Joey predicts All Blacks 'will be watching' Manu exit

Andrew Johns has predicted that Joseph Manu will not return to the NRL, after confirming he will be departing from the Sydney Roosters at the end of the season.

The Sydney star revealed he had signed with Japanese rugby union club Toyota Verblitz on Wednesday, ending his successful nine-year run at Bondi.

The 27-year-old won the Golden Boot in 2022 following his dominant Rugby League World Cup campaign in the New Zealand jersey and played a crucial role in the Roosters 2018 and 2019 grand final victories.

Speaking on Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behaviour, Johns believed Manu would take a similar route to league great Sonny Bill Williams, who famously walked out on the Bulldogs in 2008 to join French rugby union club RC Toulon.

“I don’t think he will (comeback),” Johns said.

“I’d imagine that the All Blacks would be watching this really closely.

“He has a similar skillset to Sonny when Sonny Bill changed over (to rugby union).

“Sonny’s skill set changed in the way he played, with the one arm offloads. Joey Manu is that sort of player.

Joey Manu of the Roosters is tackled during the round six NRL match against Newcastle Knights.

“So I’d say that the All Blacks will be watching closely.”

The league great dismissed reports suggesting that Manu was disgruntled about not being selected as the starting fullback for the Roosters, claiming that the rumours circulating online did not add up to the player he knows.

“I don’t think he’s that sort of player to go and knock on the coach’s door and say, put me at fullback blah blah blah or I want out,” he said.

“He is the sort of player who seems a team-first guy. He seems a person of high integrity and morals. I think it’s the team first for him.

“Anywhere else he would be playing fullback but he’s got James Tedesco there, who is a superstar and legend of the game.

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“It is very sad to see him go… It’s very sad, he is a great player.”

Johns said the Roosters star’s move to Japanese rugby will be “an interesting one”, noting that Manu will have to adjust to the shorter season timeframes, as a union only plays 16 games per season in comparison to the 27 played in the NRL before finals.

James Tedesco and Joseph Manu make a tackle against the Warriors.

“He wouldn’t train as hard and it’s not going to be as taxing on the body,” Johns said.

“It’s, what, 12 to 14 games a year?

“He’s won premierships. He’s won golden boots. He’s won best player of the year and best in the world.

“He’s going to go and set himself up. He’s got a young family and young kids.

“Like any Kiwi boy growing up, the All Blacks is the absolute pinnacle… I’d say that the All Blacks will be watching really closely.

“I wish him well.”