Mega contract negotiation underway with star Manly forward

He could sign on for the rest of his career.

Manly Sea Eagles key forward Haumole Olakau’atu has reportedly been offered the equal-longest deal in club history.

In a move that would lock the star second-rower up for what would be virtually the rest of his career, News Corp are reporting that the eight-year deal for Olakau’atu would be worth approximately $7 million.

That works out to roughly $850,000 per year, with Olakau’atu, currently 25, to be locked away until the end of the 2031 season, when he would be 33 years of age.

The reported move comes despite the star second-rower not actually being off-contract until the end of 2025, meaning that, even if he wanted to leave the Northern Beaches, he couldn’t negotiate with rival clubs until November 1 next year – still a full 12 months away.

That would give Manly at least the first half of next season to assess and confirm they still believe it’s the correct decision, but the powers that be in Anthony Seibold’s recruitment team are not ready to muck around with the forward’s future.

Instead, they want to get the deal done as a priority, with the new salary to start from the beginning of the 2024 season.

It comes amid previous reports that Manly may be facing some salary cap bother with big-money deals for the Trbojevic brothers, Daly Cherry-Evans and Josh Schuster sitting at the top of their roster.

Manly’s CEO Tony Mestrov has previously moved to shut down those reports, and a move like this for the forward would indicate the club don’t have a problem in the world.

A cemented starting second-rower in Manly’s outfit, Olakau’atu has quickly become one of the best forwards in the game, with the Tongan international having a scary ability to break tackles and find the tryline.

It’s understood that Manly, who extended Olakau’atu to the end of 2025 last year, actually wanted that contract to run until the end of 2031, hoping to stop him from going to the open market.