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The St George Illawarra Dragons are set to make a bold $5 million mega deal play for Sydney Roosters and New Zealand superstar centre Joey Manu.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported new Dragons coach Shane Flanagan is interested in luring Manu to the club as a fullback.
“I think he would be enormous for our club,” Flanagan told The Herald.
Manu is one of nearly 200 players who come off-contract in 2024 and are free to negotiate with rival clubs for 2025 and beyond as the November 1 deadline arrives.
Jarome Luai, Ezra Mam, Tom Dearden, Tohu Harris, Brandon Smith, Adam Reynolds, Angus Crichton, Bradman Best and Luke Keary are some of the big names available, but there is arguably no bigger star hitting the market than Manu.
The Dragons are prepared to pay a seven-figure sum and offer Manu the chance to play fullback if he is serious about a switch.
The deal would be worth a whopping $1.2 million a season over four years, which would make Manu one of the game’s highest-paid stars annually.
“From what I see when he plays fullback, his involvement is enormous. I think he could make a real fist of it,” Flanagan said.
“I’d love to have him, but I just don’t know if he’s going to move. In the end, it’s not us, it’s not the Roosters, it’s just what Joey wants to do.
“I know he loves the Roosters, I know Nick [Roosters chairman Nick Politis] loves him. Does he want to leave and have a crack at fullback? He obviously won’t get to play too much there.”
The Dragons have Tyrell Sloan and potentially Zac Lomax as fullback options, while Cody Ramsey is bidding to return from an illness that ruled him out of the 2023 season.
The Roosters are well stocked with fullback options with skipper James Tedesco signed until the end of 2025, while Manu and Joseph Suaalii are other options in 2024 should injuries strike.
Manu is seen as a potential replacement for Tedesco at fullback when he hangs up the boots as Suaalii is off to rugby union on a $5 million three-year mega deal of his own in 2025.
Manu can also play five-eighth and has filled in at No.1 and No.6 in the past for the Tri-colours and New Zealand with great success.
The 27-year-old was chased hard by the Warriors the last time he came off-contract with the carrot of a million-a-season deal to replace fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who switched to rugby union.
However, Manu chose to stay loyal to the Roosters and the club and player have seen him as a one-club man who will finish his career at the Tri-colours in the past.
However, the Roosters may not have the money in their salary cap to compete with the deal from the Dragons and Manu may have to take another financial sacrifice to stay at the Bondi club.
Manu has scored 59 tries in 158 NRL games for the Roosters since his debut in 2016 and won two premierships with the club in 2018 and 2019, while he has also scored six tries in 16 Tests for the Kiwis.
Manu will play centre for New Zealand against Australia in the Pacific Championship final on Saturday.
Lomax wants to play 5/8.Also, am I wrong in thinking that Flanagan has already said Temu Joey Manu/Lomax is getting the first crack at FB next year? Wouldn't exactly fill him with confidence having his coach already planning a replacement before the season starts..
Wasnt the Warriors guilty of exactly the same thing last time around with Manu?Am I the only one that thinks talking this openly about a player on another team is a little bit fucked? It's one thing for Wayne to have been doing it last year, because they were an upstart, and y'know, it is the greatest coach of all time- it is another thing for Flanagan and the Dragons.
Wasnt the Warriors guilty of exactly the same thing last time around with Manu?
When we were chasing Manu I recall Peter O'Sullivan saying he'd be a good player to build a club around or comments around his marketability.
St George Illawarra are the early frontrunners for Addin Fonua-Blake’s services after the superstar prop requested an immediate release from his deal with the New Zealand Warriors.
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has confirmed the club has the salary cap space and the appetite to lure Fonua-Blake back to his junior club from next season if he was granted a release from his deal at the Warriors on compassionate grounds.
Fonua-Blake is on a deal worth around $1 million a season and the Dragons are desperate to add some starch and firepower to their forward pack.
The new Dragons coach confirmed the club wanted to bring Fonua-Blake, who wants to return to Australia to be closer to his parents, back to the Red V.
“I’m more than interested,” Flanagan told this masthead. “He has some history here with the club. He played under Dean Young as a junior. I’m always looking for quality players and he’s a very good one.”
The Warriors issued a statement confirming that Fonua-Blake had requested a release. Chief executive Cameron George said the club is considering the request.
The Bulldogs are also on the lookout for a premier front-rower but are unlikely to have the salary cap space to fit him into the squad in 2024 without making adjustments to their roster given the number of signings they have made for next season.
Yeah fuck flannoDragons want Fonua-Blake if Warriors grant him early release
Yeah nah, I’m doubling down, screw this dude. Cheating pricks been back as a head coach of like 5 minutes and is toeing the line already
If all these teams are setting up programmes in NZ, surely that tells the NRL we need a second team here!Shane Millard is newly installed into his role as recruitment and pathways manager, but already has his eye set on building a Dragons Academy in New Zealand, which will be run by club legend Jason Nightingale
Shane Flanagan plans to adopt the cloak and dagger of his old Sharks set-up, given the Dragons boast millions of dollars more in free salary cap space than their rivals but are yet to land a marquee signing.
Flanagan has been refreshingly honest in identifying key transfer targets since being announced as St George Illawarra coach – with Addin Fonua-Blake, Tom Dearden, Joey Manu, Jack Welsby, Heilum Luki and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki all mentioned, and pursued to vastly different degrees.
Typical dragons fans, we could have sent them Donald Duck for all they know.[IMG alt="st george tragic"]https://sgiforum.com/data/avatars/m/0/132.jpg?1685518236[/IMG]
st george tragic
SGI Junior League
Apparently we have signed a new half named Donald volkman from warroirs starting immediately does anyone know much about him
Donald making waves over at the dragons already.
All these rival nrl clubs must be running out of catchment areas to harvest our players from, where's this dragons academy based, Dunedin?Shane Millard is newly installed into his role as recruitment and pathways manager, but already has his eye set on building a Dragons Academy in New Zealand, which will be run by club legend Jason Nightingale
Wasn't that last week?Anyone watching Dragons/Bunnies trial? Dragons actually not looking half bad.
Yeah nvm it's a replay lolWasn't that last week?
Second half they looked half bad againYeah nvm it's a replay lol