Interesting Bird has accepted effectively a 2 year deal, or guaranteed 2 yrs @ 550k, what’s everyone’s thoughts on him v Nikora being the better player & what is Nikora worth v Bird
Bird probably... 150k more valuable than Nikora?
I'd even go maybe 50k higher if Bird hadn't had so many injury concerns.
He's approximately as good an edge player with a wider range of skills there, and with more versatility to be your back up 6, or 3rd choice/midgame fullback, and good midgame centre cover.
In saying that Nikora is extremely effective at one thing which is a relatively important part of his role, works harder in defence than Bird (although similar quality), more reliable from a health perspective but also looking a bit better currently as part of a generally good team vs a struggling team.
Think fact Sharks are going well also inflates Nikora's value a touch, I feel like if we had Bird instead of Nikora he'd look like he was worth more than 550k
All just approximates and guesses though... you don't see a lot of contracts under 500k shared so it's a bit harder to get a gauge.
Remember with current cap on average an NRL player is on approx 320k-330k but actually (apparently) half the top 30 players are on 180k or less.