{"id":489581,"date":"2026-06-22T08:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T08:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489581\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T08:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T08:38:10","slug":"nrl-2026-wests-tigers-release-starford-toa-to-join-manly-sea-eagles-on-two-year-contract-roster-benji-marshall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489581\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Wests Tigers release Starford To\u2019a to join Manly Sea Eagles on two-year contract, roster, Benji Marshall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Manly Sea Eagles have bolstered their depth in the outside backs after signing Wests Tigers centre Starford To\u2019a on a two-year deal.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/nrl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkleague-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-nrl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To\u2019a is set to make the move to the Northern Beaches from the start of next season despite being originally contracted to the Tigers until the end of 2028.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Tigers confirmed in a statement on Monday afternoon that both the club and To\u2019a had mutually agreed to an early release. <\/p>\n<p>To\u2019a has played in the Tigers\u2019 two recent games against the Titans and Dolphins, although otherwise he has been in and out of first grade.<\/p>\n<p>It may be hard for To\u2019a to get much of a run at Manly either, with Clayton Faulalo recently extending until the end of the 2029 season.<\/p>\n<p>That likely locks him into a long-term spot in Manly\u2019s backline along with Jason Saab (2029), Tom Trbojevic (2027), Lehi Hopoate (2027) and Tolu Koula (2031) with To\u2019a adding some much-needed depth along with Blake Wilson with Reuben Garrick leaving at the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>The Tigers, meanwhile, have plenty of options in the backline with Heamasi Makasini (2029), Patrick Herbert (2027), Sunia Turuva (2030), Taylan May (2030), Tino Tavana (2029) and Jahream Bula (2030) all contracted beyond next year while Jake Averillo has also reportedly signed on a long-term contract and could be an option in the backline.<\/p>\n<p>SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA &#8211; JUNE 14: Starford To\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u0082\u00ac\u00e2\u0084\u00a2a of the Wests Tigers celebrates scoring a try with team mates during the round 15 NRL match between Wests Tigers and Gold Coast Titans at Leichhardt Oval, on June 14, 2026, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Tigers coach Benji Marshall wished To\u2019a \u201call the best\u201d for the \u201cnext chapter of his career\u201d, but added that the versatile 25-year-old will play an important role for the remainder of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is my fifth season at the Tigers, and I want to make the most of the time I have left here,\u201d added To\u2019a.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really grateful for the opportunity at the Sea Eagles and I know I will be super excited to join Manly once my job here is done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sea Eagles head coach Kieran Foran called To\u2019a, who made his international debut for Tonga in 2023, a \u201cquality player\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe look forward to welcoming him and his family with open arms next season,\u201d Foran added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Manly Sea Eagles have bolstered their depth in the outside backs after signing Wests Tigers centre Starford&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-489581","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\/489581","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=489581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}