{"id":842207,"date":"2026-08-03T16:51:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/842207\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:51:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:51:21","slug":"nrl-2026-tom-dearden-slams-rumour-he-wanted-to-leave-cowboys-over-personal-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/842207\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Tom Dearden slams rumour he wanted to leave Cowboys over personal reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL star Tom Dearden has shut down a \u201cnonsense\u201d rumour he is planning to give up the Cowboys in favour of a move to Sydney.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys captain affirmed his commitment to the club in a press conference on Monday, and will honour a contract that ties him to the club until 2029.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Speculation has surrounded Dearden with claims he was considering a move to Sydney for personal reasons.<\/p>\n

His partner Millie Oliver, who is pregnant with their first child, is a successful hairstylist and has a popular beauty studio in the Harbour City.<\/p>\n

But Dearden rejected the idea his future lies anywhere but the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a fair bit of speculation getting around at the moment, there\u2019s been a lot of suggestions that I wanted to move or leave the club,\u201d Dearden said in a press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanna make sure [people know] that\u2019s not the case at all, I don\u2019t feel like I should have to get up here and explain myself against speculation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just been a whole lot of nonsense. I\u2019ve got my private life with a partner who\u2019s pregnant and I\u2019d like for that all to be kept private.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m committed to the Cowboys until the end of 2029 and I think it\u2019s a bit silly that you have to get up here and speak to a bit of nonsense that\u2019s going around.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s had an impact on the personal life – I\u2019ve got a pregnant partner and I think when there\u2019s speculation getting around like that, people are reading that and it gives them questions to ask and you always have to answer to people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a bit disappointing with all the speculation around that and there\u2019s been no suggestions or no thinking about not being committed to the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not recommitting or anything like that, I\u2019ve always been committed to the Cowboys and none of that has ever changed, so it\u2019s a bit disappointing that my partner and family have had to deal with a lot of questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dearden signed a five-year contract extension in 2023, taking him through to the end of the 2029 season.<\/p>\n

His unique deal could see him become one of the NRL\u2019s first $2m per year players, with reports that he has a clause that ensures he is paid 12 per cent of the club\u2019s total salary cap from 2028 onwards.<\/p>\n

If the NRL salary cap rises to $20m by that time, he would be due to earn $2.4m per year.<\/p>\n

Dearden\u2019s 2026 season has been derailed by injury. He has been unable to get back on the field for the Cowboys since Round 10.<\/p>\n

Dearden suffered a syndesmosis injury during that match, and his return was pushed back indefinitely as a result of a high-grade peroneal muscle avulsion tear on his opposite leg.<\/p>\n

The club expect Dearden to return before the end of the season.<\/p>\n

Read related topics:Sydney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL star Tom Dearden has shut down a \u201cnonsense\u201d rumour he is planning to give up the Cowboys…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[411621,411614,411615,411593,55611,93752,411623,41691,414270,94840,414254,376963,414265,386351,380917,395154,411607,411609,376730,378662,408519,411612,414266,382292,380260,414269,414272,402316,387600,414257,404966,64,63,32092,5794,163,319865,377206,377159,72098,763,387237,380886,411613,414262,378779,3899,404417,414273,62756,377208,13052,414259,414258,761,762,377169,384797,414255,414264,158,414260,1861,167037,213578,414271,38633,414274,59906,414256,232,37542,411610,17243,3203,85,4031,354064,670,400744,376431,414261,376840,382205,34775,414267,215379,377453,414268,378979,225862,380184,377224,411626,414263,356269,36522,411601,411624,411592,377211],"class_list":["post-842207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-2026-season","tag-s-first-2m","tag-s-total-salary-cap","tag-2-4m","tag-55611","tag-93752","tag-2028-onwards-if","tag-41691","tag-2029-watch","tag-20m","tag-a-nonsense-rumour","tag-a-bit","tag-a-bombshell-claim","tag-a-clause","tag-a-contract","tag-a-fair-bit","tag-a-five-year-contract-extension","tag-a-high-grade-peroneal-muscle-avulsion","tag-a-lot","tag-a-move","tag-a-partner","tag-a-popular-beauty-studio","tag-a-pregnant-partner","tag-a-press-conference","tag-a-result","tag-a-rumour","tag-a-successful-hairstylist","tag-a-syndesmosis-injury","tag-a-whole-lot","tag-all-the-speculation","tag-an-impact","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cent","tag-claims","tag-cowboys","tag-dearden","tag-every-game","tag-every-round","tag-favour","tag-fox-league","tag-his-commitment","tag-his-future","tag-his-opposite-leg-the-club","tag-his-private-life","tag-his-return","tag-injury","tag-james-maloney","tag-just-1-speculation","tag-kayo","tag-kayo-sports-new","tag-monday","tag-my-partner-and-family","tag-my-private-life","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-no-ad-breaks","tag-no-suggestions","tag-no-thinking","tag-nonsense","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-star-tom-dearden","tag-people","tag-personal-life","tag-personal-reasons","tag-personal-reasons-his-partner-millie-oliver","tag-play","tag-private-extended-bench","tag-questions","tag-recommitting-or-anything","tag-reports","tag-response","tag-round-10-dearden","tag-rumour","tag-speculation","tag-sports","tag-star","tag-suggestions","tag-sydney","tag-that-match","tag-that-time","tag-the-2029-season-his-unique-deal","tag-the-case","tag-the-club","tag-the-cowboys","tag-the-cowboys-captain","tag-the-end","tag-the-field","tag-the-harbour-city-but","tag-the-idea","tag-the-moment","tag-the-nrl","tag-the-nrl-premiership-live","tag-the-nrl-salary-cap","tag-the-personal-life","tag-the-season","tag-the-tigers","tag-their-first-child","tag-year-players","tag-year-dearden","tag-your-first-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842207","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=842207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}