{"id":162610,"date":"2025-12-01T11:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/162610\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T11:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:47:09","slug":"definitely-be-keen-sharks-centre-confirms-interest-in-joining-expansion-side-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/162610\/","title":{"rendered":"“Definitely be keen”: Sharks centre confirms interest in joining expansion side – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet to secure a new contract beyond the conclusion of the 2026 NRL<\/a> season and currently able to speak with rival teams, Cronulla Sharks<\/a> centre Jesse Ramien<\/a> has become one of the first players to confirm an interest in joining an NRL<\/a> expansion side.<\/p>\n

A year and a half after nearly being selected by Brad Fittler<\/a> to represent the NSW Blues<\/a>, Ramien’s future has been in limbo over the past few months which has seen him linked with an exit from the Cronulla Sharks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Set to be squeezed out of the Shire-based side due to salary cap struggles and the emergence of Michael Gabrael<\/a> and Nikora Williams<\/a>, he has found himself linked with a host of other clubs as he attempts to remain playing in the NRL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following reports that the North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> were no longer interested in securing his services<\/a>, Ramien’s manager has confirmed that the strike centre is interested in playing for the PNG Chiefs<\/a> (NRL’s 19th team).<\/p>\n

RELATED: SIX potential landing spots for Jesse Ramien<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJesse would definitely be keen on going to Papua New Guinea<\/a>,\u201d Ramien’s manager Trevor Conroy told The Courier-Mail.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has told me directly he would have no concerns at all about living in Port Moresby.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has two young kids under the age of two, so his wife would be more than happy to relocate the family.”<\/p>\n

\"StormSYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 13: Jesse Ramien of the Sharks is tackled by Chanel Harris-Tavita of the Warriors during the round 18 NRL match between the Cronulla Sharks and the New Zealand Warriors at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on September 13, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Only 28, Ramien still has plenty to give in his rugby league career and has made 170 appearances in the NRL<\/a> since debuting in 2018, as well as representing the Prime Minister’s XIII in 2018 and the Indigenous All Stars on four occasions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sharks were happy for us to go on the open market and see what was out there. At this stage, it doesn’t look like Cronulla can afford him on the same deal,” Conroy added.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesse feels he is hitting his peak performance over the next two or three years, so he wants to capitalise on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPNG is a definite option for him and of course the tax-free dollars is an attraction for any player.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yet to secure a new contract beyond the conclusion of the 2026 NRL season and currently able to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-162610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}