{"id":211657,"date":"2026-01-01T14:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/211657\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T14:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:12:19","slug":"png-international-and-ex-nrl-journeyman-signs-with-new-club-to-continue-career-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/211657\/","title":{"rendered":"PNG international and ex-NRL journeyman signs with new club to continue career – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

An international outside back and former NRL<\/a> journeyman has officially put pen to paper, which will see him extend his rugby league playing career for a few more seasons.<\/p>\n

Last playing in the NRL<\/a> in 2020, Papua New Guinea<\/a> international Nene Macdonald<\/a> has signed with St Helens<\/a> in the Super League<\/a> competition for the next two seasons until the end of 2027 after a two-year stint with the Salford Red Devils<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reuniting with coach Paul Rowley, Macdonald has established himself as a devastating and entertaining outside back who can play a number of positions and also holds close to 100 NRL<\/a> first-grade appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t wait. When I first came over to England<\/a>, Saints were winning everything and known for being such a huge club, so to be able to come and join a big club with such history is really exciting,” he told saintsrlfc.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like a fresh start with the new coach and new players, big players too, and I’m looking forward to helping get Saints back on top.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to bring that little bit of x-factor, something out of nothing, and I’m really excited to go and prove myself in the Saints jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how massive and important the club is to the town, so I’ll be going hard to give my absolute best for the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"5PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA – NOVEMBER 05: (L-R) Rhyse Martin, Justin Olam, Nene McDonald and Watson Boas of Papua New Guinea celebrate victory after the 2017 Rugby League World Cup match between Papua New Guinea Kumuls and Ireland on November 5, 2017 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Before making the switch to the Super League<\/a> in 2022, Macdonald spent seven seasons in the NRL<\/a> with the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, Gold Coast Titans<\/a>, St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a>, North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> and Cronulla Sharks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During this time, the former Australian Schoolboys sensation featured in 98 matches and scored 35 tries.<\/p>\n

He has also represented the\u00a0Papua New Guinea<\/a> Kumuls in 22 games – scoring 13 tries – and represented the World All-Stars in 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cNene is a player who I’m confident will bring excitement and added quality to the BrewDog Stadium in 2026,” St Helens<\/a> head coach Paul Rowley added.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to bring a player of Nene’s calibre to the club at such a late stage is a real boost to our squad and testament to the ambition and support of Mike Rush and the Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s important for me to thank the club publicly for their support of myself and the team, as it’s very much appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An international outside back and former NRL journeyman has officially put pen to paper, which will see him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-211657","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\/211657","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=211657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}