{"id":338076,"date":"2023-10-12T04:09:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T04:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=338076"},"modified":"2023-10-12T05:00:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T05:00:42","slug":"roosters-blow-as-rabbitohs-lock-away-wrecking-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=338076","title":{"rendered":"Roosters blow as Rabbitohs lock away wrecking ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rabbitohs<\/a> have locked away gun back-rower Keaon Koloamatangi in their bid to win their first NRL<\/a> title since 2014, tying down the NSW Blues enforcer for a further two years.<\/p>\n

Koloamatangi was already contracted to South Sydney for 2024 but the Tongan international is now tied to the club until the end of 2026.\ufeff<\/p>\n

The re-signing comes after 9News' Danny Weidler reported in September that the Roosters were eyeing the wrecking ball<\/a>, who was set to become a free agent on November 1 if he hadn't re-committed to the Rabbitohs.\ufeff<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES:<\/strong> AFL trade period 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Addo-Carr's future in doubt after 'dramatic' week<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Cherry-Evans reveals rep future amid Cleary battle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

By Weidler's reckoning, Koloamatangi could have commanded about $900,000 per year on the open market.<\/p>\n

The \ufeff25-year-old made his State of Origin debut in game three of this year's series and is now set to tour England for a three-Test series, in which he'll add to his five appearances for Tonga.<\/p>\n

"It means the world to me and my family to be re-signing with the Rabbitohs," Koloamatangi said.<\/p>\n

"We had a bit to think about going into November 1 and I wanted to get something done before then with the club.<\/p>\n

"I'm grateful that everything has panned out. My family and I are happy and we think that Souths is the best place to be for our future.<\/p>\n

"The Rabbitohs are always in the forefront of my mind and I want to win at least one comp here before I retire."<\/p>\n

\"Keaon<\/p>\n

South Sydney head of football Mark Ellison said Koloamatangi had become a crucial member of the NRL side's forward pack since rising from the club's junior ranks.<\/p>\n

"Keaon has worked so hard to achieve what he has so far in the game and he is a great example of how hard work and persistence can pay off," Ellison said.<\/p>\n

"He's risen through the ranks at South Sydney and broke through for a first-grade position in the COVID-affected year of 2020.<\/p>\n

"He's had ups and downs with injury through the early stages of his career but he has become a true professional and is now reaping the rewards on and off the field.<\/p>\n

"He's represented his country and state and the next thing on his list to achieve is a premiership with the Rabbitohs. He has the work ethic and the want to achieve this with his teammates and he will play a key role in any success we have as a club."<\/p>\n

Koloamatangi made his NRL debut against Melbourne in 2020 and now has 82 matches in the bank.<\/p>\n

The Rabbitohs crashed horribly in 2023, becoming the first club since the introduction of the top-eight system to go from leading the ladder after round 11 to missing out on finals footy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rabbitohs have locked away gun back-rower Keaon Koloamatangi in their bid to win their first NRL title since 2014, tying down the NSW Blues […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":338078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=338076"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338079,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338076\/revisions\/338079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/338078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=338076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=338076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=338076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}