Bombshell calls send NRL halves market into rare frenzy
Intriguing contract decisions by a few of the NRL’s top halfbacks are set to send the No.7 market into overdrive.
It’s not often a representative playmaker becomes available to rival clubs, given teams try to lock them down with contract extensions well before rivals are permitted to come knocking.
NRL halves market about to explode. Nine
But it seems there could be a number of the game’s best playmakers up for grabs when the November 1 contract reset rolls around.
Sam Walker shocked the Roosters this week by delaying a decision on a four-year extension reportedly worth $5 million.
At the same time, Nathan Cleary is in no rush to recommit to the Panthers and looks likely to become a free agent come the end of October.
His father, Ivan, will coach Penrith next year before finishing up. And younger brother Jett Cleary has now requested an early release from his Warriors deal in a bid to move home to Penrith and play a season under his father, before potentially inheriting the No.7 jumper from Nathan.
Cleary, 28, and Walker, 24, are arguably the best two halfbacks in the game at the moment and could command upwards of $1.5m a season if they decide to test the open market.
The Perth Bears enter the competition next year and the PNG Chiefs follow suit in 2028. Both clubs have buckets of cash to splash as well as concessions to help them sign top talent.
“If he went to Perth he would get $1.5m (a year),” Immortal halfback Andrew Johns said of Walker on Nine’s Freddy and the Eighth.
“How many top-line halfbacks, especially his age, are coming through? Not many.
“(Walker) will be the halfback for Australia when Nathan finishes up.”
And they aren’t the only top-class playmakers set to attract attention in the coming months.
Melbourne five-eighth Cameron Munster is off contract in November and has already been speaking to the Chiefs about joining them once he leaves the Storm. He’s openly admitted he will leave Melbourne if Craig Bellamy steps down as coach.
Daly Cherry-Evans and Sam Walker at the Roosters. Getty
And veteran halfback Daly Cherry-Evans remains a wait-and-see as he weighs up whether to retire or play on in 2027.
Wide World of Sports reported Cherry-Evans will hang up the boots at season’s end, but a report on Wednesday linked him to a swansong in England’s Super League.
Johns says the 37-year-old would be perfectly suited to leading the Bears in their inaugural campaign next year.
“I can’t imagine him going to England. It’s a big move,” Johns said, having spent a brief period playing in England himself two decades ago.
“No major lower leg injuries, still seeing the game really well. If the Chooks don’t pick him up, (go to) Perth, then you’ve got an experienced halfback there.
“I’d be offering him whatever he wants, $700-800,000 for sure.
“Look at the Roosters this year, the tight games they have won, he has contributed to those.”
The Bears have signed 27 players to date but the quality of their list has been criticised, with utility playmaker Tyran Wishart currently the best choice to wear the No.7 jumper next season.
Aside from Cleary, Walker, Munster, and Cherry-Evans, there are a number of other playmakers available to rival clubs come November 1.
The best of the rest includes Raiders young gun Ethan Sanders, Penrith’s Blaize Talagi who has been dropped from first grade in recent weeks, Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton and talented Warriors pair Chanel Harris-Tavita and Te Maire Martin.
While there has previously been a dearth of quality playmakers on the NRL market, there is about to be a glut of them.
Halfbacks off contract on November 1
Nathan Cleary, Sam Walker, Ethan Sanders, Ben Hunt, Jett Cleary, Kyle Flanagan, Jonah Glover, Zane Harrison, Lachlan Ilias, Onitoni Large, Jock Madden, Sean O’Sullivan, Mitchell Woods
Five-eighths off contract on November 1
Cameron Munster, Blaize Talagi, Luke Brooks, Matt Burton, Latu Fainu, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Lhykan King-Togia, Te Maire Martin, Jayden Sullivan
