The Dragons are proud to announce that Keaon Koloamatangi has signed with the club until 2031.<\/p>\n
The St George Illawarra Dragons have secured one of the biggest signings in the club\u2019s recent history, landing South Sydney, NSW Blues, Tongan International and Australian Kangaroos forward Keaon Koloamatangi on a long-term 5-year deal (2027-2031).<\/p>\n
A destructive, highly respected representative forward, Koloamatangi will arrive as a centrepiece of the club\u2019s exciting forward pack. A veteran of 126 NRL games over six seasons – including the 2021 Grand Final – his commitment is a powerful endorsement of the club\u2019s direction and the ambition driving its rebuild.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019m excited to be joining the Dragons. The club\u2019s ambition really impressed me. I\u2019ve been watching the squad they\u2019re building and the young forwards coming through, and I want to be part of driving that next era. I\u2019ve loved my time at Souths, but I am looking forward to bringing my experience, my standards and everything I\u2019ve got to the Red V.<\/p>\n
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Koloamatangi said.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old will bring elite power, leadership and proven big-game experience to a roster built around a new generation of emerging middle and edge forwards. Dragons CEO Tim Watsford said securing Koloamatangi is a deliberate step to invest in an elite forward who can lead the club\u2019s outstanding crop of emerging middles and edges.<\/p>\n
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This is a transformative moment for our club and our future,<\/p>\n
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Watsford said<\/p>\n
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Keaon is one of the premier forwards in the NRL and a proven leader. He\u2019s someone who drives standards every single day. He had significant interest elsewhere, so the fact that he chose to join the Dragons – and commit for five years – tells you everything about where we are heading. We have a group of exceptional young forwards coming through our system, and bringing in a leader of Keaon\u2019s calibre to guide and inspire them is critical for us.<\/p>\n
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Head Coach Shane Flanagan said Koloamatangi filled a crucial need in the club\u2019s forward roster.<\/p>\n
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We have always wanted to bring elite representative players to The Dragons and Keaon is exactly the type of team member we have been searching for. Pairing him with the young pack we have coming through is going to be something our members and fans will relish.<\/p>\n
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Koloamatangi will join the Dragons ahead of the 2027 preseason, becoming a cornerstone of a playing group being constructed around leadership, power, professionalism and long-term success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dragons are proud to announce that Keaon Koloamatangi has signed with the club until 2031. The St…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-394349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394349","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=394349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}