NRL transfer news: Chad Townsend’s Cowboys future undecided, Izack Tago re-signs with Panthers, Max King extends with Bulldogs
He’s feeling fitter and faster than ever, but 2016 premiership winner Chad Townsend is still without a contract beyond 2024; while the Panthers and Bulldogs have locked down two stars.
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Chad Townsend is yet to receive a contract extension offer from the North Queensland Cowboys but the 2016 Cronulla premiership winner insists he is comfortable with his position.
Now in his 14th season, Townsend remains off-contract at the end of the year and is realistic about his future.
“I don’t have any plans at the moment. I’m taking it day by day,” he said.
“I still feel really good physically and mentally. At this stage, I think I want to play on.
“It’s going to be circumstantial. It will all play out. I’m not really stressed or worried about what’s going to happen.
“If there’s an opportunity that suits me and my family I’ll take it. If it’s not there then so be it.
“I just want to take every session, day and game like it is my last, but also be optimistic that I will play on if I want to.
“We (Cowboys and I) haven’t had any conversations yet. I understand they’ve got to make a business decision and I’ve got to make a decision as well.
“I’m very grateful for my time in the north so far with the Cows. If it’s my last season, it’s been a great ride.”
With 243 NRL games under his belt since his 2011 debut, Townsend is among a number of older playmakers still performing in first grade.
That has given him confidence that he could extend his NRL career beyond 2024.
“I’d love to keep playing in the NRL,” he said.
“This is my 14th year and I’ve come off a really good pre-season. I hit a personal best in my 1.2km time trial and a new top speed.
“I gave it my all this pre-season. As you get older, things get a little bit harder but I was really happy.
“The coaches are calling me Benjamin Button. I feel really good, mentally clear and my body feels great. That’s what’s spurring me on.
“Seeing guys like DCE (Daly Cherry-Evans), Ben Hunt, Adam Reynolds and those boys in the halves still playing well gives me confidence.
“I’m off-contract and questions will be asked but I don’t have the answers at the moment.”
PANTHERS, BULLDOGS LOCK DOWN KEY STARS
The Penrith Panthers have announced the re-signing of boom centre Izack Tago on a three-year extension, keeping him at the foot of the mountains until the end of 2028.
The Panthers junior will celebrate his 50th game for the Panthers when they take on Parramatta in the Battle for the West in round two.
“I’m extremely happy to re-sign with the club. Even though I was already signed here for a couple of years, it’s great to lock in my future at my home club for another few years,” Tago said.
“Most of the team are Panthers juniors and we’ve all got a special relationship, so for me to stay here for as long as I can is something I’m excited about.”
“We’re excited to see another local junior committing his long-term future to the club, and we’re looking forward to seeing him remain in Panthers colours until at least the end of the 2028 season,” Panthers General Manager of Rugby League Shane Elford said.
“Izack’s progression is another great example of the build from within mantra of our club. He has come through our junior development system and progressed to the highest level of playing for country.
“We’re delighted that he has shown his commitment to the Panthers by re-signing with the club.”
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have made a major retention move, locking in key forward Max King for the next three seasons.
King believes the Bulldogs pack must be their own saviour instead of waiting for a big-name free market kill to “come and save” the engine room in 2024.
The bold declaration comes after King agreed to a three-year extension on Wednesday keeping the 26-year old forward at Belmore until the end of 2027.
The move makes King the only prop on the roster signed long-term but is unlikely to silence criticism about the pedigree of the club’s forward stocks.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo will start King and Poasa Faamausili with Sam Hughes coming off the bench against Cronulla on Friday night.
Faamausili was one of 12 players signed during the off-season, which includes fellow props Zane Tetavano, Daniel Suluka-Fifita and lock Josh Curran.
Former Roosters and Penrith forward Tetevano was named on the bench in NSW Cup this week, while Suluka-Fifita is sidelined with an ACL injury and won’t be available until May.
The club made a play for Warriors powerhouse Addin Fonua-Blake in a bid to beef up the pack but the Tongan international opted to join the Sharks from 2025 instead.
