NRL Transfers: Eels star Marata Niukore signs lucrative long-term deal with Warriors
The Eels have suffered their first retention blow with the impending departure of Marata Niukore and must now act quickly to stop any further bleeding.
Parramatta have suffered their first retention blow with back-rower Marata Niukore signing a $2.5 million deal with the Warriors.
News Corp can reveal Niukore agreed on Wednesday night to a lucrative four-year deal with the Warriors, who have secured the aggressive utility forward until the end of 2026 in a major blow for the Eels.
It is understood the deal is worth around $625,000 a season with the Warriors to announce their successful poaching attempt on Niukore as early as Thursday.
Marata Niukore will begin his Warriors career in 2023.
Niukore’s impending defection comes in the wake of revelations that Parramatta teammate and Queensland Origin squad member Reed Mahoney had met for secret talks with Canterbury coach Trent Barrett and football boss Phil Gould.
Niukore was off-contract at the end of next season and will complete his commitments with Parramatta in 2022 before the Auckland product returns to his country of birth at the Warriors.
The Eels were hoping to retain the hard-running back-rower, but Parramatta have 11 off-contract top liners to secure beyond next season, headlined by Clint Gutherson, Junior Paulo, Mahoney and Ryan Matterson.
The Warriors were among a number of clubs circling Niukore in recent months and the New Zealand outfit has sealed the deal with a four-year mega offer that blew the Eels out of the water.
The 25-year-old made his NRL debut in 2018 and has since amassed 77 top-grade games for the Eels, enjoying arguably his finest season this year to help Parramatta to another finals appearance.
Niukore will be a huge loss for the Eels.
Parramatta bosses have come under fire for having so many key players off-contract at the same time and the loss of Niukore will amplify pressure on Eels powerbrokers to retain the likes of Gutherson, Mahoney and Paulo.
Niukore was considered the most at risk of leaving, although the Eels were placed on red alert when Mahoney met with Bulldogs officials at Canterbury Leagues Club on Tuesday night.
News Corp revealed a month ago that Canterbury were circling Mahoney but video footage of his meeting with Bulldogs officials no doubt caused mild panic at Eels headquarters as they digested the prospect of a big-money bid from the Bulldogs to lure their hooker to Belmore.
While they retain a fighting chance with Mahoney, the battle for Niukore’s signature has been lost and his departure leaves a void that the Eels may struggle to fill.
St George Illawarra were also in the mix for the Cook Islands international but it is understood the Dragons were informed earlier this week that it was down to the Warriors and Parramatta.
Replies
I really liked Niukore. I was really hoping to see him and Papali'i in the backrow together. But I cannot be mad at him or the club. I doubt eels would of gottten anywhere close with the money he is being offered. He is also a Kiwi and pretty sure was playing in the warriors junior system before he transfered to eels in his junior days as well. Then from a club perspective, we have higher priorities in Mahoney, Papali'i, Paulo and Gutho. Happy to hear that he at least prefered to stay with us rather than joining dragons.
Personally would rather have seen the Club invest in his retention over Lane or Matterson. Is what it is!
100%. I have been very open about the club letting Matto go and offering Lane to other clubs so we could fund Gutho, Mahoney, Paulo, Papali'i and Niukore. But to be fair, even if we let Matto and Lane go, paying $625k a year is overs espically considering he gets suspended a bit, and he is not even the best backrower (behind Papalii) at the club. I think $550k/yr, preferably max of $500k/yr would of been our best possible offer which is still well below warriors.
Spot on.
I agree with most things said, am not sure about that price, that means or is a classic example of a lower rated club requiring to pay huge overs for a player.
Now I happen to rate Niukure ahead of Lane and Matterson but obviously Parra doesn't, I think one of the reasons Niukure left (I said one) was because he seemed to be picked after both Matterson and Lane and was frustrated at not receiving the due recognition he deserved,
He was a wonderful utility and again suffers for that versatality. Interesting if the 625k is right when we are reportedly paying 500k for Matterson and 400 for Lane....why do I think these reports of what they are being paid is/are bullshit.
Of all the players we were/are going to lose, I think Niukure was the most predictable, especially with the going home aspect..... mind you wouldn't have thought Warriors needed to go so high if that was a deciding influence. Who else would have paid those dollars?
He came as a young rookie and over the years really only was as a fill in player, his versatility showed out a fair bit in the roles he was given, when he played in the backs he showed a huge amount of strength, which is understandable given his size and abilities.
Thing is I don't believe that he really owned a specific position with the eels, as he was picked and played in several positions, without really owning one. Was that his problem and being somewhat a floating player with abilitlies and strength being somewhat an issue as to actually being able to own one position and hold on to it?
Marata for me was a top player, and am sorry to see him lost to the eels, but! if there was an area that he caused concern was in his Judicary appearances, he was not a dirty player as such but the way the game is played these days, a small careless action in his game saw him out of the team often at times where he was needed and left the team short. Much of his problem in that area is more than just careless but somewhat laziness though.
He will do well for the Warriors and the contract he gets is also likely to be his last as he turns 26 next year while still playing for the eels, with a 4 year contract he will turn 31 in his last season with the Warriors.
The plus in this loss is that it releases money to go towards keeping other players off contract end of next year. I wonder how hard Ice will go for a big lift in his asking?
10000%
big loss but we couldnt go paying overs for him, will be missed though
His aggression is a double edge sword.
At times we lack that aggression that Maratha brought but to pay $600K plus a season for a guy that spends 1/3 of the season on the side lines due to suspension is a bit steep a price to pay.
Not a bad observation
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