The South Sydney Rabbitohs have reportedly increased their offer for prop Keaon Koloamatangi.
While a three-year offer was previously on the table, News Corp are reporting that has now been raised to four years.
The race for the forward has become one of the most hotly-contested since the November 1 deadline on the back of a 2025 season where he moved from the edge to the middle and wound up representing Australia in the Ashes series against England.
The Rabbitohs are understandably desperate to retain the services of the 27-year-old long-term, but that is no guarantee with seven-figure contracts lodged in his direction by the Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra Dragons.
Both clubs are desperate to add to their engine rooms, with the Eels being a prop short of where they’d like to be, and the Dragons needing an experienced figurehead to lead what will be a young forward pack heading into 2027 and beyond.
The Eels are believed to have also offered a four-year deal for the forward, which South Sydney have now matched, while the Dragons have offered five years.
While both clubs won’t require Koloamatangi to move – with it understood he wants to remain in Sydney – the idea of continuing to play under Wayne Bennett, who has turned his form line from good to great in recent times, will be appealing to the powerhouse.
It has also been reported that Bennett will re-sign with South Sydney beyond the end of his current deal, further sweetening the idea for Koloamatangi.
The forward, who was one of the NRL’s best in the second half of 2025, has played his entire career to date with South Sydney, having made his debut in 2020.
He now has 126 NRL games under his belt, with the Tongan, New South Wales and Australian representative likely in the frame for more representative honours in 2026.
While Koloamatangi has not put a timeline on his decision, it’s understood he could do so before the end of the year as he weighs up the three contracts on the table.
It’s unclear if the Perth Bears ever made a move for the prop, but his desire to remain in Sydney will likely make any contact with the NRL’s newest expansion club unrealistic.