{"id":866181,"date":"2026-08-24T02:18:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T02:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/866181\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T02:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T02:18:28","slug":"world-class-code-hopper-joey-manu-secures-blockbuster-nrl-return-with-png-chiefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/866181\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018World class\u2019 code-hopper Joey Manu secures blockbuster NRL return with PNG Chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joey Manu has been unveiled as the much-hyped PNG Chief 007, with the two-time premiership winner to return to the NRL<\/a> in 2028.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs<\/a> officially confirmed on Monday the former Sydney Roosters utility had signed a two-year deal with the club, which now boasts a backline that will be the envy of the NRL.<\/p>\n

PNG had long-hyped their seventh signing, with speculation Penrith superstar Nathan Cleary was bound for the club as their inaugural halfback.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

But with a staircase showing each of their signings and \u201c007\u201d listed as \u201creserved\u201d, that honour will now go to code-hopper Manu ahead of the 2028 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to add Joey to our squad moving forward,\u201d Chiefs general manager Michael Chammas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a world-class footballer with versatility across several positions and can change a game in a single moment with the skills he possesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis experience and demonstrated success at the highest level will be a great benefit to our team and we can\u2019t wait to see him have a significant impact in the Chiefs jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manu joins a list that already includes Jarome Luai, Alex Johnston, Connor Watson, Zac Lomax, Brian To\u2019o and Englishman Matty Lees.<\/p>\n

But the move appears likely to have ended the 30-year-old\u2019s boyhood dream of representing the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

\"ManuManu left the NRL at the end of 2024. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

Manu left the NRL for an overseas rugby union career after the 2024 season, starting in Japan before a move to French team Racing 92 last year.<\/p>\n

But his French rugby deal runs to the end of 2027, and New Zealand Rugby only selects players for the All Blacks if they play domestically.<\/p>\n

Manu will be 33 by the time his Chiefs deal finishes.<\/p>\n

Manu became one of the NRL\u2019s most prized utility players across 181 games, including the 2018 and 2019 premiership wins, with the Roosters.<\/p>\n

He was named Dally M centre of the year in 2022 and won the Golden Boot award as the sport\u2019s best international player later that year.<\/p>\n

The athletic New Zealand representative is equally adept in the centres and at fullback, and can also capably slot into the halves in a pinch.<\/p>\n

On leaving the NRL after the Roosters\u2019 2024 finals campaign, Manu offered no guarantees of ever returning to the 13-man code.<\/p>\n

But any possible comeback had been widely been expected to come with the Roosters, who scouted him as a teenager.<\/p>\n

Instead, Manu becomes the latest jewel in the crown of the NRL\u2019s forthcoming 19th team, which can offer lucrative tax-free salaries to its signings.<\/p>\n

PNG will be able to officially hit the market on November 1, with Cleary headlining a list of players who could still become free agents at that time.<\/p>\n

The club has also been linked to Gold Coast utility AJ Brimson and Canberra second-rower Hudson Young, both of whom are State of Origin players, in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Isaah Yeo, Latrell Mitchell and Bradman Best are among other household names without deals beyond the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joey Manu has been unveiled as the much-hyped PNG Chief 007, with the two-time premiership winner to return…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,1625,158,278806,760,3863,588,85],"class_list":["post-866181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-lifestyle","tag-nrl","tag-papua-new-guinea-chiefs","tag-rugby","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866181","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=866181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}