The Manly Sea Eagles have confirmed young halfback Joey Walsh will be part of their Top 30 squad for 2025, while D'Jazirhae Pua'Avase has also joined on a supplementary deal from the North Queensland Cowboys.
Walsh, formerly the captain of the Australian under-18 rugby union side at flyhalf, has also played junior representative rugby league.
He will now throw himself into rugby league wholeheartedly, and coach Anthony Seibold, in providing a run down on some of the junior talent at Manly in 2025, said he believes Walsh can be an NRL player in the future.
It was unclear until now whether Walsh was set to be on a development or Top 30 deal for 2025.
"He has played junior representative rugby league and is someone who we have been tracking for the last 18 months. We feel Joey can be an NRL player in the future," Seibold told Sea Eagles media.
Seibold also pointed to the fact he could be mentored by some 'elite players' - namely Daly Cherry-Evans as something that will work to his benefit.
"The transition from union to rugby league means there will be a lot of learning for him in his first year, but we feel like he can be an elite half-back," Seibold said.
"We've got some really good players that can mentor him and some really good coaches to help him grow. I'm really pleased that we have been able to give him this opportunity being a local guy. We feel he can really progress his game over the next 12-24 months.โ
D'Jazirhae Pua'Avase has meanwhile been confirmed as an addition to Manly's supplementary list after being involved in a player swap which saw outside back Jaxson Paulo head the other way to join Todd Payten and the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville.
Known as 'Mia' for short, the middle forward has impressed at the Cowboys after growing up in New Zealand.
โMia is a tall and athletic forward with a good offload and carry. We have signed him for the next two years. He is a developing front-rower who was recruited by the North Queensland Cowboys as a schoolboy from New Zealand. He has great potential and is at the very start of his career," Seibold said.
"Mia is a massive young man in size and he has played in the Queensland Cup since he was 18. He comes to us having played against men already and we know his best footy is in front of him. I have high hopes for him as an NRL player.โ
Manly have also confirmed talented lock forward Caleb Navale, who already has games under his belt for Fiji, 18-year-old prop Simione Laiafi who is an Australian Schoolboy, and 18-year-old hooker Zaidas Muagututia, who formerly played juniors for the Canterbury Bulldogs and Parramatta Eels, have been added to the club's supplementary list.
Tyler Melrose, a 17-year-old from Yeppoon, 19-year-old outside back Navren Willett and 17-year-old five-eighth Onitoni Large - who has already captained the Junior Wallabies in rugby union and played for the under-16 New South Wales Blues in rugby league - have joined the club on train and trial deals.
Large joins after playing Harold Matthews Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup for the Western Suburbs Magpies in 2024, and Seibold said he is an 'elite junior'.
"Onitoni is someone that we identified as being an elite junior," Seibold said.
"He has got one more year to go at The Scots College, so he will combine his schooling and rugby commitments there with doing the pre-season with our NRL squad. He will play in our SG Ball side. We feel Onitoni can be a long-term player at our club. He is very fast and is a running five-eighth who can also play a couple of different positions as well.โ
