As the 2024 NRL premiership season draws closer, The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis weighs in on which player at every club needs a big 2024.
In this iteration, Carayannis looks at which players from the Dolphins and Sydney Roosters are under the most pressure to perform.
Read his thoughts below:
Sydney Roosters
Spencer Leniu
“The Roosters have had so many big recruits over the last few years and there’s always expectation, eyes and commentary around how they will perform,” Carayannis said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“We saw Brandon Smith fail to live up to the hype at the start of last year.
“Spencer was a very good bench player with Penrith (but) came off the back of a middle of James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Isaah Yeo. That’s pretty handy.
“Those guys would’ve done significant damage in the first 25 minutes but now that he starts for the Roosters, he will have to set the platform.
“The Roosters have bought him to replace Jared Waerea-Hargreaves when he retires potentially at the end of this year.
“If Spencer can show that he’s not a bench (impact) player and set the tempo (he’ll be a good signing).
“The tempo was set for him at Penrith which was the big difference.”
The Dolphins
Thomas Flegler
“He arrives as a representative player,” Carayannis added.
“At the Dolphins, they have an ageing forward pack when you look at the Bromwich brothers, Felise Kaufusi and Mark Nicholls who are all at the back-end of their careers.
“For the Dolphins to have sustained success, Flegler needs to be the cornerstone of that forward pack.
“He can become a premier forward (and) he will be the leader long-term.
“At Brisbane, he had the benefit of Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan; two of the best forwards in the game.
“The expectation and pressure is whether he can carry a forward pack. That’s the big question.”
The Roosters will travel to Las Vegas in Round 1 to take on the Broncos whilst the Dolphins play the final game of the opening round when they host the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium.
