Sport Confidential: Jahrome Hughes tipped to become NRL’s first $1.5m player, Payne Haas ends three-year legal battle with former manager
Unless Melbourne can lock in a new deal, one of the NRL’s best players is set for free agency on November 1, a move which is set to explode the player market in a bidding frenzy like never before. That and more in Sport Confidential.
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The NRL player market is set to explode with Storm superstar Jahrome Hughes tipped to become rugby league’s first $1.5 million player.
As debate rages over the future of Wests Tigers young gun Lachie Galvin, there’s a much more accomplished and decorated player set to ignite a bidding frenzy in Melbourne sensation Hughes.
Hughes is currently the NRL’s No.1 player after winning last year’s Dally M Medal and unless the Storm can lock him into a new deal soon, the Kiwi Test halfback is headed for free agency from November 1.
Other NRL stars that could be up for grabs include Payne Haas, Viliame Kikau, Herbie Farnworth, Titans duo David Fifita and Keano Kini, Roosters hitman Angus Crichton and Canberra’s Jamal Fogarty.
Eels pivot Dylan Brown’s mega 10-year, $13 million deal with Newcastle has underlined the market value for quality playmakers and Hughes’ salary is on track to soar to record levels.
The Tigers’ desperate fight for Galvin’s signature has dominated newsprint for weeks, but, quietly tucked away in AFL heartland, Melbourne are acutely aware of their own looming battle to retain Hughes.
Like Galvin, the champion halfback is off-contract at the end of 2026 and Melbourne have moved to extend Hughes until the end of 2029, which would effectively keep him at the Storm for life.
But with the Perth Bears tipped to enter the NRL in 2027 and Papua New Guinea to follow 12 months later, Hughes can capitalise like never before on the NRL’s fresh expansion phase.
The 30-year-old premiership winner could easily eclipse Brown ($1.3 million), Nathan Cleary ($1.3m) and Kalyn Ponga ($1.4m) as the highest-paid player in NRL history.
Queensland Origin legend Billy Moore is a North Sydney director and part of the consortium locked in merger talks with the WA government to launch the Western Bears as the NRL’s 18th club.
Moore claims the NRL will see a $2 million player by 2030 and believes Hughes could easily set the code’s next fiscal benchmark by earning $1.5m a season.
“Right now, Jahrome has to be rated one of the top five buys in the league,” Moore said.
“Dylan Brown has signed a $13 or $14 million deal over 10 years, but the NRL will see a $2 million-a-season player inside five years.
“It’s a simple fact of supply and demand.
“If two more clubs come in, supply needs to keep up and initially that will be difficult so a marquee free agent such as Jahrome Hughes becomes even more valuable.
“Jahrome is in the top three halfbacks in the game.
“He is 30 years old, but that’s not an issue when you consider Daly Cherry-Evans is 36, so Hughes could easily play for another five or six years.
“In an expansion NRL environment, his experience, individual brilliance and rugby league IQ makes him worth $1.5 million.”
Hughes is happy in Melbourne but the Storm have their work cut out keeping Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant, who are also off-contract next year, under the salary cap.
A veteran of 152 NRL games and 10 Tests for New Zealand, Hughes is on around $900,000 at Melbourne, but could easily surge past the $1 million mark on the open market.
In the lead up to Melbourne’s grand-final replay against Penrith on Thursday night, Hughes told Fox Sports of the pressure to perform every week in the wake of his Dally M season.
“I like going under the radar a little bit but I guess when you perform like that … have a year like that, being consistent, I guess you can’t hide anymore,” Hughes said.
“I don’t mind (going under the radar). Those players (Cleary, Mitchell Moses and Cherry-Evans) get talked about a lot and rightfully so.
“They’re great for this game. For myself, I don’t really look at that as a motivator for me. I’m not striving to be someone that everyone talks about.
“The opinions of my teammates and my coaching staff is what matters most to me.
“If I can keep them happy, that’s my job done.”
DES’ DOJO NO MORE
Des Hasler’s dojo has been Des-troyed.
Sport Confidential spotted Parkwood staff assessing the damage to the marquee at the home of the Gold Coast Titans this week.
Hasler’s purpose-built wrestling and training tent had about 3m of water go through it during the recent weather event.
The flood has wrecked the tent, which was flapping in the breeze this week.
