A recent St Helens debutant has reportedly landed himself a contract in the NRL, and will make the move down under for 2027.

Chris Matagi made his maiden Super League appearance in the club’s 46-0 loss to Toulouse Olympique, and since then has made two more appearances for the club.

Aged just 18, the loose forward/back rower has heaps of potential, after impressing through the scholarship and academy setups.

He signed for the Saints in late 2024, and has been a mainstay in the reserves and academy sides before finally landing that top-flight debut back in June.

Last year, Matagi was named in the academy origin squads, representing Yorkshire despite playing for St Helens. That’s because he had started his rugby league career with Siddal, who have produced plenty of NRL talents, including Canberra Raiders pair Morgan Smithies and Matty Nicholson.

He is the son of former Castleford and Huddersfield prop, Suaia Matagi, who played exactly 50 games for both of those clubs. Matagi Snr. now plays at Doncaster, and did so as recently as Wednesday night, in the Dons’ 2-thrilling 26-25 win over Barrow Raiders.

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St Helens youngster lands NRL switch aged 18

It was reported back in April that Matagi was ‘closing in’ on a move to Australia, with Cronulla Sharks the interested party.

Since then, there has been very little speculation, and whilst Cronulla haven’t yet confirmed his signing, more reports from down under have emerged to say that a deal is now complete.

Cronulla have also signed Leigh Leopards forward Owen Trout for the 2027 season, so there will be two players making the move from Super League to the Sharks ahead of the new campaign.

The Sharks have signed the teenage son of a former Kiwi and Samoan International Suaia Matagi.

Chris Matagi, who made his English Super League debut for St Helens at the age of 18 last month, will join Cronulla next year on a development deal. https://t.co/2vPBWFeJUQ

— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) August 12, 2026