Zac Hosking signs with the Raiders on three year deal from 2024

[FROG]

Solid signing but doesn't get the heart racing.

He'll be a great signing if we add a higher calibre second-rower to the team as well. Hudson, Whitehead, Hosking and Luciano/similar player fighting for two starting and one bench spot would be great for depth and competition.

Agree with this

[julian87]

If Canberra have paid him even 100k more than minimum wage it’s an absolute disaster. And I’d bet they’ve severely, severely overpaid.

[Sid]

Hopefully a clay webb replacement

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[GreenMachine]

Geez we love the bottom of the barrel...

[Finchy]

Geez we love the bottom of the barrel...

We’ve gone from reserve graders to fringe first graders. We’re trending up!

[PNGRaider37]

Beggars cant be choosers. Hope he goes well - if he does sign.

[Dylan’s Raiders]

Objectively, I think he is a good signing and a good squad member. Like many others, I just hope we are still looking at other options such as the Cowboys players etc in addition to Hosking.

However, if our young guns like Chevy Stewart, Ethan Strange, Ethan Sanders etc all kick on and become superstars, I do think a second row pairing of Hudson Young and Hosking is solid enough to take you to the big dance.

Regardless, he is a second rower and we need a second rower.

[FROG]

If Canberra have paid him even 100k more than minimum wage it’s an absolute disaster. And I’d bet they’ve severely, severely overpaid.

Gee whiz mate. Paying a player ~200k who was good enough to play 20 games in one of the best teams in history, in a role that we desperately need to find depth is hardly what id characterise a disaster... that said north of 300k would be overs

[greeneyed]

'We've got to make sure he wants to be a Raider first': Canberra closes in on Panther

Zac Hosking and his girlfriend toured Canberra Raiders HQ on Wednesday.

"We're always looking to strengthen our roster. We brought him and his girlfriend down to have a look at the facility in Canberra and have a discussion in regards to his future," Ricky Stuart said. "There's been no contractual negotiations as of yet. We've got to make sure he wants to be a Raider first."

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

[President Clinton]

If Canberra have paid him even 100k more than minimum wage it’s an absolute disaster. And I’d bet they’ve severely, severely overpaid.

This seems a bit OTT. He’s hardly going to bend our cap out of shape. And it’s a position we are severely lacking depth.

[Danaman137]

I like this a lot for roster versatility with HSS and Morkos recently departing. Having an extra centre option with genuine FG experience if Timoko or Kris go down while also addressing our biggest need in a second rower is a big win in my opinion.

Still hope we’re chasing a cowboy but I think this is a very astute move from the club if it gets done.


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[RedRaider]

I see him as a journeyman depth signing. Panthers got good value out of him this past season but turning 27 in February next year, he is a late bloomer. I really hope we are still on the hunt for Kulikefu Finefeuiaki.

I saw somewhere maybe fox yesterday that Finefeuiaki had signed an extension with the Cowboys, so I doubt he's gonna be coming to us

Have you got a source for that Neeeegz. I could not find anything for K.Finefeuiaki. there are a few sports people with that surname.

[Ruben Daley]

If Canberra have paid him even 100k more than minimum wage it’s an absolute disaster. And I’d bet they’ve severely, severely overpaid.

Gee whiz mate. Paying a player ~200k who was good enough to play 20 games in one of the best teams in history, in a role that we desperately need to find depth is hardly what id characterise a disaster... that said north of 300k would be overs

Exactly.

The cap is going to be $11.25M next year, so the average will be $375K. Pretty sure we can handle paying him that at least.

CHN is allegedly on $600K, so if we can carry him on that much coin, we won’t be breaking the cap signing Hosking to more than average considering he’s effectively be CHN’s replacement.

[greeneyed]

I see him as a journeyman depth signing. Panthers got good value out of him this past season but turning 27 in February next year, he is a late bloomer. I really hope we are still on the hunt for Kulikefu Finefeuiaki.

I saw somewhere maybe fox yesterday that Finefeuiaki had signed an extension with the Cowboys, so I doubt he's gonna be coming to us

Have you got a source for that Neeeegz. I could not find anything for K.Finefeuiaki. there are a few sports people with that surname.

The latest story I could find...

Three-club race to break out for Cowboys young gun: https://www.zerotackle.com/three-club-r ... un-203888/

[Bluesbrother]

Lol I can't get over some of the whingers on here. I remember last year people were spewing we didn't have a crack at Hosking. The guy is a good player who improves our squad. He is a better player than what CHN has shown himself to be. He's an upgrade on Clay Webb who we lost last season.