King has heard the taunts that the pack lacks size, power and grunt but is confident Canterbury’s big men are up to the task.
“It’s so easy to say ‘we need to sign this guy or that guy because the Bulldogs need a forward’ or that Stephen Crichton should go to fullback or that we need an Australian Test halfback at the club,” King told this masthead.
“The thing is, sometimes there is no one to come and save you. No one is going to save us, we have to save ourselves.
“It has to be built from within here. I truly trust it to be built in here. There are people here whose job it is to go out and sign great players but for us we need to be that guy that other clubs want in their side. I haven’t played representative football but I trust my own potential. I go into games and back myself and the players alongside me.”
One of the biggest slights on Canterbury in recent years has been the lack of go forward. The club finished last for total run metres in 2023 and 2021, and second last back in 2022.
Last weekend, Parramatta ran for almost 400 more metres led by Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Junior Paulo, off the bench.
King takes the jeers against Canterbury’s big men personally and will run out against Cronulla at Pointbet Stadium with a point to prove.
“It’s everywhere, you can’t not see or hear that criticism. There’s nowhere to hide, we’re on TV every week so it is something I take personally,” King said.
“I think the one thing I feel wholeheartedly is that the blokes training alongside me, whether they are the bench forward or starters… they might not be big names, or have representative honours but I have a lot of trust in those guys and believe they can really stand up.
“All that talk about us not being good enough, it’s all outside noise. It’s not something we believe internally.
“Every game, it does feel like there is a point to prove because they are coming for us, especially the forwards.”
Building a formidable pack from within the four walls at Belmore was King’s main motivation in agreeing to stay and be part of Ciraldo’s rebuild of the once proud club.
“It’s been so hard the last couple of years,” King said.
“The trust they have put in me for the next three years, it’s an honour, but it comes with responsibility.
“I’m being trusted as part of the circle that will get us back on the right path. It’s not something I take lightly. I just want the club to be successful. I want to look back in three years and go ‘wow, what a ride’.”
MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR MOVE THAT WILL SHAKE UP NRL TRANSFERS
The Dolphins are believed to be weighing up a multimillion dollar play for North Queensland back rower Kulikefu Finefeuiaki in a move that could have serious ramifications for two of their interstate rivals.
Finefeuiaki, off contract at the end of this season, is believed to be open to a switch of clubs after finding himself trapped behind Heilum Luki and Jeremiah Nanai for a starting spot at the Cowboys.
Sources close to the Cowboys confirmed they were bracing for the Dolphins to step up their pursuit of Finefeuiaki after their Queensland rivals failed with a mega-bid for Luki.
Luki, who entrenched himself as one of North Queensland’s starting second rowers with a big performance against the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon. is expected to confirm a long-term deal with the Cowboys this week.
The Dragons were also monitoring Finefeuiaki but dropped off when they signed Luciano Leilua from the Cowboys. The Dolphins have now moved into pole position, although this masthead understands they are yet to make a formal offer for the 20-year-old.
Finefeuiaki made his first grade debut for the Cowboys last season and has chalked up 13 games in the top grade, scoring two tries and stamping himself as one of the most promising forwards in the game.
However, he has had to sit behind Luki and Jeremiah Nanai, both of whom have committed to the Cowboys on long-term deals.
The Dolphins would offer Finefeuiaki a starting spot next season as well as the chance to move back to southeast Queensland – he went to school in Ipswich after moving to Australia at the age of 11.
His future is set to have an impact for Melbourne and the Wests Tigers. The Cowboys are believed to be monitoring Storm back rower Jack Howarth, having identified him as a player who could help replenish their back row stocks should they need more depth in the position.
Howarth, is signed to a long-term deal in Melbourne but has struggled to crack the starting side, having played only one game in first grade.
Should the Cowboys step up their interest and the Storm allow him to leave, it would free up salary cap space for Melbourne to launch a bid for Wests Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu.
Utoikamanu has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave at the end of the season should the Tigers fail to make the finals.
It is understood the Storm are watching developments with Utoikamanu closely as they look to add strength to their front row.
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