Recruit watch: Reed Mahoney
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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.
Reed Mahoney (Bulldogs)
- Age: 24
- Position they'll fill: Hooker
- Contracted until: 2026
What Mahoney will bring
Reed Mahoney will join the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs as one of the biggest player signings in 2023 and one of the competition's most durable dummy halves.
The Bulldogs first scouted Mahoney from the rural Queensland town of Nambour to play SG Ball Cup in 2016 before he moved on to Parramatta.
However, six years later and the 24-year-old has returned to the historic Belmore club as an established NRL player who is coming into the prime stage of his career.
As a former member of Eels’ star-studded spine consisting of Mitchell Moses, Dylan Brown and Clint Gutherson, Mahoney knows how important cohesion in attack is to a side’s success.
His side-to-side distribution from dummy half is among the best in the competition while defensively he's a tackling machine, topping the NRL for tackles in 2022 with 1,207 for the season.
He also touched the ball more than any other player in the NRL last year, and with that comes a lot of decision making.
Mahoney caps a scorcher
Why it’ll work
Rookie coach Cameron Ciraldo will have plenty of positional decisions to make over the off-season after a big campaign of recruiting, but how Mahoney fits into this side is very clear.
The Bulldogs have lacked creativity around their spine during their finals drought with the first improvement desperately needed at hooker.
Dolphins-bound hooker Jeremy Marshall-King did a fine job in his final season, later taking out the club's player of the year award, but the addition of Mahoney should take Canterbury to another level.
Mahoney will bring composure to Canterbury's attack, which should bring halves Matt Burton and Kyle Flanagan into the game more. He'll also get his forwards on the front-foot, something he did well with the Eels engine room.
Mahoney also has an opportunity to put up his hand to lead the Bulldogs in 2023 after former Josh Jackson announced his retirement, which should also be a leadership role that suits the Queensland junior.
The Bulldogs have missed the finals for the past six years, but alongside fellow recruits Viliame Kikau (Panthers) and Ryan Sutton (Raiders), Mahoney's game should grow.
