![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765088290_713_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\nBraith Anasta has opened up on Jonah Pezet\u2019s unique contract future, revealing Cameron Munster\u2019s departure to the Perth Bears was a real possibility while the rising halfback\u2019s Eels move was only ever going to be for one season.<\/p>\n
Pezet shocked the NRL word in October, departing the Storm to take up a one-year deal in Parramatta in 2026 before starting a three-year contract with the Broncos in 2027.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old was free to leave Melbourne due to a clause in his contract that rendered him a free agent should superstar No.7 Jahrome Hughes re-sign \u2014 which he did earlier this year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n
Watch The Ashes 2025\/26 LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking on the Kayo Sports NRL Podcast<\/a>, Pezet\u2019s agent Anasta explained that his client\u2019s contract situation \u201cevolved\u201d quickly and in ways nobody could predict.<\/p>\n \u201cIt kind of just evolved into that, it wasn\u2019t the plan from the start, it was impossible to plan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut because Jahrome Hughes re-signed, and we had a clause from the beginning that if he re-signed Jonah could be off-contract effective immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cWe put that in place for good reason because Jonah has been sitting and waiting for a long time and he\u2019s been very patient. He\u2019s done everything asked of him in Melbourne.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pathway they gave him and the development was next level, so he will be forever grateful. He didn\u2019t really want to leave, but at the end of the day you do all this to play first grade.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was all this background around Cameron, because Melbourne had kind of said to me \u2018we don\u2019t want Cameron to go, but if Perth is an option when they come in\u2019,\u201d<\/p>\n Bunnies stars getting fighting fit! | 00:19<\/p>\n \u201cSo there was all that in the background, but at the end of the day I\u2019d been negotiating with clubs for a one-year.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a very real possibility Pezet could have once again returned to the Storm in 2027 \u2014 until a turning point came during the 2025 finals series.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought one year on loan for Jonah and then he\u2019d come back to Melbourne, then when he played against the Bulldogs in the finals and got man of the match,\u201d Anasta explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kind of sat around and said \u2018he\u2019s ready now\u2019 and if it\u2019s going to be this situation now, in 12 months it\u2019s probably going to be the same.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just couldn\u2019t do that any longer, then we made the decision we\u2019d look to go somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eels were met with widespread criticism after Pezet\u2019s one-year deal was announced.<\/p>\n Fans believed the rising halfback was simply using Jason Ryles and the Parramatta club as a stepping stone before his long-term future in Brisbane began.<\/p>\n However, Anasta revealed it was the Eels who came to the table with the short-term deal \u2014 with several young guns waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n Joash Papalii is one contender to take the No.6 jersey in 2027, while young guns Lincoln Fletcher and Lorenzo Talataina have both been earmarked for big things.<\/p>\n \u201cParra didn\u2019t offer a long-term deal. It may have been there if I pressed it but when Zac (was released), it freed up some money,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen that\u2019s when the conversation reopened about a year at Parra and then back to Melbourne. Then the conversation around Brisbane came in.<\/p>\n Jonah Pezet\u2019s contract situation was met with heavy criticism.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cFrom my opinion on the inside is the players they have coming through are exceptional talents, but are they ready right now?<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got a ready-made (playmaker) there and a team that is on the improve, and the thing that I know that others don\u2019t is you look at players and what they bring to a club on the field but off it.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is the ultimate professional, and trains his arse off and brings those standards from Melbourne, Rylesy knows that.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you put all the emotions aside, he is going to be better for the club in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n League legend Michael Ennis echoed Anasta\u2019s opinion, and he also believed a change of scenery will only benefit Pezet\u2019s development.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s exciting for all parties, I suppose the only downside of it is if he succeeds so well with Mitch that a long-term future at Parramatta is not there,\u201d Ennis said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor their fans, it\u2019s been heartache for 30-odd years trying to win that premiership. You think of that spine, Iongi was outstanding and you throw him in with Mitch.<\/p>\n \u201cMitch hasn\u2019t played a lot of club footy over the past two years, but when he has they have been a different side. He is absolutely elite.<\/p>\n \u201cSo to spend that time even just for Jonah\u2019s development, sometimes when you are in a club for so long you can fall into \u2018that\u2019s just how it\u2019s done\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cSo he\u2019s been with Munster and Hughes for so long in the Melbourne way, that you sometimes can fall into that habit of \u2018that\u2019s how it\u2019s done\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWell it\u2019s not, you can skin a cat many ways and the way Parramatta play is a lot different to how the Melbourne Storm play.<\/p>\n Officials face bans over Katoa injuries | 00:42<\/p>\n MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n NOV 1 LIVE: Roosters sign Manly star long-term; Bears\u2019 card in Tino sweepstakes<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018WHY I HAD CLAUSES\u2019: Tigers\u2019 infighting could cost them three best juniors and Luai<\/a><\/p>\n