
Matterson, tigers havent had a quality 2nd rower since for years. He can really transforn that right edge, not only does he run great lines but also can create for the players around him.
Boyd, Gold Coast have been crying out for a quality big man. Hes early hit ups will take pressure of the likes of Wallace, James and Arrow by attracting more defenders so the others will be facing one and two man tackles rather than 3 and 4 man tackles the following play. This should lead to quicker play the balls which may well be the key to unlocking Ash Taylors talent.
Paulo, similar story to Boyd above. Whilst the likes of Alvaro, Mau and Brown arent big and strong enough to impact a defensive line themself, they could really benefit from following a player who can.
Norman, (possibly) hasnt had a decent pack to play behind before but will now that he is at St George. Gives St George the ball playing fullback (Widdop) theyve been wanting for sometime. But, questions about disrupting the team and keeping his ego in check (not being the dominant half he wants to be) need to be answered yet.
Now i dont expect these 5 to suddenly outperform the 5 in the article. For example Chrighton is in for a bigger year than Matterson, not only is he a better player but also in a stronger team but as i said these are not the best 5 players but the 5 who could be the most impactful at their new club.