2026 recruitment & retention

[double hoops]

Well we must have 9 new players coming.

Fogarty and Large coming, who else.

Large?

 

[bob dylan]

Large?

Onitoni Large

 

[Cochrane]

Have you thought of this maybe

( Club) Tommy we’d like to sign you for another two years, we thought a fair offer is XXXX.

Nah not interested in that , I want YYYY PLUS a guaranteed run on spot for 2026.

( Club) Well we think the XXXX is a fair offer and we can’t guarantee you a run on spot but you’re certainly going to get games and who knows what the future holds.

Okay , but no thanks , I’m going to test the market.

I have no inside knowledge but did see something on Twitter yesterday that suggests he wasn’t happy with the offer and was looking for a run on guarantee.

What player asks for or signs with a guaranteed starting spot.

Any coach will put the best players in each position at the time, not succumb to " oh, I have to play that player at centre "

 

[Phobia]

We just don’t need to extend Garrick. Stacked with outside backs and is on good coin. We need his $600k to help build our forward pack. We have young Willett who is highly touted that will be ready to replace Reuben if he leaves.

I keep seeing this $600k figure anywhere. He is not on $600k... Otherwise he would've made the DT Rich List over the past two years, which he didn't.

I dont know how much he's on, but I feel he is worth ~450-500k. The problem is if the Bears offer more than that, and he's willing to uproot his family for that amount.

 

[Sheikheagle]

Onitoni Large

Is he in the top 30
Next season?

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

What player asks for or signs with a guaranteed starting spot.

Any coach will put the best players in each position at the time, not succumb to " oh, I have to play that player at centre "

Only telling you what I’ve read

 

[Cochrane]

Yeah I know mate, more responding to the report rather than taking it as your opinion

 

[Eagles4Life]

Is he in the top 30
Next season?

Three year contract.
Top 30 2026-2028.
Hopefully, his brother follows in his footsteps.
Thread 'Onitoni Large' Onitoni Large

 

[Heckenberg]

What player asks for or signs with a guaranteed starting spot.

Any coach will put the best players in each position at the time, not succumb to " oh, I have to play that player at centre "

Irrespective of that he would probably feel that if he was offered 250 k it’s not indicative of a starting centres salary.

 

[bob dylan]

Is he in the top 30
Next season?

Not 100% but I think so.

 

[Eagles4Life]

Not 100% but I think so.

Announced in the SMH that Large moves into Top 30 in 2026.

Writ Large: Meet the teen star ready to replace DCE at Manly​

March 29, 2025 — 7.30pm
Onitoni Large had only just plonked himself down in the meeting room inside Manly’s centre of excellence at Brookvale when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

The next words heard by the teenage phenom, invited to train with the Sea Eagles first-grade squad during the summer, were: “Oi, you’re in my seat.”

Large turned around to discover he was sitting in the chair that belonged to Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans. The youngster was mortified.

“I was like, ‘Oh, do you want me to move?’ Large recalls. “And Chez was like, ‘Nah, it’s all right, I’m just pulling your leg.’ It was pretty funny.”

Given that Cherry-Evans has declared this will be his last season at Manly, it’s only a matter of time before Large takes his spot on the field as well. Large and fellow Sea Eagles young gun Joe Walsh are considered among the best emerging halves in the game, with club officials tipping them to combine at NRL level in the coming years.

Such is the regard in which Large, just 17, is held, Manly tried to play him in a pre-season trial. The club hoped to be granted an exemption after the NRL bent the rules for Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who was allowed to make his first grade debut at the age of 17. However, head office knocked back the request.

“I think I would have [handled it],” says Large, who moves into Manly’s top-30 squad next year. “I did the training with them and was tackling them, doing the dojo sessions and stuff. It obviously shows that they have a lot of confidence in me, so that made me feel more confident in my game.

“Knowing they’re backing me, I was really excited for that to come across. In the end it’s not what happened. I would have taken the opportunity with both hands, but it is what it is.”

Suaalii was the standout schoolboy in both rugby codes when he was coming through the grades, and there is similar hype about Large. The Scots College student joined the likes of Suaalii and Kurtley Beale in making the first XV of a GPS school while still only 15 years old.

