No idea where you got that idea. Dodds current contract runs until the end of 2024, with an option in Saints favour to extend a further 2 years to 2026 - https://www.saintsrlfc.com/2022/06/14/s ... -contract/

Saints have off contract this year; Matty Foster, Konrad Hurrell, Sione Mata'utia, James Roby, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dan Norman, Sam Royle, Lewis Baxter, James Bell, Daniel Hill, Will Hopoate, Curtis Sironen, Jake Wingfield, Taylor Pemberton, Jumah Sambou, Mckenzie Buckley.

There’s also Ritson whose loan contract expires.

Of these, Saints have an option on Sironen and Hopoate (though I, along with the majority of the fan base are hoping the latter doesn’t get exercised, or rather he has to do a lot this year to make it even a consideration).

You then have Roby and LMS whom are both expected to retire., and I doubt Saints would send them away for their final year (though we did do it with Amor, so it’s possible LMS could be moved on, especially as he faces a lot of competition for his spot, with George Delaney being called up to England Knights before establishing himself in our first team, and Norman being in the final year of his contract, and him graduating the same education Bentley and Batchelor went through).

Hurrell, Mata’utia and Bell round out the senior players in the list, and their decisions will dictate how much recruitment we need to do vs how much we can focus on nice to haves in our squad.

Wingfield and Norman are both excellent backup props for us, but as mentioned above Delaney is pushing his way through the ranks and both need to really lay claim to a starting spot (though Wingfield could also replace Bell as a back up lock). Baxter is also a young prop, but seems much further away from being picked than the others.

That leaves the kids. Royle is an excellent leader, having captained the club at every age group when he captained the first team over Easter vs Castleford last year. Ended the year on loan to HKR and seemed to impress but not sure what his path to being a genuine first team option is, as he lacks a bit of size and presence for a forward. Pemberton is apparently heir apparent alongside Lussick to replace Roby but that is a huge jump for him to have to make. Buckley, Sambou and Hill all played games for us last year and Buckley and Sambou could possibly feature more regularly next year too (Bruines joining us most likely blocks Hill from game time).

As I said, Saints were happy to negotiate, and I could have seen something like Norman + Royle going in exchange for Murphy, but there was no negotiation to be had.

No idea where you got that idea. Dodds current contract runs until the end of 2024, with an option in Saints favour to extend a further 2 years to 2026 - https://www.saintsrlfc.com/2022/06/14/s ... -contract/

Saints have off contract this year; Matty Foster, Konrad Hurrell, Sione Mata'utia, James Roby, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dan Norman, Sam Royle, Lewis Baxter, James Bell, Daniel Hill, Will Hopoate, Curtis Sironen, Jake Wingfield, Taylor Pemberton, Jumah Sambou, Mckenzie Buckley.

There’s also Ritson whose loan contract expires.

Of these, Saints have an option on Sironen and Hopoate (though I, along with the majority of the fan base are hoping the latter doesn’t get exercised, or rather he has to do a lot this year to make it even a consideration).

You then have Roby and LMS whom are both expected to retire., and I doubt Saints would send them away for their final year (though we did do it with Amor, so it’s possible LMS could be moved on, especially as he faces a lot of competition for his spot, with George Delaney being called up to England Knights before establishing himself in our first team, and Norman being in the final year of his contract, and him graduating the same education Bentley and Batchelor went through).

Hurrell, Mata’utia and Bell round out the senior players in the list, and their decisions will dictate how much recruitment we need to do vs how much we can focus on nice to haves in our squad.

Wingfield and Norman are both excellent backup props for us, but as mentioned above Delaney is pushing his way through the ranks and both need to really lay claim to a starting spot (though Wingfield could also replace Bell as a back up lock). Baxter is also a young prop, but seems much further away from being picked than the others.

That leaves the kids. Royle is an excellent leader, having captained the club at every age group when he captained the first team over Easter vs Castleford last year. Ended the year on loan to HKR and seemed to impress but not sure what his path to being a genuine first team option is, as he lacks a bit of size and presence for a forward. Pemberton is apparently heir apparent alongside Lussick to replace Roby but that is a huge jump for him to have to make. Buckley, Sambou and Hill all played games for us last year and Buckley and Sambou could possibly feature more regularly next year too (Bruines joining us most likely blocks Hill from game time).

As I said, Saints were happy to negotiate, and I could have seen something like Norman + Royle going in exchange for Murphy, but there was no negotiation to be had.