Titans staff moved all the gym equipment to higher ground before the rain started.
It remains to be seen if the dojo will be reconstructed or sent to the tip, especially with the Titans planning to leave Parkwood for good next year.
FLEGLER’S BONDI BOMBSHELL
Dolphins enforcer Tom Flegler has dropped a Bondi bombshell, saying his dislike for Sydney cost the Roosters any hope of signing him.
Flegler has broken his silence on claims the Roosters were keen on him, with the former Broncos prop revealing he seriously considered defecting to the glamour Sydney club.
Flegler joined the Dolphins last year on a $3 million deal, but confirmed the Roosters were a genuine option … until the point where the kid from Tully considered a move to the Harbour City.
“It was very interesting, I was interested in going to the Roosters,” he told the Inside Ball podcast. “I had to sit down and work out where I was going to go.
“It did come down to the last minute but the end thing was I couldn’t live in Sydney.
“To play for a club like that (the Roosters) would have been awesome with the history they’ve got and how they pride themselves.
“It’s a great club, but we sat down and at the time the Dolphins had a good roster with Wayne Bennett there (as coach).
“I wanted to stay in Queensland and the Dolphins was the team I wanted to go to.”
Flegler has been sidelined for the past year by a frustrating nerve issue in his shoulder. He was outstanding for the Broncos in the 2023 grand final, but says he left Brisbane because he felt stuck for game time behind Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan.
“It was hard leaving,” he said. “The biggest thing for me was I was coming to a point where myself, Patty and Payne played well together and complemented each other, but I was getting lesser minutes and rightfully so at the time.
“But I felt I wanted to get my game time up a bit more. When you have middles like that (Haas and Carrigan) at the club, someone has to take a bit less which is all well and good, but I wanted to try something different and I felt I had more minutes in me.
“I had to leave to do that because if I got more minutes at the Broncos, they would get less, which wasn’t going to happen.”
SPOTTED I
Former Brisbane hooker Andrew McCullough enjoying a midday jog at Red Hill in the shadows of Broncos Leagues Club.
McCullough, 35, still looks fit enough to run out for the Broncos.
SPOTTED II
Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy in Titans territory on Wednesday.
The Broncos have snuck under the guard of the Titans and picked up a bunch of schools in Gold Coast heartland for their leadership and mentoring programs.
HAAS LEGAL STOUSH
– Brent Read and Michael Carayannis
Brisbane superstar Payne Haas has removed a potential distraction as he and the Broncos step up their pursuit of a premiership after ending a legal stoush with his former agents stretching back more than three years.
Haas launched legal action against his ex-agent Chris Orr in February, 2022, seeking to reclaim all the fees he had paid during their time together.
Orr responded with action of his own, claiming he had negotiated a deal with the Broncos which would have made Haas the richest forward in the game.
Documents filed in the Supreme Court revealed intimate details about Haas’ salary, his off-field indiscretions and negotiations between his former agency and the Broncos.
The matter has dragged through the courts ever since and it looked like it would be settled late last year, only for negotiations to dramatically collapse.
However, it has now emerged that the parties finally reached a confidential settlement in the Supreme Court this week, bringing the drama to a close.
“The matter has been resolved in accordance with a confidential settlement,” Haas’ agent Ahmad Merhi said.
“Payne is very happy with the outcome. Payne has always maintained a principled approach to the matter.
“He can now move on to continue focusing on his football and family.”
Revelations of a deal in his legal battle come as Haas and the Broncos attempt to rebound from their loss to Canberra against bitter rivals North Queensland on Friday night.
Haas, the best front rower in the game, is in the second year of a three year deal with the Broncos that is believed to pay him in excess of $1 million.
His next deal is likely to be even bigger, with the Broncos expected to open talks in coming weeks as they attempt to lock Haas away before he hits the open market on November 1.
Haas is in line for a big payday as Brisbane make his signature a priority.
PAHULU’S PAIN
Rising Titans forward Josiah Pahulu has been floored by a series of concussions as the Bulldogs abandoned their pursuit of the emerging prop.
Pahulu has been a notable absentee from Des Hasler’s Titans teams in their opening two games of the season.
The junior Maroons prospect was embroiled in a contract spat with the Titans late last year and requested an immediate release from the final year of his deal to join Canterbury.
The Titans rejected the request, leaving Pahulu to fight for a spot in Gold Coast’s best 17 this year.
