Off-contract Catalans Dragons star to quit and make rugby union switch

Catalans Dragons star Tevita Pangai Jr may be about to depart the club at the end of the year, and is eyeing up a switch into rugby union in France, he has revealed.

Pangai Jr joined Catalans ahead of the 2025 campaign from the Dolphins having only ever previously plied his trade over in the NRL.

The prop has featured eight times in a Dragons shirt to date, and recently scored his first Super League try in their colours recently, crossing the whitewash away against Castleford Tigers.

Having only penned a one-year deal in Perpignan, reports had previously linked him with a return to the NRL in 2026. But now, it appears a code change is the more likely outcome.

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Off-contract Catalans Dragons star Tevita Pangai Jr to quit and make rugby union switch

Pangai Jr is a six-time Tonga international, and is closing in on the milestone of 200 senior career appearances in rugby league having donned a shirt Down Under for Brisbane Broncos, Penrith Panthers and Canterbury Bulldogs as well as the Dolphins.

The 29-year-old has addressed his future in an interview with Australian outlet ‘The Daily Telegraph‘, playing down any links of a return to the NRL as had been previously touted.

He detailed: “I haven’t had any talks to come back to the NRL.

“I’ve got Laurent as my agent and he is in talks with a couple of French rugby (union) clubs.

“Myself and my family are enjoying life at Catalans and Europe.”

The French Top 14 season traditionally runs from September to June, so the end of the 2025 Super League campaign could well tie in nicely for Pangai Jr to link up with one of the union clubs involved in that competition.

Perpignan has a club in that competition, Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, though they currently find themselves in the relegation play-off spot, so could drop out of the top-flight.

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