{"id":95395,"date":"2025-10-23T00:57:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T00:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95395\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T00:57:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T00:57:29","slug":"jonah-pezet-brisbane-broncos-parramatta-eels-deals-why-he-left-melbourne-storm-jahrome-hughes-agent-braith-anasta-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95395\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonah Pezet Brisbane Broncos, Parramatta Eels deals, why he left Melbourne Storm, Jahrome Hughes, agent Braith Anasta comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonah Pezet was \u201cblindsided\u201d by Melbourne\u2019s long-term deal for Jahrome Hughes and couldn\u2019t wait any longer for regular NRL football, said agent Braith Anasta after a stunning double deal to join Parramatta then Brisbane<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pezet triggered a release clause after the Storm\u2019s grand final appearance, with Hughes re-signed until 2030 and blocking his path at halfback for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Anasta said he had been told by the Storm that Hughes was likely to head to a Queensland club; the New Zealand Test halfback had previously declined a $6 million offer from the Dolphins and there were then whispers about Brisbane, only for him to recommit to Melbourne. The Storm extension announced for Hughes back in July was worth about $1 million per year, far less than was being touted for him at expansion club Perth Bears ($1.6 million).<\/p>\n

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Hughes\u2019 extension was never going to work for Pezet\u2019s progression, given that he has still only played 18 NRL games after patiently biding his time. So the Eels and Broncos swooped.<\/p>\n

Braith unpacks Jonah Pezet’s new deal | 04:13<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an ongoing deal in terms of negotiations and a few moving parts,\u201d Anasta said on BTFU\u2019s 180 podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially what we got told a year ago, when we signed Jonah to Melbourne with the extension, was that Jahrome was most likely not gonna be there at the end of his deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot because they don\u2019t love him and he\u2019s not a great player, but he was looking to move back to Queensland and his missus was keen on that. They were gonna go with Jonah and Cameron [Munster] in the halves, that was their thought process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got blindsided by the signing of Jahrome – not because we don\u2019t think he\u2019s an amazing player or they shouldn\u2019t have signed him – it was just that we didn\u2019t expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jahrome Hughes was thought to be departing Melbourne \u2014 which didn\u2019t happen.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

Anasta said that Melbourne had desperately tried to find a workable solution, including moving Cameron Munster to fullback; though that would have relied on Ryan Papenhuyzen moving to R360 or another club, plus the Storm have another rising star in Sualauvi Faalogo as their future No.1.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the year went on, Jonah didn\u2019t really get the opportunity we thought he would have – especially when Jahrome went down, which was a concern for us. Then he played in the final against Bulldogs and got man of the match,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were saying they want to keep him for next year, because they were gonna move Cameron to fullback and play Jonah in the halves with Jahrome.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, there wasn\u2019t much clarity there and we could end up staying here and the same thing happens next year. He is so ready now, you can\u2019t hold him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/p>\n

How rising superstar\u2019s bombshell Eels-Broncos deal works… and the biggest casualty<\/a><\/p>\n

Forgotten masterstroke in historic Pezet deal; final nail in Luai coffin \u2014 Crawls<\/a><\/p>\n

Staggering twist in race for Pezet as rising star set to sign deal with TWO big rivals<\/a><\/p>\n

Jonah Pezet is headed to Parramatta then Brisbane.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n

Anasta said that the Eels and Broncos agreements had not been signed yet, but were going to happen.<\/p>\n

He said that both situations were ideal for Pezet, 22, as a rising footballer and were not about money. Eels coach Jason Ryles was involved with Pezet\u2019s development at Melbourne and the Eels were a serious contender as the long-term option.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been signed yet – but I will say, there is a strong likelihood that it will happen the way it\u2019s been put in the media,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we executed the clause, he became completely off-contract. Parramatta he goes to for a year, him and Ryles are like this [close] and they talk on the regular.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought, go to a club that\u2019s on the improve and evolving, he knows the standards and he plays alongside Mitch Moses for development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a hard one to decide, whether it was Parra or Brisbane, because they were both great deals. It had nothing to do with money, because Melbourne would have kept going – they didn\u2019t want to lose him, it was not money-based at all, on my kids\u2019 life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was purely an opportunity and to see where Jonah can be used best. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Brisbane thing, that\u2019s hard to knock back and that opportunity came a bit later. To partner Ezra Mam and Reece Walsh, three of the best up and coming stars combined when you add Jonah \u2026 and to be at the Brisbane Broncos, a powerhouse club and the No.7 taking over from Adam Reynolds, what else do you want?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat better opportunity could you have? It was really exciting to go through that process with him and it was hard to knock that back and that\u2019s where we have landed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonah Pezet is one of the NRL\u2019s hottest young playmaking commodities.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Anasta denied that the Eels season was a waste of time for the club and insisted Pezet would be going there to help the club\u2019s promising rise. Parramatta had a rough start under Ryles, before showing signs of life off the back of young guns like fullback Isaiah Iongi, who was runner-up in the Dally M Rookie of the Year award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of backlash, I\u2019ve noticed fans and even Hindy (Nathan Hindmarsh) on Triple M, who is a Parramatta legend and I love him and he\u2019s got every right to have his say,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not taken lightly, it\u2019s very strategic. If you don\u2019t know the human being in Jonah, if you speak to the coaches in Melbourne and his work ethic \u2026 he is going there to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are bringing a kid who is 22 years of age and a future superstar, with great work ethic and core values, to partner him up with one of the best halves, if not the best half, in the competition. He comes in and straight away turns them into a top-eight team.<\/p>\n

