{"id":851714,"date":"2026-08-11T18:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T18:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/851714\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T18:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T18:40:21","slug":"nrl-news-2026-keaon-koloamatangi-could-skip-world-cup-with-kangaroos-ahead-of-5-million-dragons-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/851714\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: Keaon Koloamatangi could skip World Cup with Kangaroos ahead of $5 million Dragons move"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keaon Koloamatangi<\/a> could decide to sit out the World Cup this year, as he weighs up surgery that could benefit his arrival at the Dragons<\/a> in 2027. <\/p>\n

The 28-year-old\u2019s versatility saw him called up by Kangaroos<\/a> coach Kevin Walters<\/a> last year, featuring in all three matches in the Ashes series. <\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Keaon Koloamatangi of the Rabbitohs\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

With the likes of Angus Crichton and Hudson Young unavailable for the upcoming tournament, Koloamatangi was likely to be included again. <\/p>\n

However, the versatile Rabbitohs forward could be forced to undergo knee surgery, which would further delay him kicking off his first Dragons pre-season on a five-year deal worth an estimated $5 million<\/a>. <\/p>\n

While a $40,000 flat cheque may influence the choices of some players heading to the World Cup, Koloamatangi will look to what his best for his health. <\/p>\n

He also denied that the money on offer to play for Australia compared to if he decided to pledge allegiance to Tonga would be a factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to that [pay] stuff, we get paid pretty well with our salaries \u2013 if you only play for your country because of the money, that\u2019s pretty weak,\u201d Koloamatangi told The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy decision won\u2019t be based on money. My body is pretty sore at the moment, and I need to go for a few scans at the end of the year, just to see if I can play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a possibility [I don\u2019t play at all]. I\u2019ll keep it [my options] open. I\u2019ll get my knee checked out. I\u2019ve also had a few niggles in the lower back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to make myself look like a fool if I don\u2019t play well because I\u2019m injured \u2013 I\u2019ll make the call when the time comes.<\/p>\n

Koloamatangi is eligible to represent Tonga at the World Cup, which would instead see him or any other players earn $850 per game instead of the five-figure sum. <\/p>\n

But even with the opportunity to choose between two nations, Koloamatangi reiterated that he does not want lingering injuries to impact his future. <\/p>\n

The discussion of his past injuries and future management comes just days out from South Sydney\u2019s clash against the Bulldogs on Friday night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keaon Koloamatangi could decide to sit out the World Cup this year, as he weighs up surgery that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-851714","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\/851714","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=851714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}