Source :- THE AGE NEWS
A personal sales pitch from Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape helped seal Joey Manu’s return to rugby league, which is expected to begin with a short-term 2027 deal at an NRL rival before he takes up a two-year deal with the PNG Chiefs from 2028.
The Kiwi international’s long-touted signing with the expansion franchise was confirmed on Monday morning.
Manu has already been offered to several NRL clubs as a potential short-term signing for the back half of 2027 once he completes the final year of his estimated €1 million ($1.6 million) contract with French rugby outfit Racing 92.
He will be 31 by the time he links with PNG for their first pre-season late next year, and the Chiefs can see an advantage in Manu joining an NRL rival as a pre-June 30 signing, as was raised by the Warriors earlier this season.
Manu ultimately knocked back that approach to ensure he didn’t jeopardise his lucrative rugby deal. But his appeal and pedigree as a potential game-breaker in next year’s title race have been noted at several clubs spoken to by this masthead on Monday after his PNG move was announced.
A $300,000 sign-on figure for a three-month return was reported earlier this year as a fair market value, according to the NRL salary cap auditor for the Kiwi star; it would equate to a $1.2 million salary.
His signature comes as the Chiefs continue to reshape a volatile player market, with Hudson Young to begin formal talks with PNG next month despite Canberra tabling him a record $3.3 million, three-year extension offer – the richest deal in the club’s history.
The Chiefs are also in talks with Titans star AJ Brimson after he was given permission to explore an early exit from the Gold Coast.
Speaking from France after committing to PNG as their seventh signing, Manu said Marape’s passion for bringing an NRL side to the wider Pacific region had helped sway him, while he had also been impressed by the Chiefs’ Port Moresby facilities.
“Talking to the [PNG] prime minister, how passionate he was about making it not just a Papua New Guinea team but making it a Pacific team, and trying to get the Pacific nations behind this team, I think it’s going to be special,” Manu said.
“I’m a really proud Cook Island and Māori man, and I know my family’s real proud back in Tokoroa in New Zealand – and also in the Cook Islands, too.
“There’s so much talent in the Pacific Islands and rugby league is taking over the islands, so it’s really cool to have sort of a Pacific team.”
The Australian government’s much-discussed $600 million funding package around the club sets aside as much as $350 million in rugby league pathways development programs across PNG, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, according to a Senate estimates committee hearing held last year.
Manu looms as a potential fullback option given he regularly wore the No.1 for New Zealand at Test level.
A rugby league return at centre – where he was widely regarded as the best in the game throughout a 181-game career with the Roosters – may be more suitable, though, given his age and the added running required of fullbacks under the NRL’s new set-restart rules.
“It’s just been a few years now since I’ve been out of the game, and I still watch a few games when I can,” Manu said.
“You miss certain things when you’re watching, and I’m just grateful that I get to come back and play. Rugby league is a special game for myself and to come back and play in the NRL is very special.”
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