Homesick Manu could be back in NRL as soon as this year

All 17 NRL clubs will sit up and take notice today as Joey Manu speaks to future French Rugby club Racing 92 about breaking his impending contract to return to Australia or New Zealand on compassionate grounds.

Manu, who has nearly wrapped up his deal with Toyota Verblitz in Japan, was then scheduled to join Racing 92 in July for preseason. The ex-Sydney Rooster has instead contacted the French club to see if they can break the deal.

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His reason is simple: He’s homesick and wants to return to Sydney or New Zealand for family reasons.

A release would mean Manu can then sign with any NRL or Super Rugby team for 2026, though Racing 92 would first have to waive the two seasons (structured as a one-plus-one deal).

Even more interestingly, should the 28-year-old be able to wrap things up with his soon-to-be French team before April 30, he could feasibly sign with an NRL team for the remainder of the 2025 campaign. The Sporting Base would expect that to be the Roosters, though he could also join the New Zealand Warriors if he moved there.

New Zealand could definitely use the star power and has space in the cap, though boss Cameron George told the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday evening (before reports emerged) that there’d been no contact up to the middle of this week.

“The Warriors have had no discussions in respect to Joey Manu’s future, but of course, if Joey Manu was to become available we would definitely sit down with his management,” George said.

He then restated the club had not approached him. “We’ve had [no contact] whatsoever.”

Another reason why Manu may not want to transfer to the French outfit is how badly Racing 92 is going: They’re fighting to dodge relegation in 11th place and only recently lost coach Stuart Lancaster. He was the one who originally signed Manu.

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The other option for Manu would be to join a Super Rugby team so he’s still available to play in the 2027 Rugby World Cup — which was the whole reason he left the NRL in the first place.