Nene Macdonald to return Down Under following Oldham loan

Salford Red Devils star Nene Macdonald will return to Australia for the birth of his child at the culmination of his loan stint with Championship outfit Oldham, it has been confirmed.

21-time Papua New Guinea international Macdonald has only been able to feature four times for Salford so far this season due to the Super League side’s financial plight, which remains ongoing.

Having lacked game time, he recently linked up with Oldham on a three-game loan, and has now played two of those games.

The last of the three comes later this week, on Good Friday, away against Widnes Vikings.

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Nene Macdonald to return Down Under following Oldham loan

Sunday saw the Roughyeds beat Featherstone Rovers 30-28 in a thrilling Championship encounter at Boundary Park, with those two sides also drawn against one another in the semi-finals of the 1895 Cup.

The 30-year-old scored a try in Sunday’s victory, and speaking to BBC Radio Manchester before the game, Oldham’s Managing Director Mike Ford revealed the news of the centre’s return Down Under, meaning an extension to his loan can’t be sought.

Ford said: “When you do your recruitment, you’ve got to balance your squad between experience with people who’ve been there and done it in this competition with the youth. But also, you need a bit of stardust.

“Nene Macdonald, (who was in) the Super League Dream Team in 2024 is one of the best centres in Super League.

“He’s going to be playing for us for the next two weeks before he goes back to Australia for his wife to have a baby.

“He’s stardust for us.”

Macdonald previously returned Down Under for the same reason midway through the 2023 campaign, then a Leeds Rhinos player.

On that occasion, he never returned to Headingley and eventually moved on to Salford ahead of 2024 having represented PNG in the autumn. This time around, we must stress, that isn’t expected to be the case.

The lingering issues surrounding the Red Devils’ takeover are now expected to have been resolved by mid-May, which is when Macdonald is expected to be back in contention for Paul Rowley’s side.

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