Hull FC OPEN to incredible deal to sign Joey Manu on key condition

Richie Myler has admitted the club would explore the possibility of signing Joey Manu if the cross-code star was open to a move next season.

Papua New Guinea Chiefs are reportedly pursuing a deal to sign the New Zealand cross-code star, who is currently plying his trade in French rugby union.

However, if Manu was to take that offer, there is a potential scenario in which he would need a home for 2027, with the Chiefs not joining the NRL until the year after.

PNG’s recruitment manager Liam Ayoub has previously admitted there could be a scenario in which some of their recruits may look at Super League for a season before their move.

With Hull after a centre, Manu could be an option. Myler insisted it hadn’t been discussed, but wasn’t against it, either, should it be right for the club.

“I think we’ve made two very significant signings that have been directly aimed at improving us now in Cherry-Evans and Isaac Liu.

“They’re of a certain age, but a certain standing and experience in the game, they are coming in to do a very clear job, for a year or two, however long that plays out, is to get that ball rolling and get us back on track. I think the majority of our recruitment is our longer-term plan, the Bailey Hodgson one, Alex Da Costa is still relatively young in his role. Other signings that we look at, there’ll be more down the lines of the next five, six years.

“If Joey Manu could come for a season, would we sign Joey Manu? If we had the capability to do that and the space to do that, would we be interested? I don’t know, I don’t know if it’s even fathomable that that would happen.

“But the club’s got ambition to be a successful team, and to do that you have to have the right players in your organisation that can help you win. I think we’ve done some key pieces of recruitment to fix our problem that we’re currently finding, and we also still have to be mindful of the longer-term plan, and I know that Steve’s a development coach, I’ve worked with him before as a player, and I know he really likes to work with young, energetic, talented people to get them better.”

A former Sydney Roosters, Manu spent nine seasons in the NRL scoring 69 tries in 181 games. He also played 17 times for the Kiwis. He won two NRL titles with the Roosters, and was named Dally M centre of the year in 2022.