NRL coaches sweat on return of injured stars worth more than $10 million

2 months ago 16

They are the NRL stars who collectively amounted to a $10 million-plus write-off last season and will be desperate to provide more bang for their bucks in 2026.

For their coaches, the likes of Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Murray and Campbell Graham (South Sydney), Kalyn Ponga (Newcastle), Valentine Holmes (St George Illawarra), Thomas Flegler, Herbie Farnworth, Tom Gilbert and Daniel Saifiti (Dolphins), Taniela Paseka and Haumole Olakau’atu (Manly), Mitch Barnett and Luke Metcalf (Warriors), and Cam McInnes (Cronulla) will be as valuable as any recruits, given the amount of time they spent last year on the sidelines.

Cameron Murray and Latrell Mitchell, Souths’ highest-paid players, made only 12 appearances between them last season.

Three of those players – Ponga, Mitchell and Murray – are reported to earn at least $1 million a season.

As NRL clubs continue pre-season training on Monday, all those returning are hoping to be ready to roll for round one.

No team was hit harder by injuries in 2025 than South Sydney, who finished 14th in master coach Wayne Bennett’s return to the club.

The Rabbitohs started strongly, winning four of their first five, but eventually were decimated by a casualty toll Bennett described as “absolutely” the worst he had encountered in his decades-long career.

“I haven’t gone close to that,” Bennett said after his team copped a 60-14 hammering from the Broncos, while 13 first-graders were out.

Mitchell and Graham played 11 games apiece and finished the season in the stands. Skipper Murray made one appearance, in the last round.

If all three are fit for the season-opening clash with the Dolphins, Bennett might have something to smile about.

Their opponents are also hoping to welcome back some reinforcements, headed by the luckless Flegler, who hasn’t played in 19 months. The Queensland and Kangaroos prop injured his shoulder in April 2024.

What was initially diagnosed as a routine “stinger” was actually career-threatening nerve damage.

Thomas Flegler hasn’t played since he was injured against the Wests Tigers in round five, 2024.

The good news for Dolphins fans is the 26-year-old has resumed contact training and is confident of being available to play Souths on March 8.

Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf is also set to have Saifiti available as he returns from a shoulder injury. The former Knight played only five games in his first season at Redcliffe. Skipper Gilbert made 10 appearances before he joined Flegler and Saifiti in matching slings.

Throw in English Test centre Farnworth (hamstring) and possibly lock Max Plath (knee), and the Dolphins will field a vastly more formidable line-up in 2026.

In Auckland, Warriors co-captain Barnett and halfback Metcalf can see light at the end of a dark tunnel as they recover from knee reconstructions.

A torn ACL sidelined Warriors skipper Mitchell Barnett last year and probably cost him an Ashes tour.

Barnett hopes to be available for round one. The NSW and Kangaroos forward has twice returned from spinal surgery, but admitted that mentally a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament has been the toughest injury to overcome.

“It’s been the most frustrating because of the time it takes to get going again,” Barnett said.

The Knights are taking an ultra-cautious approach to Kalyn Ponga’s foot injury.

“The neck was probably the most scary, in terms of I didn’t know what my future looked like. Whereas this time I know I’m going to come back and play. It’s just a long process.

“You have to learn to walk again. Then learn to run again, and turn, and change directions. You have to reinvent yourself.”

At Manly, Paseka (Achilles) and Olakau’atu (shoulder) haven’t played since round four and round 21 last season respectively. The Sea Eagles missed their size and firepower.

Newcastle too will take on a new dimension when skipper Ponga returns from a foot fracture. Ponga was injured in round 17 and, in his absence, the Knights lost eight straight to finish last. He was still wearing a moon boot before Christmas, but insisted he will be fit for the season-opener against North Queensland in Las Vegas.

“It looks worse than what it is,” he said at a recent fan day. “It’s just locking me down for now, but I’ll be right for Vegas.”

St George Illawarra will be counting on the class of centre Holmes to help them climb the ladder.

The Queensland Origin and Kangaroos regular played 14 games last year before succumbing to a shoulder injury.

And nobody will be working harder to return to the battlefield than Cronulla warrior McInnes, who is also returning from a ruptured ACL, the second of his career.

McInnes was injured in August, giving him an outside chance for round-one selection. Others might be inclined to err on the side of caution, but self-preservation has never been a priority for the inspirational Sharks skipper.