Murphy is such a natural athlete and good luck to him for backing himself by choosing to try his luck in the NRL with the Roosters.
IMO he has chosen the wrong club to go to (Although they may have been his only option?) as they generally lure the cream of the crop to the club rather than experiment with young and relatively inexperienced players and especially from the SL.
IMO he will be back in SL within 12 months of starting at the Roosters and will join a SL club on a mega contract

It was the Roosters who applied for a special exemption for Joseph Suuali to play before he was 18, who had barely played with adults at that stage, and they blooded him as soon as they got it. They don't do too badly.

Not sure that's the case. Young and Farnworth headed over their when still in their teens. I'm struggling to think of any others. People like George Williams and Bateman went in the middle of their careers.

If he were signing for Saints for 2024, would it be any different? He is seeing out his contract and then going, as far as it seems.

Hmmm … if that reported salary is true the kid and his family will find it incredibly difficult to live in the area.. house sales (average well over $1.5m) rental is astronomical in Surrey Hills, Paddington and Bondi Junction… and would eat up the majority of a $100k salary
I hope he’s done lots of research…so,
Unless the club are also providing accomodation (which is unlikely), also assuming his young family are accompanying him.

That said the facilitates… the stadium … the culture are all outstanding… Sydney is now very very multi cultural and multi ethnic… if you can afford it the lifestyle is cool!

And if he makes it big… he’ll Become a household name

Will Pryce , Dom Young ? KPP Wigan ?

Kai Pearce-Paul didn't come through the youth ranks at Wigan. He was playing for London in the under 19's. Dominic Young is probably the best example, but it's not as if Newcastle plucked him from the first team. They benefited from him as a 20 year old in the same way that Hull and then us benefited from whichever club developed Jacob Miller. Or Wigan with Bevan French.

It just seems like routine contract work. Kai Pearce-Paul isn't going over until the end of the year either.

Lewis could have signed for Saints at the end of the year and it would have been the same, with a big club profiting from our development. It has always been thus.

As much as I want him to be successful for himself, and the team, I don’t think Jorge will do anything with us.

Flame me, but I’m just saying it as I feel as an old bloke who has watched rugby in both hemispheres.

Would love to be wrong.

A right storm in a teacup ,by not excepting a enhanced contract the writing was always on the wall that he was out of Belle Vue sooner rather than later , if we could have do we break the bank for him , imo absolutely no as that sets a precedent to all the others that follow, and that would be disastrous financially for most clubs .As good as Murph is it takes a team to win games and I’d much rather have that spread of quality across the field instead of pinning our hope on individuals . Good luck to the lad he’ll need it ,but we move into next season without him and await with baited breath for the next superstar in the making to poke his head above the parapets of Belle Vue .

I don't believe the Roosters have a 'reserve grade' as such. They have a feeder club in North Sydney Bears who play in the NSW Cup who are effectively their 'reserve grade' Previously they had Wyong Roos as a feeder club acting as reserve grade. So assuming that still applies in 2023 he could find himself at North Sydney Bears till he finds his feet.

No you make a fair point, let's hope he gets a decent string of games without injury so we can see what he can do for us.

Am I right in thinking he's out of contract at the end of this year?

Certainly is ,and the writing was on the wall when he refused a renewal

Agree and if he gets injured and misses a good amount of the season we've blown our budget.

On a brighter note and a bit of respite from all this doom and gloom on here ,a well known ,(I’ll not say reputable) agent who had us down for the chop has now said after our success’s in the friendly’s and talking to fordy about the enthusiasm in the camp and how the players have bought into mash’s philosophy,that we are no longer seen as relegation fodder .