The NRL has been flooded with midseason transfers, contract negotiations and player unrest as many high profile stars of the game are on the move. Throwing our minds back to early in the season when Dylan Brown sent shockwaves through the NRL when he announced he had signed a mammoth contract up in Newcastle and would be departing the Eels at the end of the season. From that moment the dominos started to fall and whilst it is almost impossible to predict how it will all play out, the excitement and jeopardy of watching so many of the best playmakers in the game enter the market has added another layer to what is already an incredible season in the NRL.

Since Brown announced his departure from the Eels at seasons end, the discussions around who they could target as a halves partner for Mitch Moses began immediately. Intially, all the signs pointed to one place, Lachlan Galvin. Galvin is a Parramatta junior who openly admits to having supported the club as he grew up and there was already rumours swirling that he was unhappy at the Tigers. When Galvin knocked back the 5 year, multimillion dollar deal on the table from the Tigers it appeared as if the Eels had a clear path to get their number one target. But of course nothing is quite that simple in rugby league.

The Bulldogs and more specifically Phil Gould weren’t going to let a player of Galvin’s calibre enter the market without having a discussion with him and those discussions appear to have gone remarkably well as they have surged into favouritism to sign the young half. But this likely outcome raises far more questions than answers, with the Bulldogs sitting at the top of the ladder they are now tapping key members of their spine on the shoulder and informing them that they can look elsewhere at seasons end. Hence, Toby Sexton and Reed Mahoney have entered the market and the Eels look like they are still searching for a Dylan Brown replacement.

Whilst all of this has been going on the oldest player in the game, Daly Cherry-Evans, made the shocking announcement that he would be leaving the Sea Eagles at the end of the season. Immediately the Roosters and Dolphins were linked to him and whilst they still seem like the most likely options, the market is moving so quickly anything could happen from this point onwards. Manly seem to have made a smart business decision by picking their replacement Jamal Fogarty early and signing him quickly, ensuring they don’t have to engage negotiations and bidding wars for the rest of the playmakers on the market.

This season certainly hasn’t been short of storylines and it’s made following the NRL all the more exciting each and every week. There’s a sense that we will look back on the halves merry-go-round of 2025 with some clubs clearly coming out on top and others missing out, but who those clubs will be, its hard to tell.