Manly have offered Tolutau Koula a contract extension that would keep him at the club until the end of 2027, in a bid to keep the promising prospect out of Rugby Australia’s clutches.
The Sea Eagles have also closed the door on out-of-favour Bulldog Kyle Flanagan joining the club.
Koula, who will return from knee surgery in Friday’s blockbuster Magic Round clash against Brisbane, is already contracted until the end of 2024. However, the 20-year-old is on the Wallabies’ radar as speculation ramps up that former Manly recruiter Scott Fulton will target the club’s players after taking a role at Wests Tigers.
In a bid to keep poachers at bay, Manly powerbrokers tabled a lucrative three-year deal that would tie him to the northern beaches until the end of 2027. Should he accept, that timeframe would effectively eliminate any chance of him being eligible for the Rugby World Cup in Australia that year.
Tolutau Koula is a young man in demand.Credit: NRL Photos
Koula played alongside rugby recruit Joseph Suaalii on the Australian Schoolboys union tour that ended a seven-year winless drought against New Zealand in 2019. Rugby Australia attempted to sign the centre before he committed to Manly and there are reports the 15-man game is prepared to offer about $800,000 a year to commit to the code.
Koula, whose parents both competed for Tonga in three Olympics, is considered one of the fastest athletes in either code. His father, Tolutau snr, was a 100-metre sprinter who competed in Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. His mother, Anna, was also a three-time Olympian, representing Tonga in the same Games in hurdles and long jump.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold has previously worked under Wallabies mentor Eddie Jones and there is mutual respect between the pair. The tug of war for Koula is the first time they have tried to sign the same player.
Rugby Australia showed it was prepared to splash the cash on young league talent by securing Suaalii on a three-year, $4.8 million deal. If Koula defected at the end of his current Manly deal, the pair could again play alongside each other during the Wallabies’ tour of Europe next November.
One player who won’t be heading to Brookvale is Flanagan. Manly had expressed interest in the Canterbury halfback, who is off contract at the end of the year and currently languishing in reserve grade. The Sea Eagles were only interested in signing Flanagan – whose father, premiership-winning coach Shane, is a member of the club’s brains trust – for the remainder of the 2023 campaign as halves cover.
Tolutau Koula snr (right) competes in a 100m heat at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.Credit: Reuters
While there was some appeal in having him on standby for Daly Cherry-Evans during State of Origin duty, or in the case of an injury, the parties weren’t able to agree terms.
The Sea Eagles have also opened talks with giant forward Taniela Paseka, who can negotiate with rival NRL clubs from November 1.
Asked if he thought Fulton would attempt to take some of Manly’s best players to Wests Tigers, Paseka said: “Nah, I’m not worried at all.
“He’s obviously great at what he does, but I think a lot of the boys love being at Manly.
“No one wants to leave, they all want to stay. Staying at Manly, being a Manly junior, it means a lot more. Hopefully they all stay.”
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