As the Sydney Roosters ramp up their pursuit of Daly Cherry-Evans and are the frontrunners to secure his signature, one of the biggest beneficiaries of his potential arrival would be teenage sensation Toby Rodwell.
Contracted until the end of 2028, the halfback has opened up on his NRL ambitions, playing for the Roosters in the pre-season and his relationship with 2024 NRLW Dally M Rookie of the Year Kasey Reh.
Presented with the Harry Phipps Rising Star award in 2024, given to the club player showing a significant physical and mental aptitude to play NRL football, Rodwell joined an illustrious group as he looks to make his first-grade debut in the coming seasons.
Regarded as one of the best young talents coming through the pathways system, he is looking to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Blacklock, Jake Friend, Daniel Tupou, Latrell Mitchell, Connor Watson, Victor Radley, Sam Walker and Joseph Suaalii - all of whom have claimed the award in previous years gone by.
Beginning his rugby league journey with the Roosters in 2022, he has gone on to illustrate that he has the potential to have a long future in the NRL and even got to play in the NRL Pre-Season Challenge earlier this year after being selected in the Australian Schoolboys side.
"It was definitely surreal getting to play with someone like Siua [Wong] and Rob Toia. It was crazy getting to play off them and definitely made my job easier," Rodwell told Zero Tackle.
"It's awesome (wearing the Roosters jersey). Growing up and playing Harold Matts and now SG Ball, I really love the club and all the people around it.
"It's a bit of pressure (signing a long-term deal), but I also know that it's a bit of a long-term thing, and I'm just going to take it year by year."
While Cherry-Evans' potential arrival would only further develop Rodwell's game and be a key mentor to him, just like he has done with Latu Fainu and Jamie Humphreys, the young halfback spoke about the impact of the current halves at the club - Sandon Smith, Sam Walker and Chad Townsend.
"Sandon and Sammy have been huge and I'm always picking Chad's brain with his experience in the game," Rodwell said.
"He's always picking stuff up from me as well during training. I'm a sponge and just trying to soak all of his knowledge up."
The younger brother of centre Tom Rodwell who has moved to the Roosters reserve-grade side after four seasons with the Newtown Jets, Toby is currently plying his trade in the SG Ball Cup, Jersey Flegg Cup and NSW Cup competitions.
This has seen him play in the halves alongside Hugo Savala, U19s NSW Blues representative Jake Elliott, and Tyson Walker - Sam Walker's younger brother.
Although it may take him a while to finally register his NRL debut due to coach Trent Robinson not rushing the young prospects at the club, Rodwell admitted that his long-term goal is to claim the Dally M Rookie of the Year award.
This comes after his partner, St George Illawarra Dragons NRLW star and future NSW Sky Blues playmaker Kasey Reh, claimed the 2024 NRLW Rookie of the Year award at last year's Dally M ceremony.
"It's a huge award and it'd be great to get that recognition one day," he added.
"She's [Kasey Reh] been massive and is a good support network.
"She's always hyping me up, always doing a bit of training together, which helps and she's just been awesome.
"The rest of my family have been awesome. Obviously living away from home is hard but Dad comes up once a week and they've been huge."