\u201cJonah has got the best IQ of any player I\u2019ve ever met. Not just as a client, but I mean ever and Melbourne talk to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cRylesy knows him better than anyone and he knows him better than anyone, so if you trust Rylesy – which the Parramatta fans have so far – he is not gonna make this decision if he thinks it\u2019s gonna interrupt his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to win now, you want to strike while the iron\u2019s hot with [Isaiah] Iongi out the back and two gun nines and speed on the edges. If they have a great year next year, they\u2019re not gonna go backwards. They have got some young halves who are not ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonah Pezet of the Storm trains at Gosch’s Paddock. He\u2019s now triggered a release clause with the club.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Anasta was referring to Lorenzo Talataina and Lincoln Fletcher, SG Ball premiership-winning halves with enormous potential but further growth in front of them before NRL duties call.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Anasta revealed \u2014 without going into detail \u2014 that the Eels were getting Pezet \u201creally cheap\u201d. They have a halves gap for next season after Dylan Brown went to Newcastle for $1.3 million per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand they have missed out on the long-term deal and they are disappointed and I get that – but for his calibre, they are getting him really cheap,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just gonna be a one-year loan anyway and then he would go back to Melbourne and everyone seemed OK with that. All we\u2019ve done is essentially the same thing – he is going there for a year and then going to Brisbane instead of back to Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of what we were able to execute, because it\u2019s never been done before – but it\u2019s only never been done before because of the clause we had in. The reality is, how often is a player going to be allowed to negotiate because he has a clause in his contract and it\u2019s all just before November and had the luxury of signing both contracts? <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are both gonna benefit and I know he will as well. He\u2019s so pumped and so excited about it, I think the fans will warm to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jonah Pezet was \u201cblindsided\u201d by Melbourne\u2019s long-term deal for Jahrome Hughes and couldn\u2019t wait any longer for regular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[32730,85,2652,29760,9504,19262,70619,70610,70604,70623,48515,70612,2647,9499,70622,70616,70605,70607,39828,62755,70614,123,9492,68283,70620,111,139,69,2659,70615,70608,13905,70606,32726,70611,69671,213,70617,70618,2821,70613,70609,70603,70621],"class_list":{"0":"post-95395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-adam-reynolds","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","11":"tag-braith-anasta","12":"tag-brisbane-broncos","13":"tag-cameron-munster","14":"tag-deal-works","15":"tag-double-deal","16":"tag-duties-call","17":"tag-dylan-brown","18":"tag-ezra-mam","19":"tag-final-nail","20":"tag-fox-league","21":"tag-getty-images-inc","22":"tag-grand-final-appearance","23":"tag-gun-nines","24":"tag-halves-gap","25":"tag-hottest-young-playmaking","26":"tag-jahrome-hughes","27":"tag-jason-ryles","28":"tag-jonah-pezet-brisbane-broncos","29":"tag-melbourne","30":"tag-melbourne-storm","31":"tag-mitch-moses","32":"tag-move-sealed-star","33":"tag-new-zealand","34":"tag-newzealand","35":"tag-nz","36":"tag-oceania","37":"tag-powerhouse-club","38":"tag-premiership-winning-halves","39":"tag-reece-walsh","40":"tag-release-clause","41":"tag-robert-cianflone","42":"tag-roster-move","43":"tag-rugby-league-ashes-live","44":"tag-sports","45":"tag-storm-young-gun","46":"tag-stunning-double-deal","47":"tag-victoria","48":"tag-work-ethic","49":"tag-young-guns","50":"tag-young-halves","51":"tag-young-playmaking-commodities"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95395","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=95395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}