Dragons’ $5m mega deal to lure Roosters superstar with positional switch — Transfer Whispers
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan said he won’t be “panic buying” players, but the club has come out swinging with money to burn.
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.
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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.
Originally published as Dragons’ $5m mega deal to lure Roosters superstar with positional switch — Transfer Whispers
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