By Dan

The Daily Telegraph are reporting that Pasami Saulo will likely be heading back to Newcastle at the end of the season, with the Raiders releasing him from the last year of his contract.

It’s sad news. Saulo has been nothing but a solid performer for the Raiders, getting through dirty work in defence and as a decoy runner in a way that wasn’t always recognised by the wider Canberra community. A consummate team player, in his time in Canberra he has provided a set of skills the Milk have desperately needed to balance out their pack.

When he’s been able to crack the first grade squad he’s been consistently among the best in all measures of work rate including tackle-to-minute rations and other forms of involvement (like the aforementioned decoy runs). But those same skills are now being provided by Morgan Smithies and Corey Horsburgh. That has put Saulo down the pecking order and into Cup footy. As Newcastle have effectively acknowledged, he’s too good for that.

So for Saulo it’s a good outcome. He came to the club after a heinous injury that threatened his career. That he managed to rebuild his career to the extent that he’d be in demand from other clubs it’s been a success for him. And this move will also be good, allowing him to get out from under a depth chart weighing him down, and to one with a greater opportunity that he had at Canberra. That’s ironic to an extent. The same intent that initially drove him from Newcastle to Canberra will likely send him back again.

I hope he gets the chance he deserves. In his time with Canberra he was unfortunately and unfairly cast in the shadow of bigger names, when his style and role was different. He wasn’t man to crack heads and feast on the juice inside. Instead his job was to make their defensive jobs as light as possible, and make sure every carry ended with him on his belly. It meant he didn’t get to average the big metre numbers (63 per game) but instead created the space that allowed others to succeed.

At Newcastle he’d get a chance to play first grade, with potentially a more expanded role than the rotation minutes he got through 2023 and 2024. I suspect Saulo’s best role is as a volume middle – more effective at big minutes because his first carry and last are exactly the same. I once thought the same about Ryan Sutton. That’s something he’s more likely to get in Newcastle. But if they’re not interested, there’s plenty of teams that could use him.

Saulo isn’t the only target for the Knights. They’ve already sort to open talks with Trey Mooney, an overture that has been rejected. They’re also reportedly interested in Josh Papalii, pending a decision to be made by Tyson Frizell. It reflects their desire to fill in a middle that has changed character over recent times. Gone is Leo Thompson and one or both of the Saifiti brothers (I can’t remember and there’s no way to find out), and potentially Frizell. In comes the Raiders depth chart. This all seems backwards.

For the Milk the decision to let Saulo depart is one of strength. Once upon a time they were having a hard time finding middles capable of the defensive work rate that Saulo goes through. Now they’ve added Zac Hosking (and expecting to extend him) to Corey and Morgan getting through defensive work in the midde. They need places for Simi Sasagi, Ata Mariota, and Trey Mooney.

That doesn’t even mention the depth chart coming through in the form of Noah Martin, Jake Clydesdale, Mitchell Prest and others, and whether they might seek to keep Josh Papalii themselves (at this stage I don’t think so). It’s a well balanced unit, and you can’t blame a man for looking to ensure his career outside of that bottle-neck.

Saulo will be well remembered by Canberra Raiders fans and I hope he goes well at Newcastle, if he does there. He’s done nothing but work hard for the Milk.

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