{"id":593487,"date":"2026-04-08T13:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/593487\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:41:18","slug":"roosters-star-connor-watson-granted-permission-to-leave-amid-manly-and-png-chiefs-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/593487\/","title":{"rendered":"Roosters star Connor Watson granted permission to leave amid Manly and PNG Chiefs interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roosters star Connor Watson has reportedly been granted permission to speak with rival clubs.<\/p>\n

The versatile 29-year-old is contracted to the Sydney club until 2027, but could now leave before the end of his deal if he finds a long-term contract elsewhere.<\/p>\n

According to Code Sports<\/a>, it is not a case of the Roosters no longer wanting the NSW player.<\/p>\n

However, with Watson being linked to both the Manly Sea Eagles and PNG Chiefs, they have opened the door to his exit should he choose to depart.<\/p>\n

Watson has racked up 11 tries in 67 games for the Roosters since joining them from the Newcastle Knights in 2022.<\/p>\n

He has managed to maintain his fitness over the last two years, playing 21 matches after missing the entirety of 2023 through injury.<\/p>\n

He has also featured in five consecutive Origins for the Blues \u2014 making him a high-profile name on the open market.<\/p>\n

Watson\u2019s ability to play in a number of positions \u2014 including lock, hooker, and dummy half \u2014 also make him an enticing proposition for many clubs.<\/p>\n

But he does not appear to have a long-term future at the Roosters, particularly given the recent signing of NSW teammate Reece Robson.<\/p>\n

\"Cowboys'<\/p>\n

Watson could become the latest player to exit the Roosters \u2014 with Angus Crichton and Mark Nawaqanitawase already leaving for rugby union next season.<\/p>\n

Daniel Tupou is also expected to depart the club at the end of 2026, while Daly Cherry-Evans is off-contract.<\/p>\n

The Roosters have started this season with two wins and two defeats and sit 10th in the NRL table.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday, they claimed a 33-16 victory over the Sea Eagles \u2014 a performance they will look to build on when they go to the Sharks on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Roosters star granted permission to leave amid Manly and PNG Chiefs interest<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roosters star Connor Watson has reportedly been granted permission to speak with rival clubs. The versatile 29-year-old is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-593487","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\/593487","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=593487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}