But a series of pre-season head knocks have ruled him out of contention for now.
Pahulu suffered a couple of heavy hits at training and then a concussion in Gold Coast’s trial match against the Dolphins a month ago.
He hasn’t played since, given he was forced to undergo mandatory testing due to the number of head knocks he received.
Pahulu is expected to be back in the selection mix next week and is also on the hunt for a new contract after the Bulldogs went cold on signing him following their acquisition of Newcastle’s Leo Thompson.
KEVVIE’S FULL OF WISDOM
Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters is one tough cookie. ‘Kevvie’ had three wisdom teeth removed on Monday and the following day, the Broncos club legend threw away the frozen peas to head out for a morning jog.
Walters will back-up to be part of Fox Sports’ commentary team this weekend, displaying the toughness that made him a six-time premiership winner.
CHEEKY DEVIL
One of the most intriguing coaching moves in the Hostplus Cup began on a familiar note when Rohan Smith’s Norths Devils opened the season with a win over the Clydesdales in Toowoomba last weekend.
The win kept Smith’s perfect record intact in opening rounds for Norths – it was his sixth first-round match as coach for his sixth win.
And it was his 50th win as Devils head coach, building a 50-24 record since he took over in 2018.
Smith returned to Norths this season after two years coaching the Leeds Rhinos, taking the Super League team to a grand final against Kristian Woolf’s St Helens in 2022.
After the Rhinos parted ways with Smith last year, he was offered places as an NRL assistant coach but opted to take charge of his own team again.
The Devils had a vacancy after moving on from coach Dave Elliott following their premiership and NRL State Championship wins last year.
Smith, the son of former NRL coach Brian, claimed the 2021 premiership when the Devils lost only two of 20 matches across a Covid-interrupted season.
PHINS UP FOR IZZY
Dolphins halfback Isaiya Katoa has made a young fan’s dreams come true.
Mathew Bennett took his son Ethan from the Sunshine Coast to Newcastle last week to watch the Dolphins take on the Knights.
Despite being two of only a handful of Phins fans in the crowd at McDonald Jones Stadium, Ethan proudly displayed a poster he had made for the Dolphins.
At full-time, Katoa gave Ethan his No.7 jersey and thanked him for making the trip to support the Dolphins.
“Isaiya saw Ethan in the crowd and came over to thank him for his support and sign his poster,” Mathew wrote to the Dolphins.
“My son took his chance and asked if he could have his jersey. Without hesitation Isaiya took it off and signed it. He then got a photo with my son.
“I listened to their brief conversation and he was nothing but polite, friendly and thankful for Ethan’s support.
“It was heartwarming but also impressive of Isaiya noting the loss.
“I want to express my thanks for his professionalism both on the field and with my son. His actions speak volumes of himself and of the team as a whole.
“His simple actions will have an everlasting positive influence on my son, a positive story he will forever tell his friends and family.”
RICKY RAISES THE STEAKS
Are Ricky Stuart’s culinary skills the secret behind Canberra’s early-season success?
The Raiders have come out of the blocks firing with impressive wins against the Warriors in Las Vegas and Brisbane to start the season.
This is after Canberra was written off as a wooden spoon contender by many.
Stuart has the Raiders playing like a team unit and his famous steaks may have something to do with it.
“He does a beautiful steak,” Raiders captain Joe Tapine said.
“He is really good at cooking. He puts some worcestershire sauce and salt on it … it’s beautiful.
“They are top shelf steaks too – the big ones on the bone.”
It can be hard for Raiders players, especially the younger ones, given most of Canberra’s squad moves to the nation’s capital.
That’s why Stuart and wife Kaylie do their best to make the players feel like they’re at home.
“We’ve been over there a couple of times for his big tomahawk steaks,” five-eighth Ethan Strange said.
“I like mine medium-rare and he nails it. Kaylie helps out and makes a beautiful salad.
“They look after us. Chevy Stewart and I live together away from our families so it’s good to have that figure there to help us out.”
But Stewart, one of Canberra’s real characters, raised questions about the coach’s cooking.
“He is a very father-like type of dude, he really looks after the boys,” he said.
“His steaks can be a bit questionable sometimes but I bet everyone says they’re really good (laughs).
“I get mine well-done. It is a controversial topic but I’m sticking to it.”
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