We still desire an elite edge - that's clear from Ricky's words. He isn't waxing lyrical about a bloke who is very clearly a depth player with upside.

I'm not sure we can beat the likes of the Dolphins to Finefuiaki. I did see Luki reportedly toured St George- hopefully he had a look here too.

[Matt]

Geez we love the bottom of the barrel...

We’ve gone from reserve graders to fringe first graders. We’re trending up!

Thats the spirit Finchy

[Matt]

Lol I can't get over some of the whingers on here. I remember last year people were spewing we didn't have a crack at Hosking. The guy is a good player who improves our squad. He is a better player than what CHN has shown himself to be. He's an upgrade on Clay Webb who we lost last season.

We still desire an elite edge - that's clear from Ricky's words. He isn't waxing lyrical about a bloke who is very clearly a depth player with upside.

I'm not sure we can beat the likes of the Dolphins to Finefuiaki. I did see Luki reportedly toured St George- hopefully he had a look here too.

If we haven't got coin to throw at Luki we are doing something wrong.
Q is, where does he wanna go?

[Botman]

I'd love to know who was complaining we didnt chase after Hoskings last year coming off a 2022 campaign with the Broncos where he played 4 FG games

[PNGRaider37]

I'd love to know who was complaining we didnt chase after Hoskings last year coming off a 2022 campaign with the Broncos where he played 4 FG games

I've been told on this forum that most users here do extensive research on numerous fringe players in their spare time and "call it" faster than you can say Lesley Vainikolo.

[Botman]

I'd love to know who was complaining we didnt chase after Hoskings last year coming off a 2022 campaign with the Broncos where he played 4 FG games

I've been told on this forum that most users here do extensive research on numerous fringe players in their spare time and "call it" faster than you can say Lesley Vainikolo.

I think forums like this are more aware of fringe players than your standard fans... lets be honest, if you're posting on a board like this in a real way, you're a **** sicko for this sport. And there is the SuperCoach aspect which i dont play, but as i understand it, the key to that game is identifying "cash cows" who are cheap in the game, but who's value will increase, allowing you to move off that player and spend the profits on a more reliable player... so that is increasing peoples awareness of players on the fringes... so i think that is generally spot on

But i just dont recall the moment where people were "spewing" we didnt aggressive chase him coming off a solid but largely unspectacular 4 game campaign for the Broncos. I vaguely recall some dicussions about him but i dont think anyone was over their skiis on it as being presented by Bluesbrother

[greeneyed]

You can check out the discussion on missing Zac Hosking when he signed with the Panthers here:

https://thegh.com.au/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 4#p1885364

You can all judge yourselves. But, in my view… virtually nothing to see there.

[Neeeegz]

To be fair, I thought he might be a matt lodge type liability, a penalty away from losing you a game type player, when at the broncos, but looked clean of those issues with the panthers, he might knock us back too, he's not signed yet

[BadnMean]

To be fair, I thought he might be a matt lodge type liability, a penalty away from losing you a game type player, when at the broncos, but looked clean of those issues with the panthers, he might knock us back too, he's not signed yet

Only 2 penalties all season according to foxsports. Pretty good going from 21 games in terms of discipline.

[Bluesbrother]

You can check out the discussion on missing Zac Hosking when he signed with the Panthers here:

https://thegh.com.au/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 4#p1885364

You can all judge yourselves. But, in my view… virtually nothing to see there.

If that's the extent of the discussion on Hosking I'm way off the mark with my comments. I thought there were more than that.

[Neeeegz]

I see him as a journeyman depth signing. Panthers got good value out of him this past season but turning 27 in February next year, he is a late bloomer. I really hope we are still on the hunt for Kulikefu Finefeuiaki.

I saw somewhere maybe fox yesterday that Finefeuiaki had signed an extension with the Cowboys, so I doubt he's gonna be coming to us

Have you got a source for that Neeeegz. I could not find anything for K.Finefeuiaki. there are a few sports people with that surname.

The latest story I could find...

Three-club race to break out for Cowboys young gun: https://www.zerotackle.com/three-club-r ... un-203888/

Sorry Red and GE, I tried looking again but can't find it, hopefully it was just dribble, because he's the pick of the guys available in my opinion

[Timbo]

We need a backrower, there’s virtually nobody on the market, we’re miles under the cap and this is a guy who played 17 matches for last years premiers including the prelim?

I don’t see why we wouldn’t go for him. It’s not like it precludes us from signing anyone else next year.

