Canterbury Bulldogs halfback Toby Sexton has reportedly pushed back the commencement of contract negotiations until after November 1.
Sexton was set to re-sign with the Bulldogs in the coming weeks after some excellent recent form, but it's now understood, per a News Corp report, that he is keen to understand his value on the open market for 2026 and beyond.
Sexton signed with the Bulldogs before last year's trade deadline from the Gold Coast Titans on a two and a half year deal. That means, with his deal due to expire at the end of 2025, he can hit the open market from November 1 this year, and it appears he will do just that.
โNo talks at the moment,โ Sexton told the publication when quizzed about his future.
โI'll leave that up to my manager. My job is to play footy so I'll just continue to focus on that.
Struggling to break into the first-grade set up behind Drew Hutchison for the first portion of this season, Cameron Ciraldo has handed Sexton more game time in recent weeks, with the Belmore-based club improving their attack at the same time.
The 23-year-old, who is a former under-19 junior State of Origin player, has played 14 games this year, but has been a regular since the Round 12 game against the St George Illawarra Dragons, with the club winning 10 of 13 games when he has started at halfback.
That has understandably left the Bulldogs wanting to re-sign the prodigious talent, but there is little doubt there will be plenty of potential clubs chasing Sexton if he does hit the open market.
Already the market for off-contract halves at the end of 2025 looks skinny, with Sexton joined by the likes of Adam Doueihi, Tanah Boyd, Jake Clifford, Kyle Flanagan, Sean O'Sullivan, Jonah Pezet, Braydon Trindall and Sam Walker as the best halves currently without a deal for 2026, while the likes of Kieran Foran, Cody Walker, Daly Cherry-Evans and Ben Hunt could all weigh up retirement at the end of 2025 when their current deals expire.
