St George Illawarra have landed a huge recruitment scalp by securing Australian star Keaon Koloamatangi to a long term near $5 million deal.
It is understood that Koloamatangi has told the Dragons he will join the club from 2027 on a five year deal. The contract is now in the cooling off period.
It is a clear circuit breaker for the Dragons who were in the market for a marquee player.
Koloamatangi’s current club South Sydney wanted to secure him as did Parramatta.
The Dragons though look set to land the prized recruit after gazumping the Eels and Rabbitohs with a monster five year deal
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Replies
I'm glad. KK is a good player, but not worth $1M per season. To justify that sort of money you have to be a game breaker and he's no game breaker. Good news.
Well said. If Ryles wants a players it's the club's job to land him. The club is letting down our Coach. Ryles must be wondering why even bother trying to sign elite players.
With kids getting bigger and stronger then adding access to sport science programs at a young age, their speed, fitness, skills and endurance are getting better as well at younger ages.
There will be a number of players similar to what Haas was when he started within 3 or 4 years at a much cheaper rate then $1million a year that saints are locked into. I don't doubt we would have been paying overs in possibly the 3rd and definitely the 4th year of the contract. The 5th year is ridiculous.
I would have liked to have gotten Koloamatangi as he would have strengthened our squad for 2027, 2028 and possibly 2029 but 4 years is a long time in the NRL.
Halves get better with age but with the speed and intensity of the game forwards are getting knocked around a lot more with less interchange leading to decline in performance at 30yo.
Fowards rarely hold top form for long periods especially with big contracts as the willingness to run into brick wall defences diminishes when you are set up with $1 million a year for multiple years towards the end of your career regardless of how you play.
Look at Jason Taumolo who was only 24 when he signed his mega deal at cowboys and he was a bigger star and better player than Keaon Koloamatangi but has struggled as he approached 30yo. Koloamatangi would be arriving at eels at 29yo. We need to find a younger player with more years whether that is internally or from another club.
Signing a stupid deal just to get it done is why the Eels have struggled for so long. Successful clubs don't ruin their cap to fill a short term gap then worry about the back ended deal or extra years later. If they don't get what they want for a reasonable price or contract length they look within or find a young player they can develop. Name a top player Roosters, Storm or Penrith have signed for massive money beside Cronk and SBW. They target players to support those they develop which is how sustained success is achieved. Buying a million dollar player rarely delivers sustained success unless they are young and amongst the game top players. Koloamatangi isn't that.
The easy option was to match the 5th year to get a deal done. If we build towards a premiership the next few years and our young players need contract increases, we would be stuck with an aging forward who isn't delivering value for money so we lose a young star and go backwards. Just like after our last few grand final appearances. Missing out has probably made us worse for 2027-2028 but I think it is the right move for the club going beyond that.
Buying players a year out is fucked. The NRL need to scrap this stupid rule of signing players a year before they start. It's hard enough to.manage the cap and gauge form, changes to rules that affect the type of player you want without gambling on form a year out.
Bascially spot on 😂 a lot goes into making these decisions. It's not just take my money and hope it all works out
I reckon the Eels have actually benefited from not signing KK. Let's face it when have Russell, Doorey, JAC, Guymer and other in the Eels teams really come of age or improved? JAC has gained a fresh rejuvenation of his former self under Ryles. Russell, Doorey and Guymer were bog average before Ryles came to Parra but have improved heaps in 2025 under the coaching of Ryles and his staff. There can easily be another Hayne, Thornett, Ella, Kenny, Cronin and Grothe coming through who under the coaching and inspiration of Ryles can bring a long awaited premiership. Lomax left because his head is in the wrong place and wasn't the right fit for the club moving forward. The Eels are doing the correct thing by not paying overs for players from other clubs who are just chasing big $$$ but at the end of the day give nothing. Where was KK a few years ago? Average Joe and now when he improves every man and his dog wants him! There can easily be great players coming through the lower grades that are just as good and even better who just need the opportunity and some inspiration. Some great players are just gifted and born that way others need to be encouraged, inspired and motivated and Ryles and his staff can do that. That's my opinion
Another reason to whinge??????, would have been the same amount( or worse) of blogs if we had paid overs for him!!!. get on the bus or get off, stop whining,
How and why would he go to the Dragons over us we must suck
Because of money 💰 longer deal, and he can probably get away with things
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