[greeneyed]

According to The Canberra Times, the Raiders are trying to sign Penrith second-rower Zac Hosking for the 2025-26 seasons, but would be keen to get him for 2024 too: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... situation/

[Bluesbrother]

According to The Canberra Times, the Raiders are trying to sign Penrith second-rower Zac Hosking for the 2025-26 seasons, but would be keen to get him for 2024 too: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... situation/

Given the Panthers record of holding onto players until thier contract is over it seems unlikely they will let him go. Burton, Kikau, Crichton. Unless there is an exchange or a need, letting Hosking go early won't help the Panthers in 24. Will be interesting to see what happens.

If he does come early he would likely fit straight into our 17 which means Mooney, Mariota, Guler, Saulo, Puru, Sasagi are all fighting for 2 bench spots. Our forward pack is very competitive.

[Mickey_Raider]

Obviously we have been and are trying to land the big fish on the edge.

But failing that, I see absolutely no reason why an incrementalist approach, as seems to be the case with this bloke, is a bad move.

Let’s be brutally honest for a second here. Whitehead, bless his socks, was a non-contributor and/or a liability for about 80% of the year.

If this guy is merely a solid FGer, he is an instant upgrade on EW and improves the team.

And that is significant because even with a couple passengers and sputtering performances, we still went within a need of making the finals.

Making those couple percent improvements where we can personnel wise may turn out to be quite important next season.

If him and Smithies bring some starch to a pack already brimming with strike power, I think our pack holds up pretty well.

[NoMan]

Obviously we have been and are trying to land the big fish on the edge.

But failing that, I see absolutely no reason why an incrementalist approach, as seems to be the case with this bloke, is a bad move.

Let’s be brutally honest for a second here. Whitehead, bless his socks, was a non-contributor and/or a liability for about 80% of the year.

If this guy is merely a solid FGer, he is an instant upgrade on EW and improves the team.

And that is significant because even with a couple passengers and sputtering performances, we still went within a need of making the finals.

Making those couple percent improvements where we can personnel wise may turn out to be quite important next season.

If him and Smithies bring some starch to a pack already brimming with strike power, I think our pack holds up pretty well.

Small increments are fine if every other club is static. Otherwise they are not going to get you anywhere meaningful.

I have nothing against the signing in isolation, especially for 24, but the club has a major issue with recruitment.

[greeneyed]

Especially for 24?

[NoMan]

Especially for 24?

I mean its a better signing if they can get him for 24 and not just from 25-26.

[Bluesbrother]

Obviously we have been and are trying to land the big fish on the edge.

But failing that, I see absolutely no reason why an incrementalist approach, as seems to be the case with this bloke, is a bad move.

Let’s be brutally honest for a second here. Whitehead, bless his socks, was a non-contributor and/or a liability for about 80% of the year.

If this guy is merely a solid FGer, he is an instant upgrade on EW and improves the team.

And that is significant because even with a couple passengers and sputtering performances, we still went within a need of making the finals.

Making those couple percent improvements where we can personnel wise may turn out to be quite important next season.

If him and Smithies bring some starch to a pack already brimming with strike power, I think our pack holds up pretty well.

Small increments are fine if every other club is static. Otherwise they are not going to get you anywhere meaningful.

I have nothing against the signing in isolation, especially for 24, but the club has a major issue with recruitment.

When did you realise this? The club has had issues with recruitment for 20 years.

Despite that though, we've recruited very well. Our approach is different to other clubs because it has to be. We've gone to England and had amazing success with it. Smithies will be another such story.

We're now recruiting elite youth and putting them into the system. Stewart, rated the number 1 schoolboy in the country was signed and will likely play NRL next year. That's not a traditional model that other clubs are using but that's what we're trying. Sanders will be another in this vein.

The strategy now for most of the elite clubs is to build a base with youth and add a bit of cream on top. The cream we can realistically get is going to be different. We have to get elite players in positions that aren't as in demand, such as backrow or get them early before they truly hit their peak. Which is what we are doing and we are having success. If Chevy Stewart turns into a top 5 or even top 10 fullback in the NRL will that be considered a good signing/good recruitment? I think it should be. Just because we haven't signed a huge name doesn't mean we haven't recruited well.

[Boomercm]

Zac Hosking was keeping Luke Garner out of the Penrith side. So there's that.

On a more serious note, I didn't mind what I saw of him. We were very poor defensively on the edge. And he was solid in one of the best defensive sides i've ever seen.

[julian87]

Zac Hosking was keeping Luke Garner out of the Penrith side. So there's that.

Then dropped him for Garner for the pointy end of the season.

If Hosking is on a very small contract Penrith won’t release him unless they have someone who can come in and do the same job at the same price imo.

They don’t stand in the way of players making themselves a living/career (O’Sullivan, Cogger etc) but they don’t leave themselves short in the interim.