'They didn't want to let me go': Roosters rocked by player losses

Gone are Chris Vidler, Sam Taylor, Ryley Mackay, Ethan Parry, Kurt Hartmann, Jordan Sharpe, Zach Hatch and Josh Kevill.

The club have no significant new signings.

Roosters coach Mark Sheppard said: "We put our focus into re-signing talent from our 2023 squad and developing talent from within our club."

However, the second-year mentor admitted that 2024 would be "a rebuilding year" for Kooty.

This season Vidler, Taylor and Mackay will play for Moree, Dungowan and North Tamworth respectively.

Former Parramatta flyer Parry is understood to be eyeing a return to an NRL club, while Hartmann has returned to Newcastle with his wife Rebekah, Kooty's 2023 league tag captain.

Sharpe and Hatch, meanwhile, have retired. It's unclear what has become of Kevill.

Sheppard said Kootingal-Moonbi were "really looking forward to working with everyone that is committed" to the club.

"We have had good numbers turning up and buying into our pre-season training," he added.

In revealing late last year that he would be a Boar in 2024, Vidler said the Roosters' failure to win a debut premiership had got "tougher and tougher" to handle.

"We were so close, yet so far away," he said of the side's 2023 campaign, adding that the Roosters were still "building".

In last year's preliminary final away to Moree, Kooty slumped in the second half and lost 42-20. It was the second straight season that the Boars had eliminated them in the finals.

In October, Kootingal-Moonbi's longstanding president Lad Jones, who cut a forlorn figure sideline during the 2023 preliminary final loss, responded to Vidler's comments by agreeing that the side were rebuilding.

However, he fired back: "But that's one thing I probably disagree with Vids on - we're very close to winning a premiership."

Front-rower Vidler and playmaker Taylor, former West Lions and two of Group 4's most experienced players, had been at Kooty since their elevation from the now-defunct second division in 2018.

Last month, Taylor told the Leader that he disappeared from the Roosters' lineup midway through last season due to personal differences.

The No. 6 said "people butt heads, and that's what happened, but it's all over and done with now". He added: "I haven't got a bad word to say about Kooty."

Mackay, meanwhile, developed into one of the competition's best centres after signing with Kooty from Bendemeer in 2019.

In announcing that he had joined the Bears, Mackay said that leaving Kooty was "pretty hard", then added: "They obviously didn't want to let me go."