The NRL market has been in full swing for 2023 with several stars switching clubs ahead of the new season.
NRL.com takes a look at the major transfers and how your club will benefit from a star arrival.
Pasami Saulo (Raiders)
- Age: 24
- Position they’ll fill: Prop
- Contracted until: 2024
What Saulo can bring
Young forward Pasami Saulo heads to the Raiders as a player with plenty of potential, with a spate of injuries having cruelled much of his career so far.
Debuting in the NRL for the Knights in 2018, the prop featured in 27 games for Newcastle, playing in 11 matches last year where he averaged 45 run metres a game and made a total for 164 tackles.
His appearances last year – which was the most prolific of his five seasons at the club – came after returning from a particularly serious ankle injury suffered playing for the club’s NSW Cup side in 2021.
Undeniably talented, having previously represented the Māori All Stars in 2020 and having also been part of the 2016 Australian Schoolboys and New South Wales Under 18 teams, there’s no telling how well he may go on the field with an extended clean bill of health.
Why it’ll work
Already an imposing figure and standing at 190 centimetres tall, Saulo worked hard on his fitness during his teenage years when he became known as a hard worker with a strong work ethic.
While at the Knights, Saulo came through the ranks alongside current Raiders Tom Starling and Hudson Young, playing in the Harold Matthews and SG Ball competitions, winning the under 16 national title in 2014. The careers of both Starling and Young have blossomed since their switch to Canberra with the pair considered some of the side’s best performers week-to-week.
With the departure from the Green Machine of Ryan Sutton and second rower Adam Elliott – coincidentally to Newcastle – Saulo will be a welcome addition to Ricky Stuart’s forward rotation which still remains strong thanks to the likes of Joseph Tapine and Josh Papali’i.
