The NRL is not likely to allow Joey Manu to switch between a Roosters deal and a Japanese rugby contract. However, it may happen in the future, and if any club could make it work, it would be the Roosters. The ARL Commission, engaging in an ongoing battle of throwing barbs at rugby in the media, would be 100-1 to grant any NRL player, particularly a star like Manu, permission to play rugby in Japan or anywhere else during a registered long-term NRL contract. However, nothing would stop Manu and the Roosters from annually signing short-term deals so that he becomes a free agent and then returns to the club midway through the next season after earning money from a Japanese rugby stint. This would annoy the other 16 clubs and their suspicious fans even more because the Roosters would effectively get a discount on Manu’s services. The annual NRL contracts begin on November 1, and players have their salaries split evenly over those 12 months whether they’re in pre-season training or in the middle of the competition. In theory, if Manu played Japanese rugby from December to May, he could sign a short-term deal on pro rata rates for the rest of the season with approval from the NRL Salary Cap team. St George Illawarra pulled off a similar move in July of 2010 when Mark Gasnier made a return to the NRL from a French rugby stint and played a key part in the club’s charge to the premiership. Manu could possibly earn more than $2 million by playing both codes in 2025 after his current Roosters contract runs out at the end of next season. It is doubtful whether this switch could happen on an ongoing basis, but it’s not out of the realms of possibility. As for Rooster supremo Nick Politis, he commands loyalty from players who find it hard to play against the club once they are at Bondi. Sonny Bill Williams returned from his All Blacks stint, and Joseph Suaalii is believed to have an understanding that if he ever returns from his Wallabies sojourn, he will give the Roosters first option on his services. The idea behind Manu’s potential two-in-one code scheme is not new. Gasnier and the Dragons tested the waters with the NRL before he went to France, and Benji Marshall explored a similar maneuver during his prime at the Wests Tigers. A current NRL player did this union-league deal last year. Storm center Young Tonumaipea started 2022 with the Melbourne Rebels and played five games in Super Rugby before switching to Melbourne Storm headquarters to play the rest of the year in the NRL. Manu, as a marquee player, is a different kettle of fish to a journeyman like Tonumaipea, but the point is it can be done. A few decades ago, Australian rugby league players and their British counterparts regularly played in each competition back when the UK season was played in the northern winter. The scenario for Manu is likely that if he does not sign elsewhere after his current deal expires, he will head off to Japan for a six-month pay-off and then sign a long-term deal at the Roosters upon his return. It’s no secret that the Kiwi international wants to play fullback, and 2025 is the final year of James Tedesco’s contract. He will be 33 by the time the following season rolls around, so the skipper could be retiring or looking at a Super League contract to finish his career. This is a hypothetical situation that may happen in the future.