He went on to captain the Combined Independent Schools 15s side, leading them to their first win at the Australian championships. The Campbelltown product has also captained the NSW U16 Gen Blues, was the player of the national championships at under-15s league level, and was arguably the most sought-after signature across either code as league and union jostled for his services.

Ultimately, he knocked back the Waratahs to sign with Wests Tigers, before switching to Manly.
A five-eighth with blistering acceleration, he has already been clocked at 10.74 seconds over 100 metres. His goal is to lower the GPS mark set by fellow Manly speedster Tolu Koula, of 10.58 seconds.

“I’m gonna try to beat it; it’s something I wanna go after,” he says. “When we do sprint training [at Manly] they put me up against Koula and I race him. It was pretty cool racing against him. All the boys were getting around it. I think he just beat me, or we drew, one of them.”

You only need to take a cursory glance at the many highlight reels of Large to realise he is something special. A five-eighth in rugby league, there’s the unmistakable burst of speed, but also the vision to set up his teammates.

While not quite as physically imposing as Suaalii at the same age, there are similarities.
“He’s a freak,” Large says. “Like me, he went to a private school and played rugby, played firsts and then played league, so I think that’s probably what we’ve got in common.

“We were both playing at a GPS school and can play league also … It’s just about limiting the distractions and I guess all that outside noise, so I’m just hopefully playing good footy.”

For all of his achievements and potential, there’s still some debate about who is the best footballer in the family.

Brother Ashton, a year younger, is a promising hooker also in the Manly system. Fourteen-year-old sister Olivia is also a standout in her age group, while father Andrew was also one of the best teens of his era, although his career never quite kicked on.

“He [Andrew[] mainly talks about what he did wrong, where he stuffed up is where he wants us to do right,” Large says.
“He’s really strict on us, he had some road bumps, and he really wants us not to be like that. He hasn’t really spoken about it heaps, just how he played at the Roosters.
“He said when he trained he had some of the greats like Brad Fittler above him.”

While disappointed Cherry-Evans is leaving, Manly believe in Large and Walsh they have their long-term halves pairing. That’s why if the club misses out on the signature of Canberra halfback Jamal Fogarty, they will switch Tom Trbojevic from fullback to five-eighth to hold the fort until the youngsters are ready for grade.

Currently sidelined with a shoulder injury, Large feels the Sea Eagles will know when he’s ready to make the step up to NRL.
“It’s about trusting them, they will know what’s right for me,” he says. “It’s a bit scary that it is not too far away, but at the same time it is exciting. For the most part I’m not really like worrying about debuting or whatever.

“I’m just worrying about getting myself right in terms of learning and absorbing as much as I can before any of that and also just trying to enjoy my school years, being a teenager, spending time with my family and my mates.”

 

[double hoops]

Three year contract.
Top 30 2026-2028.
Hopefully, his brother follows in his footsteps.
Thread 'Onitoni Large' Onitoni Large

The top 30 thread on here has Ontoni being a Development player in both 26 and 27.

He missed most of this year after getting injured playing juniors yeah?

We have a bit to replace, with the 9 let go.

So far all we have mainly promoted kids. ASome we absolutely need.

But if Ontoni another back was to be top 30 next year, I'd have that with MWSR only with 4 spots left top 30.

The Development players can always play NRL if good enough.

But too many kids at once in the 30 could be worse than this year's retirement village.

4.

 

[Eagles4Life]

The top 30 thread on here has Ontoni being a Development player in both 26 and 27.

He missed most of this year after getting injured playing juniors yeah?

We have a bit to replace, with the 9 let go.

So far all we have mainly promoted kids. ASome we absolutely need.

But if Ontoni another back was to be top 30 next year, I'd have that with MWSR only with 4 spots left top 30.

The Development players can always play NRL if good enough.

But too many kids at once in the 30 could be worse than this year's retirement village.

4.

I'm not sure how accurate that information (in that thread) is @double hoops

Please note I am talking about Large's contract status only. IMO its highly unlikely that Large's manager would have agreed to terms in 2024, without an automatic upgrade to top thirty for 2026.