NRL market watch: Addin Fonua-Blake requests immediate release from New Zealand Warriors

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan is hoping a personal connection with the club and some of its players can lure wantaway Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake back to St George Illawarra.

St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan is hoping a personal connection with the club and some of its players helps the Dragons as they eye off a move for powerhouse New Zealand Warriors forward Addin Fonua-Blake.

The Warriors released a statement late on Thursday in response to this masthead’s report that Fonua-Blake had requested a release, on compassionate grounds, from his multimillion-dollar deal.

Warriors chief executive Cameron George said the club was considering the request.

It is understood Fonua-Blake wants to return to Sydney to be closer to his parents, who are battling health issues.

Rivals, meanwhile, began circling after this masthead broke the news that the 27-year-old — who was the highest-paid prop in the game in 2023 on a deal worth more than $1 million a season, and has three years remaining on his current contract — could be on the open market.

Addin Fonua-Blake wants out of the Warriors. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty

The Dragons were among the quickest to put their hand up as Flanagan looked to turbo-charge his rebuild of the club by signing one of the top forwards in the game.

Flanagan had already set his sights on a handful of high-priced targets and made it clear he would add Fonua-Blake to the list.

His hope is that a network of connections at the club can help convince Fonua-Blake to return to the Dragons, where he spent two years as part of their under-20s side.

Dean Young, who coached that side which featured Fonua-Blake and current Dragons Hame Sele and Jack Bird, has returned to St George Illawarra this season as an assistant to Flanagan.

Dragons centre Moses Suli and Fonua-Blake are teammates in the Tongan national team.

“He is a quality player and one of the best props in the game,” Flanagan said on Thursday.

“We would be crazy not to look at him. He has a connection with the club — he played here as a 20-year-old.

“He has a connection with some of the players here - Hame Sele, Moses Suli. Dean Young coached him.

“He is footy-smart, his intellect is up there.”

Canterbury are also in the market for forward reinforcements, having been linked with Brisbane powerhouse Payne Haas earlier in the year.

However, it is understood they would need to massage their salary cap to be able to fit in Fonua-Blake’s bulging pay packet.

The Dragons are one of the few clubs in a salary cap position to accommodate Fonua-Blake immediately, although others will no doubt look to juggle their roster given his standing in the game.

“He can play,” Flanagan said.

“He knows the club, we are going to change and we are on the way up. He makes us get there a bit quicker.”

Fonua-Blake was granted a release from his deal at Manly at the end of 2020 to join the Warriors on compassionate grounds after requesting a release to leave Sydney.

It would be a massive blow for the Warriors’ hopes in 2024, after they made the preliminary final this season under rookie coach Andrew Webster.

Of further concern is that Fonua-Blake is one of just three Warriors players — forward Marata Niukore and returning star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck being the others — to be contracted to the club beyond the 2025 season.

The remainder of the squad are on deals that expire in the next 24 months.