After another bumper off-season of player movement, take a look below at who we think will have the biggest impact at their new club in 2019.
After a stellar 10-year 194 game career at the Broncos, Josh McGuire was released from the final year of his contract at Red Hill and subsequently moved up to the far North in search of a fresh start at the Cowboys.
McGuire's newly inked four-year deal with the Townsville based club means they can lay claim to potentially the scariest and most dynamic forward pack in the competition, joining the likes of Jason Taumalolo, Matt Scott, Coen Hess, Jordan McLean, John Asiata and Gavin Cooper.
Although 2018 was McGuire's 11th season in the top grade, the Kangaroos and Maroons hard man showed no signs of slowing down. Putting up impressive numbers of 117 run metres per game, along with 33 tackles at an efficiency of 88.5%.
McGuire will have a point to prove heading into 2019, particularly to his old club the Broncos. Who may or may not have pushed the Australian representative out the door to accommodate the spate of young-forwards they have recently re-signed.
Having already played for the Maroons on 11 occasions, as well as for Samoa and Australia on 7 and 8 occasions respectively, McGuire will be looking to add another chapter to his already impressive career in Townsville.
After an extremely successful four-year stint at the Roosters, that included numerous Australian and NSW jerseys as well as a premiership ring, Blake Ferguson has swapped the beaches of Bondi for Parramatta.
Whilst he may have lost his incumbent wing positions for both NSW and Australia in 2018, Ferguson is coming off his finest season to date in the NRL. Topping the competition for runs, run metres, post contact metres, as well as coming 2nd for linebreaks and 5th for total tries.
Although it may be a year late, Ferguson is a like-for-like replacement for the departed Semi Radradra. The arrival of Ferguson will provide the Eels with another big body to get themselves out of the danger zone which they have so dearly missed since Radradra left for French rugby, as well as taking regular hit-ups to reduce the load on his forward pack.
While many people focused on the incredible statistical output of Ferguson in 2018, it should also be noted that it was a big year for him in terms of his personal development. Having told The Australian that he swore off alcohol for the entire season (we're sure he enjoyed a few in the post-Grand Final festivities), as well as displaying incredible mental toughness by playing through a broken leg in the Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm.
Set to be deployed on the wing once again, the Wellington Cowboys junior will be out to prove a point in 2019 that his form last season wasn’t a one-off, and will be looking to force his way back into representative calculations.
Having been advised by his boyhood club the Warriors that he wasn’t going to be offered an extension on his current deal, Shaun Johnson sought for an immediate release and was provided a life-line by the embattled Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
Although he has undoubted talent, the Sharks will be hoping for more than just the occasional flash of brilliance from the Kiwis halfback. However, this inconsistency and erratic style could be put to the sword thanks to the man he'll be playing alongside, Chad Townsend.
Townsend isn't the most flamboyant player you'll ever come across, but he could prove to be the perfect foil for Johnson. It's no secret Johnson wasn't your standard game-managing halfback at the Warriors, but luckily for the Sharks, he won't need to do that. Thanks to Townsend's tendencies to direct his team around the park and be the dominant half, this will allow Johnson to pick and choose when to slot into the Sharks' attack, saving his bursts of speed and attacking prowess for the required situations. Rather than being relied upon as the primary attacking spark, as he was at the Warriors for so many years.
Whilst he may cop his fair share of flak for not being as dominant as he should be as a half, Johnson still had a more than solid 2018 season. Providing 15 try-assists and 12 line-break assists from his 19 games in 2018.
Having arrived seemingly as a replacement for the NFL bound Valentine Holmes, Johnson will have his work cut out for him in God's country. However, a combination lighter play-making and game managing duties thanks to the contributions of Chad Townsend and Matt Moylan should allow Johnson to flourish and show NRL fans all the tricks he's got up his sleeve in the new season.
Angus Crichton has returned to his junior club in 2019, following a controversial switch from arch-rivals the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
A self-professed Roosters fan, Crichton has returned to the Eastern Suburbs following a successful four-season stint with the Rabbitohs since leaving school. In this time at Redfern Crichton cemented himself as one of the premier up and coming back-rowers in the game, culminating in three caps for NSW in 2018.
Still, only a young player having only recently celebrated his 23rd birthday, Crichton had a stellar 2018. Averaging an impressive 124.4 metres per game, 34 tackles per game, and also registering 39 offloads (7th in the NRL).
Having only made the switch from rugby union to rugby league after he graduated school, Crichton is still learning about his game and the game of rugby league each season. And if you want to learn about the game of rugby league, you'd be hard pressed to find two more astute minds to do so from than Trent Robinson and Cooper Cronk, the later of which Crichton will be outside of on the Roosters right edge in 2019.
Although it won't faze the classy and well-spoken Young Cherrypickers junior, look for another chapter to be added to the book of feuds come round 1 when the Crichton faces off against his former Rabbitohs teammates on the SCG.
Bulldogs born and bred, David Klemmer has joined the Knights on a mammoth 5-year deal following an early release from his contract with Canterbury-Bankstown.
Following consistent rumblings that he was not happy at Belmore, he was finally granted what he desired after the Bulldogs gained an adequate replacement for Klemmer in the shape Dylan Napa.
Following his debut for the Bulldogs in 2013, Klemmer has cemented himself as one of the game’s best and most aggressive middlemen, culminating in regular selections for the NSW Origin and Australian sides.
Although he may not have been all too happy at the Bulldogs last year, he didn’t let that affect his performances. Putting up a mammoth 181 running metres per game, coupled with an incredible 1650 post contact metres for the season (3rd in the NRL).
After being lured up to the Hunter by coach Nathan Brown, it is scary to think what Klemmer could be capable of in 2019 now that he is happy and where he wants to be.
In terms of Newcastle and what his acquisition means for their team, the importance can’t be overstated. He could well be the final piece of the puzzle that propels them back into finals contention, providing the Knights with the Paul Harrogan-esque aggression and meter eating ability through the middle that they have so desperately lacked in the past few seasons.
Seeing the likes of Pearce, Ponga, and Watson playing off the back of the consistent go forward that Klemmer will undoubtedly provide could be mouth-watering to watch.