{"id":935907,"date":"2026-10-21T07:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T07:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935907\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T07:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T07:44:13","slug":"stefano-utoikamanu-linked-with-shock-sydney-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/935907\/","title":{"rendered":"Stefano Utoikamanu linked with shock Sydney club"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Storm<\/a> star Stefano Utoikamanu<\/a> has been sensationally linked with the Sydney Roosters<\/a> from the end of 2027.<\/p>\n

The Roosters have a war chest and won’t be afraid to use it on the open market, with players leaving in recent years yet to be replaced, and the likely retirement of James Tedesco<\/a> not all that far into the future.<\/p>\n

Some of the cash is going the way of Sam Walker<\/a>, who is set to agree to an extension well into the seven figures, but Trent Robinson<\/a> and his recruitment staff are well aware they will need to scour the market for improvements if they want to remain at the top of the NRL<\/a>, despite taking out the 2026 premiership in a thrilling grand final against the Newcastle Knights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related Coverage<\/p>\n

Utoikamanu, off-contract at the end of 2027, was considered part of the best junior forwards as he worked his way through the ranks at the Parramatta Eels<\/a> and then Wests Tigers<\/a>, and has unsurprisingly taken his game to another level in Melbourne under Craig Bellamy<\/a> since moving south.<\/p>\n

The star prop has been tabled a two-year deal by the Melbourne Storm<\/a>, but is yet to take it up.<\/p>\n

While reports not long ago were confident the Storm would get the deal over the line, that has now taken a dramatic about-face, with News Corp reporting the Sydney Roosters<\/a> are ready to offer him big dollars to return to the harbour city.<\/p>\n

The deal, which will likely be tabled in the first days of November 1, will be joined by one for Herbie Farnworth<\/a>, with the Roosters running a two-point plan of representative calibre players to stay competitive alongside the likely extension for halfback Walker, and a host of young guns making their way through the club’s system.<\/p>\n

\"NRLBRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 18: Herbie Farnworth of the Dolphins celebrates after scoring a try during the round seven NRL match between Dolphins and Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium, on April 18, 2025, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

At the head of that list is second-rower Salesi Foketi<\/a>, who is understood to be on the verge of signing a three-year contract to stay at Bondi Junction.<\/p>\n

It’s understood the Roosters view Stefano Utoikamanu<\/a> as a long-term replacement for Lindsay Collins<\/a>, who is contracted to the end of 2028 but could stay at the club beyond that timeline, while the club is also yet to replace Spencer Leniu<\/a>, who has joined the Parramatta Eels<\/a> on a four-year deal.<\/p>\n

The Roosters also face the looming threat of Nat Butcher<\/a> departing, with his contract expiring at the end of 2027, although they are hardly short with the pack to continue to be led by Naufahu Whyte<\/a> after his breakout 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

It’s understood Utoikamanu, who has been at the Storm since 2025, where he has played 49 of his 127 NRL<\/a> games, has put negotiations on pause until at least the end of the World Cup, where he is playing for Samoa<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne Storm star Stefano Utoikamanu has been sensationally linked with the Sydney Roosters from the end of 2027.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-935907","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\/935907","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=935907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}