WYONG captain-coach Mitch Williams has welcomed the arrival of pivot Ryan Walsh and centre Tyrone Roberts-Davis as Newcastle Rugby League clubs deal with changes to the player points system for 2023.
Walsh, who attended the Roos' first pre-season training session on Tuesday night, joins from fellow Newcastle RL side Central and is set to partner Lachlan Hanneghan in the halves while former NRL player Roberts-Davis comes off a group 3 campaign alongside AJ Davis at Foster-Tuncurry Hawks.
Wyong's desire to sign a playmaker was accelerated by uncertainty surrounding the return of Terence Seu Seu from a knee injury.
"The one thing we needed last year after Terence went down injured was a half," Williams said.
"Terence is going to play next year but we're unsure in what capacity so it was an area we needed to address.
"We met with Ryan and really liked what he put forward. He also played on the same edge as Blake Andrews [Wyong second-rower] when they won the comp [with Wests in 2019]."
Roberts-Davis, who made seven NRL appearances for the Gold Coast Titans (2017-18) and lined up for Cessnock in 2021, will likely play in the centres with Henry Penn while Luke Sharpe gets first crack at the No.1 jersey.
Williams said he was still potentially on the look out for another prop, but remained mindful of adjustments to NSW Rugby League's player points system.
"That's about us in terms of signing and recruiting. With the way the points system works now you can't do too much else anyway," he said.
Williams said Wyong's main departure so far was Steve Gordon.
