The Kiwi sensation Joey Manu has stated that his impending code switch is motivated by a desire to step outside of his comfort zone, but he still intends to end his career with the Sydney Roosters.
Given that Manu, 27, informed the team he planned to play rugby in France, the Roosters are all but certain to lose him at the end of this campaign.
In the Roosters’ victory over Brisbane on Sunday, Manu demonstrated his worth by intercepting a try and creating the play of the game with a no-look flip pass that allowed Fetalaiga Pauga to score another.
After the game, Manu claimed he was still “sorting things out” for 2025, but he was “most probably” going to leave the Roosters to pursue a union career.
“I just love the challenge of being uncomfortable,” Manu stated.
“I really believe that facing challenges is the best way to develop both personally and as a player.
Not that I’m not being tested in this situation. But I haven’t visited this place in a long. I’ve been there for a while, rusted into place.
“But learning a whole new game and it’s just something different and also experience as well.”
In the same manner that Sonny Bill Williams did in 2020 after leaving the club to play rugby union at the end of 2014, the Roosters have been anticipating that Manu will eventually rejoin them.
Manu stated that he could never see himself playing against the Tricolours and that it remained his plan.
“I hope I get to finish my career here or get a few more years here,” Manu stated.
“When I was sixteen, I came here. Giving back to the team, its supporters, its members, and everything else would be special.
“They kick-started my career and hopefully I get a few more years in.”
Manu only took the field for the NRL’s historic Las Vegas doubleheader after leaving Sydney late on Saturday night after the birth of his first child, Laylia.
The Roosters would have already made up their minds that Manu would stay at home if his wife Ty had given birth a day earlier.
Manu stated that he was ready to miss the first game of the season if Laylia did not arrive in time, and that there had been no thought given to moving up the delivery.
It involved her giving birth. She instinctively desired the experience, and that’s all I wanted,” Manu remarked.
“It was important that she felt as comfortable as possible. That I didn’t miss the birth pleases me. It’s the most fortunate thing I’ve ever experienced.
“It was difficult. At one point, I really did think I wouldn’t make it.
“I told my wife and the baby that I would stay and take care of them even after she arrived. And after that, “Robbo” made me board that aircraft. She was also quite encouraging.”
