With the 2026 season rapidly approaching, fan optimism is once again clouding rational thought, players have started the hard slog of pre-season training, and we can’t wait for the games to begin.
Just like every other year, there’s been a steady turnover in club playing rosters, with the usual retirements, those moving to the UK to finish their careers, and a host of players changing clubs either for perceived better opportunities or to pick up a bigger pay cheque.
All new recruits come with some level of expectation and living up to them isn’t always easy.
This article looks at three key recruits who will really need to make every post a winner in 2026.
Dylan Brown (Age 25) – Brown has been signed by Newcastle for the next ten years for a reported $13m, perhaps the biggest contract in the game’s history.
Now it’s clear that the Knights, with just four finals appearances and almost as many wooden spoons in the last decade, had to do something, but Brown’s signing is a head scratcher, doesn’t make sense, and looks to be a very expensive gamble.
Essentially, Brown is a running five-eighth, and a very good one at that, particularly when playing behind a strong pack with a good organising half giving him the space to weave his magic.
During his time at Parramatta he generally performed well outside Mitchell Moses, one of the best halves in the business, but even so, the Eels failed to make it as far as the finals in the last three years.
More recently, Brown absolutely carved the opposition up for the Kiwis in last year’s Pacific Championship, winning the Man of the Match award every time he took the field, but that was behind a very dominant NZ pack boasting the likes of James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Joseph Tapine, Isaiah Papali’i, Erin Clark, Naufahu Whyte, and with the experienced half Kieran Foran calling the shots.
So where does that leave Brown at the Knights, who already have a promising running pivot in Fletcher Sharpe, and have signed another predominantly running half in Sandon Smith from the Roosters.
Who’s going to call the shots? If it’s Brown, he’ll be in unfamiliar territory and essentially playing out of position and be far less effective, and if it’s either Sharpe or Smith they’ll also be playing a role foreign to them, and they just don’t have either the experience or the skill set to effectively run the side and create opportunities for Brown, particularly behind a Newcastle pack that looks to be ordinary at best.
After a series of dismal halves experiments in recent years many believe that what Knights really need instead of another running five-eighth is an experienced game manager, someone who can run the side and take the responsibility for the team’s organisation off their other high priced star in Kalyn Ponga in order to free him up to do what he does best.
A big challenge ahead for new Knights coach Justin Holbrook will be to get the best use out of Brown, and the young star can expect a lot of scrutiny, not only from the Newcastle faithful who will be expecting big things to justify his big contract, but also from the rugby league world at large. Surely no new signing, and perhaps no player in the game, will be under more pressure to produce the goods in 2026 than Dylan Brown.
Dylan Brown. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
David Fifita (Age 25) – Fifita has been signed by South Sydney for the next two years with his former club the Gold Coast Titans picking up a large chunk of his salary.
Fifita is a rugby league paradox, as no player has done less with his enormous natural football talent in recent years than the big back rower, with the exception perhaps of his new teammate Latrell Mitchell.
Fifita looked to have the rugby league world at his mercy when he left the Broncos for a big-money contract with the Gold Coast at the end of 2020, but while his bank balance rapidly soared his career dived just as quickly, even to the extent that he found himself playing for one of the Titans’ feeder clubs in 2025.
2026 will be a make or break season for Fifita, and another unimpressive season could see him struggle to land another lucrative contract and even fade from view altogether.
The good news for Fifita this season is that he’s now playing for a side with a long history of both pride and spirit, as exemplified by the Rabbitoh’s performances last year despite a horrific injury toll.
If he buys in to the Souths’ culture and the coaching of Wayne Bennett he could just save his career, secure his financial future, add to his collection of Origin and test jerseys, and perhaps even win a premiership.
Few people can extract the best out of their players as well as Wayne Bennett, who coaches the person as much as he does the player, and it will be interesting to see how he uses the big forward this year. Will he leave him in the backrow to provide another edge threat alongside the likes of Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton, Campbell Graham and Tallis Duncan or will he do a “Koloamatangi”, and move Fifita to the middle?
Fifita has proven himself to be a player who can get lost in a game if given half a chance, so perhaps a middle forward role would not only get the best out of him, but also give the Rabbitohs a far better middle rotation, with Fifita joined by the likes of Keaon Koloamatangi, Tevita Tatola and Sean Keppie. Just imagine the threat Fifita would pose in the middle of the ruck with his power running and offloading ability.
If David Fifita can start the year both fit and enthusiastic, buys in to the South Sydney way, and is used to his best advantage by Wayne Bennett, he could shake off the Lazy Davy tag and prove to be the buy of the year.
Jamal Fogarty. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Jamal Fogarty (Age 32) – Fogarty has been signed by Manly for the next three years as a replacement for their departed long-term halfback Daly Cherry-Evans.
In case you’ve somehow missed it, the messy departure of Manly’s once favourite son Daly Cherry-Evans hasn’t been well received on the insular peninsular, and has been identified as the cause of everything, from the club’s poor performances across the 2025 season, the resignation of Manly CEO Tony Mestrov, the axe hanging over coach Anthony Seibold’s head, and even global warming.
DCE has been an integral part of everything good about the club for the last 15 years and holds the record for most games in the maroon and white, but instead of wishing him well for the future and thanking him for his outstanding service to the club, he’s been roundly criticised and Manly fans couldn’t see him leave the club quick enough, but there’s a catch, as without DCE calling the shots for the Sea Eagles since 2011 they probably would have achieved even less than the two grand final appearances with a solitary premiership.
Manly do like to eat their own.
So welcome Jamal Fogarty, a player who is perhaps the antithesis of DCE. Steady and reliable rather than brilliant, low profile rather than a media favourite, and a late blooming club player rather than an origin and test star.
Do your best … no pressure.
Success on the paddock didn’t come either quickly or easily for Fogarty, and after making his first grade debut in 2017 took another six years to finally established himself as the Raiders first-choice halfback, with 2025 arguably being his best season when helped take the Raiders to the minor premiership.
Playing behind a very strong pack and surrounded by some quick and very exciting young backs, Fogarty was the glue that held the Canberra team together, steadied the ship when necessary, and came up with his fair share of clutch plays.
Fogarty joins a team under considerable stress, with coach Seibold the subject of increasing criticism, star fullback Tom Trbojevic’s ongoing injury/fitness issues shuffling him into the centres, the medical retirement of the ever-reliable Lachlan Croker, and just two brief finals’ appearances in the last five years.
Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
The fans expect more.
Fogarty’s going to have a lot on his plate this year and will shoulder most of the burden for getting the team moving.
He’ll be working with a totally different style of coach than the highly experienced straight shooter in the Raiders’ Ricky Stuart, and will be joined in the spine by the young and inexperienced Lehi Hopoate at fullback, and two very average players in Luke Brooks and Jake Simpkin at 5/8 and dummy half respectively.
He’ll also playing behind a pack that failed to consistently compete with the opposition last year.
Comparisons between Fogarty and DCE will be inevitable, Manly expectations will be high, and Fogarty will need to ensure that he’s not left without a chair when the music stops,
Tonyhttps://https://ift.tt/8ZJG4Td, Lazy Davy and Jum – Three NRL recruits who need to hit the ground running in 2026
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