Cessnock captain-coach Harry Siejka believes the signing of Goannas junior Brayden Musgrove and his Newcastle Knights teammate Luke Huth could be the biggest recruiting coup for the club in the past 20 years.
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Musgrove, who played in the 2020 Goannas premiership side, made his NRL debut with the Knights in 2021 and played seven games in first grade as well as 30 in the NSW Cup.
Siejka rates Huth as the best hooker not playing in the NRL and says he couldn't believe his luck when he agreed to play with the Goannas.
"For us Brayden and Huthy are the two biggest signings in the last 10-20 years that I can think of," he said.
"Huge signings. Luke Huth in particular. I though he was a very underrated player and was probably the main player I tried to sign last year and couldn't get him.
"With him living in Cessnock I had another crack at him this year and I guess the timing was right, but I was very surprised that we were able to get someone of his calibre.
"You don't play Australian Schoolboys, Junior Kangaroos and Under-20s Origin if you are not a good player.
"I think the position that he plays is very important, especially for this competition. He is one that I'm really looking forward to."
The return of Musgrove to the Goannas has created a buzz of excitement on the club's Facebook page.
"Obviously, Brayden is a footballer. He is a big, athletic build and it's probably something we missed last year," Siejka said
"He will play at left centre. I know at the Knights tried putting him on the wing, chucking him over on the right side, but he is an out-and-out left centre and that's where I will put him."
The Goannas have also added Ron Massey Cup duo Matt Filipo, a front-rower from St Mary's, and Chris Slater-Raptis, a lock from Western Suburbs Magpies, as well as Lucas Thompson, a back-rower/centre from the ACT Brumbies program.
The departures include former NRL forward Sam Mataora, hooker Pita Godinet who has retired, Jayden Young (Q-Cup) and Newcastle RL rookie of the year Tyrone Nean (Canterbury).
The 2022 season's player of the year AJ Murray and Wyatt Shaw have both re-signed as have last year's centre partnering of Jarred Anderson and Harvey Neville who Siejka expects big things from back in the back-row.
Siejka said Anderson and Neville did a great job playing in the centres but he believed both would be greater value to the side in the back-row.
"They did a great job for us, but I believe an out-and-out centre would have made us a bit more potent in attack," he said.
"It frees them to push into a backrow spot and I expect big seasons from both of them."
Siejka said there was a burning desire among the playing group to go further in 2023 after falling to Central Newcastle in the preliminary final and leading for much of the game.
"We were 10-15 minutes away from making that grand final. It shows the fight and spirit we've got in the side with all the things that were thrown us on the field and off the field with injuries and the like," he said.
"I feel there is a lot of unfinished business for us and that was one of the reasons I wanted to resign most of the squad.
"There's definitely a fire under us to go one better."
Siejka said there would be a greater emphasis on building depth in reserve grade and development of the under-19s this season under reserve grade coach Matt Jordan and U19 coach Noel Dent with the long-term plan to field a team of predominantly Cessnock junior.
"I probably didn't do the boys any service by playing with a 24-man squad last season. I think you need a lot of depth and it showed in reserve grade," he said.
"I think the recruiting we've done will make a lot of competition for spots. Because you are local junior doesn't mean you will be picked first or just because you have come from outside that you will get a run.
"We've got a couple of juniors who are looking to push through, it's probably just a year or two off. Part of signing outside is about covering what you don't have. But I'm confident if I am able to do what I want to do in the next three or four years you will see a mostly Cessnock junior side.
"I think that's the way you have to go with the point system changing. We'll try and get blokes in when we can for those next two or three years it will probably be a bit of a teething period."
