Roosters veteran prepared to entertain Super League move
Updated ,first published
Winger Daniel Tupou is planning to play for another year at the Sydney Roosters but is ready to agree to a two-year deal in the Super League if the Bondi club do not take him on.
Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson confirmed on Tuesday that Tupou would return for the NRL finals after dislocating his shoulder against the Knights last Friday night but there has been no call-up for next year.
Tupou’s choice will be to play for the red-white-blue team in the 16th season. However, the 35-year-old met his agent Sam Ayoub on Monday and informed him that several English Super League clubs have expressed interest in him.
While the chance to sign a two-year deal is tempting, Tupou also knows Super League will be less physically demanding.
Tupou remains one of the best aerial threats in the game and scored a hat-trick in his milestone 300th appearance against the Eels earlier this month. The Super League is known for its attacking football, which suits the Tongan national team.
If Mark Nawaqanitawase leaves the Roosters at the end of the season to return to rugby and Tupou tries his luck abroad, the Roosters have plenty of depth in the form of Cody Ramsey, Tommy Talau, Billy Smith, Manly recruit Reuben Garrick and Tom Rodwell. There is also Rex Bassingthwaighte, who is being groomed as the No.1 successor to James Tedesco, and the club is happy to give future full-backs time on the wing at the start of their careers.
Tupou has never wanted to make any noise about his achievements and downplayed the extent of the injury he suffered early in the second half at Newcastle last week.
“The other night he laid down on the ground and said, without any emotion, ‘I have a dislocated shoulder.’ That was it,” Tedesco said Sunday.
“We all went up to him but he was his usual calm self. They put him back in, he was still there and I started to think he was going to keep playing but they took him out.”
“Players are getting older and you expect some decline [in form]but this is not the case with ‘Toops’; “He runs his business smoothly and we have a lot of trust and confidence in him when he’s there.”
The setback means Tupou, who played 302 games for the club, has no chance of overtaking Jared Waerea-Hargreaves as the Roosters’ most appearances this year.
Waerea-Hargreaves has played 310 games and Tupou could be ranked 311th if the Roosters play six regular season games and potentially three finals.
Robinson confirmed Tupou would return for the finals and that the shoulder injury would sideline him for four to six weeks. Regarding his future, Robinson said: “I’d say it’ll be in the next two to three weeks, we’ll know where ‘Toops’ is and where we are.”
Young weighs Raiders’ deal
Dan Walsh
Canberra have offered Hudson Young a multimillion-dollar three-year extension as his Raiders teammate Morgan Smithies will join Perth next season.
The Raiders have continued talks with Young, who was sidelined for a season-ending Achilles injury last weekend, and are pushing to keep their star NSW back-rower off the open market on November 1.
A three-year deal will keep Young in the nation’s capital until the end of 2030. With the NRL’s salary cap predicted to rise to at least $15 million from 2028, Young’s total extension is expected to be worth around $3 million, making him one of the best-paid backrowers in the game.
Along with Penrith enforcer and Blues teammate Liam Martin, Young is the most successful striker out of contract in 2027.
Young’s Achilles rupture was a brutal blow to Canberra’s late-season finals charge, given the 28-year-old’s superb Origin campaign and nailed-down starting status at the World Cup for the Kangaroos.
Canterbury’s Jacob Preston (24), Wests Tigers’ Samuela Fainu (22) and the Dolphins’ recent Queensland Origin debutant Kuikefu Finefeuiaki (22) represent the next group of back-rowers yet to be linked long-term, although the Tigers’ plans to offer Fainu an upgraded deal were a key factor in Jarome Luai’s early release to join Parramatta next year.
Martin’s agent will meet with the Panthers this week as he works through the club’s star-studded non-contract list, while co-captains Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo work on the club’s retention priorities.
Martin and Brian To’o have both been linked with the new PNG Chiefs franchise and while Penrith will be given first and final rights over Martin’s future, requests for early permission to negotiate with rival clubs have not been ruled out.
Teammate Moses Leota was given a short period of time by the Panthers last month to talk to rivals to get an idea of his market value.
Melbourne also allowed five-eighth Cameron Munster to negotiate privately with PNG following minor knee surgery, but the Storm offered a two-year extension for 2028-29 at less than his projected $1.25 million salary.
The Chiefs are unlikely to make their own offer until Nov. 1 or until there is clarity on Cleary’s future, given their preferred playmaking target.
Meanwhile, Smithies accepted the terms of a three-year offer from Perth. The 25-year-old held intense talks with Canberra earlier this year before the club was told his preference was to return to England and continue his English Super League career.
Perth’s offer was too good for Smithies to refuse but the England international will leave the Raiders in good shape despite the change of plans.
The Bears have also targeted Eels co-captain Junior Paulo as a potential captaincy option for next season’s first coach Mal Meninga, with the veteran expected to receive a two-year offer this week.
Perth have slowly but surely assembled a solid squad with their most notable signings up front being Penrith’s Liam Henry and Scott Sorensen, Cronulla utility Siosifa Talakai and Bulldogs back-rower Josh Curran.
Considering Storm utility Tyran Wishart has floated playmaking options for 2027, the Bears have enough salary cap space to add a key spine player.
Dan Walsh is sports correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
