{"id":435007,"date":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/435007\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:41:08","slug":"connor-watson-closes-on-contract-call-as-roosters-departure-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/435007\/","title":{"rendered":"Connor Watson closes on contract call as Roosters departure looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney Roosters<\/a> utility Connor Watson<\/a> is set to join the PNG Chiefs<\/a> via the St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watson, who toured the PNG Chiefs<\/a> facilities in Port Moresby over the weekend and arrived back in Australia<\/a> on Monday, is understood to have a two-year deal on the table from the club.<\/p>\n

While he is contracted at the Roosters until at least the end of 2027, the club will not hold him to the final year of his deal if he can find a better option elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The 2025 State of Origin<\/a> player has struggled to find a permanent role at the tri-colours, bouncing around positions, and it’s understood he is keen to head elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The Roosters are not forcing him out of the club, but Sydney Morning Herald journalist Adrian Proszenko told 2GB’s Offload podcast that Watson and his partner (who could yet be the biggest issue in him making the move away from Australia<\/a>) were impressed with what they saw.<\/p>\n

“Connor Watson<\/a> only came back from PNG last night, so he had the tour, he had the red carpet there for him,” Proszenko said.<\/p>\n

“Michael Chammas [Chiefs director of football] wasn’t there, it was Lorna McPherson the CEO who showed him around and also Connor Watson’s partner.<\/p>\n

“She is a model. They basically have to decide if they go over there, will she be able to continue doing her work or will she have to fly in and fly out.<\/p>\n

“What I’ve been told is that they were impressed with what they saw and that there is a two-year deal there on the table for him.”<\/p>\n

Watson, if he signs with PNG, will need a year somewhere else, and even if he doesn’t, Zero Tackle understands he is nearly no chance of being a Rooster in 2027.<\/p>\n

The St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a> are the front-runners to land him for next year, and if the PNG deal falls through, longer than that.<\/p>\n

The Dragons have been on an aggressive recruitment run in recent times, adding North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> fullback Scott Drinkwater<\/a>, Gold Coast Titans<\/a> outside back Phillip Sami<\/a>, New Zealand Warriors<\/a> halfback Luke Metcalf<\/a> and South Sydney Rabbitohs<\/a> prop Keaon Koloamatangi<\/a> to their roster for 2027.<\/p>\n

Watson would be the fifth such signing, and an important one given Damien Cook<\/a> is departing for the English Super League<\/a> in 2027.<\/p>\n

He would also be the third signing for the Chiefs behind Jarome Luai<\/a> and Alex Johnston<\/a>, with the club then able to talk to the the remainder of players off-contract at the end of 2027 from November 1 unless others are given permission by their current clubs or have unaccepted player options as Luai did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney Roosters utility Connor Watson is set to join the PNG Chiefs via the St George Illawarra Dragons.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-435007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435007","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=435007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}