Late Christmas pressie: Koloamatangi tells Dragons he’ll join for half-decade

Keaon Koloamatangi has told the St George Illawarra Dragons he’ll join the club from 2027 on a half-decade deal that will see him earn $1 million each year, with the Australian star turning down Parramatta and South Sydney at the same time.

Shane Flanagan and the Dragons pulled out all stops to land the huge offseason recruitment, flying the superstar prop down to Wollongong for a tour and offering him the longest contract deal from among his many suitors.

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Koloamatangi is widely regarded as one of the best forwards in the game after a breakout 2025 season with the Rabbitohs, and had fielded blockbuster offers from several interested clubs. St George Illawarra and Parramatta had been frontrunners for some weeks, with Koloamatangi also speaking to his current club, South Sydney, about possibly staying.

Before the Christmas holidays, it had looked like the 27-year-old Kangaroo had been about to sign with the Eels, but more reflection through the break seems to have led him to the Red V — a club that desperately needed a signing victory.

Flanagan has been trying to land a big fish to lead his rebuild, and Koloamatangi seems the perfect pickup to helm an emerging pack stuffed full of young-gun talent like Dylan Egan, Hamish Stewart, and the Couchmans.

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Koloamatangi debuted for Australia this year and was part of the Kangaroos squad that clean-swept England 3-0 in the postseason Ashes tour. Since debuting for South Sydney in 2020, he’s made 126 top-flight appearances and even played a game for New South Wales. He’s hit another level since Wayne Bennet moved from him second row into a prop swap.

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The 27-year-old now heads into a cooling-off period on his new Dragons contract, meaning he has 10 days to change his mind under NRL contract laws, but considering he’s told Souths he’s leaving, it’s likely just a formality.

In the forwards markets, eyes will now turn to bumper free agents Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Payne Haas.