With the 2025 season approaching rapidly, here’s some thoughts on the man at each club who I believe will be under the most scrutiny this year, those with a point to prove, those hoping to turn things around, those under pressure, and those with an opportunity.

Ezra Mam (Brisbane Broncos)

Less than 18 months ago Ezra Mam was just 20 minutes away from winning both a premiership ring and the Clive Churchill Medal in the 2023 grand final, but we know how that turned out, and he now finds himself suspended, fined and publicly castigated for some dumb driving offences.

While he won’t find it easy to bounce back from this, and won’t just walk back into the Broncos team, bouncing back is exactly what he must do if he hopes to get his career back on track and realise his undoubted potential, both on and off the field.

Ricky Stuart (Canberra Raiders)

It appears that the questions “How long is a piece of string” and “How long can Ricky Stuart hang in there as coach of the Raiders” have the same answer: “no one knows”. Stuart will be entering his 12th year as Raiders’ coach in 2025 with not much to show for it, other than finishing runners-up to the Roosters in 2019.

Even though the club has inexplicably just extended Stuart’s contract until the end of 2029, he’ll be under heavy pressure to deliver at least a top-eight finish for the Raiders in 2025, otherwise the club’s loyal, extraordinarily patient, and long-suffering fans may begin to agitate for change.

Reed Mahoney (Canterbury Bulldogs)

Mahoney has firmly established himself as both a very talented dummy half and a player who thrives on confrontation, and he’s has been a big part of the Bulldogs’ resurgence since he joined the club in 2023. This season, if he can focus more on his undoubted skill set and less on the niggle, he could take his game to another level and not only win a Maroons jumper, but also find himself in the Australian squad.

Craig Fitzgibbon (Cronulla Sharks)

After taking Cronulla as far as the semi-finals and elimination finals in the 2022 and 2023 seasons respectively, Craig Fitzgibbon’s Sharks went one better in 2024 making it as far as the preliminary finals before they ran into the eventual premiers, losing to the tune of 26-6.

Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Fitzgibbon was the ultimate competitor in his playing days, and while making the finals in each of his first three seasons as an NRL coach might look like success to some, it’s unlikely that he will agree, and I suspect that he’ll leave no stone unturned in 2025 in his quest for a premiership.

Kristian Woolf (Dolphins)

Most would agree that the Dolphins over-achieved under former coach Wayne Bennett, and with the departure of the old coach to South Sydney in 2025, the buck is about to stop with his former assistant in Kristian Woolf.

Woolf has a wealth of high level coaching experience with both St Helens and the Tongan national side, and has also acted as an assistant to the likes of Anthony Griffin, Nathan Brown and Bennett himself, but this will be his first NRL head coaching role, and following in Wayne Bennett’s coaching wake is hardly a recipe for success.

Just ask the last four coaches who took the reins after Bennett’s departure for greener pastures in Jason Demetriou, Anthony Seibold, Rick Stone and Steven Price.

AJ Brimson (Gold Coast Titans)

We all know that some very strange things happen behind closed doors at the Titans office at Parkwood, and they’d be far too numerous to mention here, but surely the extension of AJ Brimson’s contract to the end of the 2030 season at $800,000 per year ranks right up there with big Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s crazy $10 million, ten-year deal and anything involving Jarryd Hayne, Ash Taylor and David Fifita.

Good player that he is, Brimson is far from being in the elite category, and he might actually struggle to win a place at either fullback or five-eighth this year, given the competition from Keano Kini, Jayden Campbell and Wallaby convert Carter Gordon.

Brimson will be trying hard to live up to this very generous pay day or otherwise risk finding himself going the way of the many overpaid Titans before him.

Roar editor Christy Doran made the trip to Seattle with VisitSeattle.org, diving into the city’s electric sports vibe, outdoor adventures, and renowned food scene. Click here for his latest adventure in the Emerald City.

Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles)

When DCE signed the “mother of all contracts” with Manly back in 2015 he managed to become both very wealthy and an instantly unpopular figure on both sides of the Tweed River, however, after sterling service to both Manly and Queensland over the years since, he’s now firmly established as captain and favourite son of both sides.

Now in the final year of his current contract, and with his 36th birthday looming large, it’s inconceivable that Manly’s most capped player would ever play for another club. There’s little doubt that DCE will want to end his playing days with Manly, and on his own terms, so it will be up to him this year to ensure that he gets his wish.

Ryan Papenhuyzen (Melbourne Storm)

2025 looks to be a make or break season for Ryan Papenhuyzen at the Storm as he comes under increasing pressure from the exciting Sua Fa’alogo for his fullback spot. A terrible run with injuries in recent years has cast some doubt as to whether Papenhuyzen is still able to withstand the physical contact the game requires, while Fa’alogo continues to impress every time he takes the field.

This is the first time that Papenhuyzen has faced any real competition for the No.1 jersey since he took over from Billy Slater, and the one-year contract extension handed to him recently won’t fill him with any great level of confidence.

Andrew Webster (NZ Warriors)

After spending four years in the premiership wilderness, finishing 13th, 10th, 12th and 15th across the 2019 to 2022 seasons respectively, rookie coach Andrew Webster surprised everyone including himself by taking the Warriors to fourth on the ladder and as far as the preliminary final in 2023, deservedly winning the Dally M Coach of the Year award in the process.

Unfortunately, normal transmission was resumed in 2024 as the Warriors slumped back to 13th on the ladder, losing eight of their last 11 games in the process. Eyes will be firmly focused on Webster and his team this year to determine whether their performance in 2023 was just a blip on the radar or an indicator of green shoots beginning to appear at the Warriors.

