{"id":108524,"date":"2025-08-31T10:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/108524\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T10:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:47:12","slug":"assessing-st-helens-new-nrl-target-after-josh-papalii-setback-with-standout-stats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/108524\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessing St Helens\u2019 new NRL target after Josh Papali’i setback with standout stats"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Helens have been linked with a new NRL target.\"StSt Helens have set their sights on a fresh NRL target.<\/p>\n

St Helens are reportedly back in the market for an NRL prop after missing out on veteran forward Josh Papali’i.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old is now expected to play a 16th NRL season, with the Canberra Raiders hopeful of confirming his contract extension in the coming days. St Helens had tabled a two-year deal to bring the Queensland star to Super League in 2026 in what would have been one of the year\u2019s biggest transfer coups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, Papali’i\u2019s strong form – including a recall to the State of Origin stage – has earned him an extended stay at his beloved Raiders beyond the current campaign.<\/p>\n

According to The Daily Telegraph<\/a>, St Helens have now turned their attention to Gold Coast Titans prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard. The 32-year-old has racked up close to 250 NRL appearances during his time with the Penrith Panthers, Parramatta Eels, and the Titans.<\/p>\n

Ongoing salary cap pressures at the Titans could force the nine-time Australia international out of the club, along with other high-profile names. David Fifita, Phillip Sami, and Brian Kelly have all been linked with moves away at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

While Campbell-Gillard is contracted through 2026, St Helens have emerged as a potential suitor should the Titans look to offload him.<\/p>\n

The Saints are aiming to bolster their forward pack for 2026, with Morgan Knowles set to join the Dolphins on a two-year deal to reunite with head coach Kristian Woolf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

James Bell and Joe Batchelor are set to join Hull FC, while the futures of Matt Whitley and Jake Wingfield remain unclear.<\/p>\n

Campbell-Gillard would be a major Super League signing for the 2026 season, playing at the very highest level. He has represented Fiji, Australia, NSW City and New South Wales across a decorated career, and still boasts quality stats.<\/p>\n

This season to date, he has played an average 47 minutes across 22 appearances, with 18 of them at starting prop. He also has a 92% tackle efficiency this season in a tough year for the Titans, who sit at the foot of the NRL table.<\/p>\n

He averages around nine metres per carry, with the likes of Saints’ Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees at 7.4 and 6.3 respectively this year.<\/p>\n

Across his career, he has only once made less than 20 appearances in a season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, All Out Rugby League reported last month that Agnatius Paasi will remain a St Helens player next season after signing a new contract with the club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here at All Out Rugby League<\/a>, we are dedicated to bringing you the best rugby league coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here<\/a> to subscribe.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here <\/a>to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Helens have been linked with a new NRL target.St Helens have set their sights on a fresh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-108524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}