Aaron Woods to take up Sydney switch offer after Sharks exit — but it’s not a Tigers reunion

Aaron Woods is set to play on in the NRL at least one more year, despite the Wests Tigers turning him down, with Des Hasler and the Manly Sea Eagles offering him a short-changed one-year deal after his Sharks exit.

Former Kangaroos prop Aaron Woods is expected to take up a one-year deal with the Sea Eagles heading into 2022, The Sporting Base can reveal, in a surprise Bulldogs reunion.

Woods was on $600,000 a year at the Sharks, and played 74 games in bright blue.

The 30-year-old would add valuable experience to Manly’s young forward pack, with Hasler expecting Woods to play a supporting role for the emerging group on shorter cash. The former Australian starter, who played 18 games in the green and gold, is likely to take up the deal to extend his stay in rugby league’s top grade. The deal is expected to come in at around $300k a year.

The deal will be ‘1+1’: a second year sits in the club’s favour.

Many in the footy world expected Woods to sign on the dotted line with Wests heading into the new NRL season, in a “fairytale finish” to his 271 (and counting) game career across the NRL and representative arenas, including Origin and the World Cup.

The Sporting Base has heard the Tigers were never interested in the prop who walked out the door on them in 2017, and are understood to prefer other younger options out on the player market.

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Manly has a number of stars yet to re-sign ahead of next year, including Morgan Boyle, Sione Fainu, Tevita Funa, Jack Gosiewski, Zac Saddler, Jorge Taufua, and Dylan Walker. At least Walker, it is understood, is already in talks to extend his Brookvale stay.

Further south, the Sharks are offloading six players alongside Woods.

These include Will Chambers, Nene Macdonald, Billy Magoulias, Kai O’Donnell, Kyle Paterson, and Aiden Tolman, all of whom have been shown the door as Cronulla ushers in a new era under incoming coach Craig Fitzgibbon.

Fitzgibbon’s tenure will begin with some key ‘ins’ too; Dale Finucane (2025), Nicho Hynes (2024), and Cameron McInnes (2025) are already waiting in the wings to join the club next year.

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