Kalyn Ponga (Newcastle Knights)

“When Ponga plays well, Newcastle play well”. That’s how the saying goes doesn’t it?

Although the stats don’t actually bear this out, the point is that Knights fans want more bang from the considerable buck being paid to the game’s reputedly highest paid player, and they accordingly want to see him on the paddock a lot more than the mere 16 games per season that he’s averaged over the last four years.

On a personal level, surely the Knights captain has the desire to not only do better for his club, but also for himself. Arguably the best fullback in the game, it’s incredible that the 2023 Dally M Medal winner has only played eight games for the Maroons since debuting in 2018 and has never played for Australia. Like I said….incredible. Perhaps this will be the year he really steps up?

John Bateman (North Queensland Cowboys)

2025 just might prove to be third time lucky for the enigmatic Bateman. When he joined the Raiders back in 2019, he looked like a world beater and one of the best English imports to join the NRL for a long time. He played a big part in a Raiders season that saw them play their first grand final since 1994 and he was deservedly named Dally M second rower of the year.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, he left the club at the end of the following season under somewhat of a cloud, citing “personal reasons”, to return home to England. Fast forward to 2023 and Bateman was back in the NRL on a big dollar deal with the Tigers, and although he performed well personally, the Tigers finished with the wooden spoon, and after sustaining an injury early in the 2024 season, he joined the Warrington Wolves “on loan” in July that year.

Of course, he never returned to the Tigers, was released from his contract, and was then picked up by the Cowboys on a two-year deal for 2025 and 2026. Time will only tell how this deal turns out for both Bateman and the club.

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Jason Ryles (Parramatta Eels)

After 11 largely fruitless years under former coach Brad Arthur, the Eels have handed their poisoned coaching chalice to rookie head coach Jason Ryles in the hope that he can get them back into finals contention sooner rather than later.

Ryles has hit the ground running and shown that he’s not frightened to ruffle some feathers and make some tough decisions, casting aside the likes of iconic club captain Clint Gutherson, 2024 player of the year in Reagan Campbell-Gillard, and try-scoring machine Maika Sivo.

If Parramatta don’t get off to a solid start in 2025, and note that their first three games are against the Storm, Tigers and Bulldogs, Ryles may soon find out that running the first grade side at Parramatta, a club that hasn’t won a premiership since Johnny Farnham’s “You’re the Voice” was No.1 on the charts, is a lot tougher than being an anonymous assistant coach in either the Roosters or Storm systems.

Isaiah Papali’i (Penrith Panthers)

When Papali’i joined Parramatta from the Warriors in 2021 he quickly established himself as one of the best back rowers in the game, winning the Eels’ Player of the Year award, was named 2021 Dally M second rower of the year and went on to become a fixture in the NZ Test team.

He starred for the Eels in 2022 as well, crossing for 10 tries in 28 games as they went all the way to the premiership decider. He then left the Eels in 2023 for a big money deal with the Tigers where, like so many well intentioned star players before him, he soon came down to their level and picked up wooden spoons in both 2023 and 2024.

Now, his three-year deal with the Panthers gives him the chance to get his career back on track and I expect him to shift to the front row to replace Panthers’ stalwart in James Fisher-Harris who is off to the Warriors. Papali’i’s no-frills aggressive style of play could be just what the Panthers need to spark them to yet another title in 2025.

Latrell Mitchell is tackled. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Latrell Mitchell (South Sydney Rabbitohs)

If any player needs to pull his finger out in 2025 and start repaying the investment made in him by his club it’s Latrell Mitchell. Mitchell is one of the most gifted players of the NRL era but somehow manages to consistently find a way to let the Rabbitohs and their fans down.

Averaging just 15 games a season since he joined Souths five years ago, Mitchell has been taking money under false pretences, and Souths fans and returning coach Wayne Bennett must still wonder if the Rabbitohs would have won the 2019 grand final if the suspended Mitchell had been playing fullback instead of rookie Blake Taaffe.

Mitchell turns 28 this year, so if he wants to regain lost credibility and get his career back on track this will be the year to do it.

Kyle Flanagan (St George Illawarra Dragons)

Now that former club captain and halfback Ben Hunt has made the move to Brisbane, Kyle Flanagan finds himself as the club’s senior playmaker, and it will be up to him to lead the way for new half Lachlan Ilias and young prospect Lyhkan King-Togia.

Not everyone is convinced that Flanagan has what it takes in the top-grade, and he bears the additional burden of being the coach’s son. The Dragons have shown faith in Flanagan by recently extending his contract until the end of 2027, but if the club wants to improve on their 11th place finish last season, then Flanagan will need to play out of his skin and produce his best season ever in 2025.

James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters)

2024 was a savage reality check for Roosters’ captain James Tedesco, losing his place in both the NSW and Australian sides, and although he returned to some of his best form before the season ended, 2025 will be present his biggest challenge since he joined the Roosters in 2018.

The club has struggled to mount a credible premiership threat over the last few years, and with the departure this year of key players in Joey Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Luke Keary, Sitili Tupouniua, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Terrell May, together with the injury to star half Sam Walker, the pressure will be squarely on Tedesco’s shoulders to get the team firing.

Jarome Luai (Wests Tigers)

Surely, no player has joined an NRL club in recent years bearing the weight of expectation of Jarome Luai.

A four-time premiership winner, a NSW star and captain of the Samoan team, Luai will be expected to not only drag the perennial wooden spooners off the bottom of the table and turn them into a premiership contender, but also save Benji Marshall’s coaching career.

Luai is one of the game’s most polarising players, and for every Wests Tigers’ fan hoping Luai can turn the club around, there’ll be as many haters just as keen for him to fail.