{"id":430516,"date":"2026-01-22T18:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/430516\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T18:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:36:21","slug":"jake-averillo-dismisses-super-league-links-amid-battles-with-kodi-nikorima-and-selwyn-cobbo-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/430516\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Averillo dismisses Super League links amid battles with Kodi Nikorima and Selwyn Cobbo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Commentators have suggested Averillo was at risk of being poached by Super League giants St Helens, while the Dragons had been floated as a contender for his signature.<\/p>\n<p>But the utility quickly shut down such speculation, confirming his management had begun discussions to keep him in Dolphins colours beyond the end of his 2026 deal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was definitely news to me, moving to England,\u201d Averillo said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy manager said we\u2019ve started [extension talks], so we\u2019ll just see how it goes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve missed a lot of training, so I\u2019m just trying to focus on getting back to training and letting my management take care of all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Averillo\u2019s revelation he could be utilised at five-eighth alongside Isaiya Katoa could have ramifications for current No.6 Nikorima.<\/p>\n<p>Loading<\/p>\n<p>The 31-year-old joins Averillo and Cobbo in coming off contract at the end of this season, and with the Perth Bears on the hunt for a five-eighth to partner Toby Sexton looms as an experienced option for the new venture to consider.<\/p>\n<p>Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/link\/follow-20170101-p5n1bd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told this masthead late last year there was still a future for Nikorima in Redcliffe,<\/a> despite links connecting the club to England halfback and former Canberra Raider George Williams.<\/p>\n<p>But while the three backline stars will fight for their futures, Dolphins forward Connelly Lemuelu believes players within the squad would be willing to sacrifice guaranteed starts in pursuit of premiership glory.<\/p>\n<p>Lemuelu \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/link\/follow-20170101-p5no14\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who inked a one-year contract extension through to the end of 2027 in December<\/a> \u2013 said the club\u2019s refusal to rush recruitment had paid dividends, giving them the firepower to go from the finals wilderness to title contenders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got something good going on here, and for everyone who\u2019s in extension talks, everyone\u2019s preference is to stay here,\u201d Lemuelu said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got a good squad right from the 30 into our development boys, and even the train-and-trial boys are pushing us really hard. Everyone\u2019s pushing each other and there\u2019s competition for spots, which is something we haven\u2019t had much of in the last couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dolphins potential round one squad<\/p>\n<p>1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow; 2. Jamayne Isaako; 3. Jake Averillo; 4. Herbie Farnworth; 5. Selwyn Cobbo; 6. Kodi Nikorima; 7. Isaiya Katoa; 8. Daniel Saifiti; 9. Kurt Donoghoe; 10. Thomas Flegler; 11. Tom Gilbert; 12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki; 13. Morgan Knowles; 14. Brad Schneider; 15. Francis Molo; 16. Felise Kaufusi; 17. Connelly Lemuelu\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Other contenders: Oryn Keeley, Ray Stone, Trai Fuller, Tevita Naufahu, Sebastian Su\u2019a<\/p>\n<p>Injured: Max Plath (round four), Jeremy Marshall-King (round six), Jack Bostock (round 10)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Commentators have suggested Averillo was at risk of being poached by Super League giants St Helens, while the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-430516","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\/430516","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=430516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}