Just when we thought that a new year would see us coast into the NRL season, free of contracted players moving around and free of any major drama, the rumour mill started up. 2016 has brought with it a few interesting rumours that need exploring...

Leading the pack is arguably the best centre in the game in Michael Jennings. James Roberts' move to Brisbane understandably meant that players like Dale Copley would have to make way and the dingos across the ditch are reporting that the Roosters are interested in Copley and are willing to offload Jennings to Parramatta.

Spare a quick thought for Jennings who was also pushed out the door at Penrith ... into the Roosters' money pit.

Jennings is a State Of Origin player and sometimes Kangaroos player, Copley has drifted in and out of the NRL; on the surface this doesn't make much sense. Oh, that salary cap thing?

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Obviously Jennings doesn't come cheap and the Roosters, in typical Roosters fashion, have a roster stacked with players who deserve to get paid around the $500k mark. Too many of those players will result in salary cap dramas and if the Roosters snap up Copley they will be probably be signing him on less than half of what Jennings was on.

We've got to keep it real about Copley as he hasn't quite made the NRL his home just yet thanks to injuries and better players standing in his way (Uncle Bennett reckons Roberts > Copley). He's a good, solid signing, which in a way is what the Roosters need (if they want to ease that salary cap pressure) as they already have many attacking weapons in their backline.

There has been a lot of discussion about Boyd Cordner's future and the Roosters appear to be feeling this heat, hence they are apparently trying to make some cap space. To simplify things we could say that this is a choice between Cordner and Jennings as they won't be able to have both on their books with Cordner's price only heading north.

Cordner is younger and has more upside or potential. There aren't many forwards like him and he fits into this big, aggressive and smart Roosters forward pack perfectly whereas Jennings, as a centre is more easily replaced.

The Broncos are just trying to get rid of Copley so there's not any major implications for them.

Parramatta would love to have Jennings; heading into the 2016 season they could welcome Beau Scott, Kieran Foran and Michael Jennings. I'm certainly not saying no to that.

What about Copley? He just needs to find some NRL footy, where ever the game time is, he'll go there.

My gut feeling? Something/someone has to make way at the Roosters for them to keep most of their roster in tact and it looks like it's Jennings. This is a business after all.

The other intriguing story to come out over the last few days is the apparent near-signing of James Gavet by the Warriors. This is yet to be announced and Australian media are reporting it as a done deal so who knows, I do however know that unlike all the other Warriors' signings for this season, I'm not too hot on Gavet.

Caution, approach any signing of Gavet with caution and don't solely focus on 2014. Gavet had a great year in 2014 with Wests Tigers in combination with Martin Taupau, the two long-haired beasts made the Tigers a tough pack to dominate, yet even in 2014 Gavet had discipline issues.

That was followed by a move to Brisbane in which Gavet played one game. It was a horrible game with Gavet lumbering around the field and if my memory serves me correctly, all he did was make an error, concede a penalty/suspension for a shoulder charge and suffer a season-ending injury.

Gavet would be looking for any sort of contract which will mean that the Warriors won't need to over pay him and will get him as a bargain. I liked the other Warriors signings because they all filled some sort of gap with the likes of Jeff Robson, Blake Ayshford and Ali Lauititi all providing what I call 'experienced depth' and if they aren't playing then I'm sure they will offer positive contributions to the playing group and the club off the field.

With 14 NRL games to his name, Gavet can't be called experienced .Albert Vete has 21 NRL games, Sam Lisone has 19 and Charlie Gubb has 15; would I pick Gavet over either of those three? No, my Warriors bench would be Thomas Leuluai, Vete, Lisone and Gubb. Injuries and suspension will definitely strike so I depth is needed, I've still got Gavet playing less than 10 games for the Warriors this season.

I guess Gavet offers value in being a cheap depth option who can do a job when called upon, it's just that his signing doesn't excite me. Gavet has had off-field issues throughout his career as well as injuries which usually pushes teams away, but if we're going to keep it cute then I guess a return home to Auckland will be nice.

How about some footage of ol' Kevie Locke clearly inebriated after crashing a car that time...