{"id":554990,"date":"2026-04-28T11:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/554990\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T11:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:58:09","slug":"willie-peters-lands-first-png-chiefs-signing-as-second-big-name-star-closes-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/554990\/","title":{"rendered":"Willie Peters lands first PNG Chiefs signing as second big-name star closes in"},"content":{"rendered":"

A historic signing made by Willie Peters!<\/p>\n

09:42, 28 Apr 2026Updated 09:47, 28 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"NRL's<\/p>\n

NRL’s leading try-scorer Alex Johnston is set to become the first signing for the PNG Chiefs.<\/p>\n

Willie Peters has completed his first signing for PNG Chiefs, with NRL all-time leading try-scorer Alex Johnston lined up for the franchise\u2019s inaugural 2028 season.<\/p>\n

Code Sports<\/a> first reported that the expansion club have secured Johnston as their first addition. The winger has won 12 caps for Papua New Guinea and has also captained the Kumuls on the international stage.<\/p>\n

Johnston has since appeared to confirm the move on social media, posting: \u201cYessssss sirrrrrrr\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old South Sydney Rabbitohs flyer recently became the NRL\u2019s record try-scorer, crossing against Sydney Roosters in a moment that sparked a remarkable pitch invasion.<\/p>\n

Speaking previously on Channel Nine\u2019s 100% Footy, Johnston had already hinted at a future switch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m signed for this year and next year at Souths and after that, if I\u2019ve still got some miles left in the legs, I\u2019ll definitely be talking to the Chiefs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be pretty cool to be one of the first signed for a Papua New Guinean team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey absolutely love footy over there and I\u2019ve got a good relationship with the fans and the prime minister. I think that\u2019s something I\u2019d look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Chiefs have also been linked with a sensational move for Wests Tigers co-captain Jarome Luai, reportedly on a tax-free deal worth $1.2 million per season in Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

The former Penrith Panthers winning star was spotted making a journey to PNG over the weekend before returning to Sydney on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Hull KR<\/a> head coach Peters will leave the Super League club at the end of the 2026 season to begin his next chapter with the Chiefs, where he will build the club and its culture from the ground up alongside general manager Michael Chammas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A historic signing made by Willie Peters! 09:42, 28 Apr 2026Updated 09:47, 28 Apr 2026 NRL’s leading try-scorer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,20370,101,56,54,55,42222],"class_list":["post-554990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-league","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-willie-peters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}