Players off-contract at the end of 2022 have been able to negotiate for three months as we hit the end of January, and already plenty of big names have re-signed or moved clubs.
The Dolphins have thrown a new air of intrigue over this year’s off-contract player list, with the expansion club adding six players to their top 30 roster for 2023, including five with first-grade experience.
The Melbourne Storm have been hit hard, losing Jesse Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi to the new club, while Brandon Smith was the most publicised signature of the off-season so far before agreeing to join with the Sydney Roosters for 2023.
It’s been a revolving door at dummy half, with Reed Mahoney going from the Eels to the Bulldogs, Josh Hodgson from the Raiders to the Eels, and Apisai Koroisau from the Panthers to the Tigers.
Junior Paulo and Clinton Gutherson agreed to remain with the Eels after plenty of speculation, but as it stands, there are still over 100 players without a home locked away for 2023.
Today, we build a 17-man team of those players, noting that we have only considered each player for one position.
FULL OFF-CONTRACT LIST FOR 2023 TEAM-BY-TEAM
9. Bench
For the bench, we will use one spine player, back five option, one middle forward and one second-rower to round out the side.
The utility back or spine option has to be Chanel Harris-Tavita. As tempting as it is to pick Simi Sasagi here - who is the most talented junior on the list - Chanel Harris-Tavita's signature could be the most hotly contested.
He has already confirmed he will hit the open market, which caused the Warriors to offer him a deal earlier than they were originally planning on.
For the back five option, it's hard to go past Taylan May. Others - like Dean Ieremia, Isaac Lumelume or even Kevin Naiqama - might have a lot more experience than him, but by the end of the year, it could be reasonably anticipated that May is hot property in the competition.
When it comes to a middle forward on the bench, it's either Vaughan or Wallace. Both former Origin players, it's hard to split them given Wallace's improvement at the back end of 2021, but it feels as if Vaughan has more to give at this stage of his career.
The question for the final second-row spot comes down to Graham or Harawira-Naera. Graham is a better all-round player, but his injury past means Harawira-Naera takes the spot.
The team
1. Matt Dufty (Canterbury Bulldogs)
2. Josh Mansour (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
3. Jack Bird (St George Illawarra Dragons)
4. Herbie Farnworth (Brisbane Broncos)
5. Corey Oates (Brisbane Broncos)
6. Ashley Taylor (New Zealand Warriors)
7. Kieran Foran (Manly Sea Eagles)
8. Martin Taupau (Manly Sea Eagles)
9. Tom Starling (Canberra Raiders)
10. Siosiua Taukeiaho (Sydney Roosters)
11. Angus Crichton (Sydney Roosters)
12. Tariq Sims (St George Illawarra Dragons)
13. Corey Horsburgh (Canberra Raiders)
14. Chanel Harris-Tavita (New Zealand Warriors)
15. Taylan May (Penrith Panthers)
16. Paul Vaughan (Canterbury Bulldogs)
17. Corey Harawira-Naera (Canberra Raiders)
