Platyer agent Braith Anasta has revealed Jonah Pezet was "blindsided" by the Melbourne Storm's decision to re-sign Jahrome Hughes.
Pezet this week has reportedly agreed to join the Parramatta Eels for 2026 before shifting to the Brisbane Broncos in 2027 after activating a clause which confirmed his departure from the Storm.
That clause was put into his last contract when Melbourne re-signed Pezet despite still having Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster at the club.
Hughes re-signing meant Pezet could trigger that clause, which he has now done.
Anasta though, speaking on BFTU Sports 180 podcast, said the expectation was Hughes was going to head back to Queensland rather than remain in Melbourne.
"It has been a long ongoing deal in terms of negotiations with a lot of moving parts," Anasta said on the program.
"There was a clause with Jahrome Hughes. Essentially what we got told a year ago when we re-signed Jonah with Melbourne on an extension was that Jahrome was most likely not going to be there at the end of his deal, not because they don't love him. He is a great player, we all know that.
"I think he was looking to move back to Queensland, his missus was keen on that, and I think they were going to go with Jonah and Cameron in the halves. That was their thought process.
"We got blindsided by the signing of Jahrome. We didn't expect it. I had the clause in there, and was thinking okay, we can still try and make this work."
Pezet openly admitted to wanting to stay in Melbourne, but Anasta revealed opportunities not coming his way throughout 2025, particularly when Hughes was out injured, played into the decision.
Tyran Wishart often started at halfback ahead of him, and while Melbourne were exploring the idea of moving Cameron Munster to fullback, Anasta admitted there was a lack of clarity in that plan.
"Melbourne still wanted to keep Jonah, then as the year went on, Jonah didn't get the opportunity we thought he would especially when Jahrome went down which was a concern for us. Then he played in the final against Bulldogs, got man of the match and we were like, we have been holding him back too long here," he added.
"We thought he could have got more opprtunity this year.
"They were saying we want to keep him for next year as well now, because they were going to move Cameron [Munster] to fullback and play Jonah in the halves with Jahrome, but then where does [Sua] Fa'alogo and [Ryan] Papenhuyzen go?
"For us, there wasn't much clarity there and we thought we could end up staying here and the same thing happens next year. He is so ready, you can't hold him back.
The player agent - who also hosts NRL 360 - then went on to suggest the deal with the Eels and Broncos hadn't been signed yet, but that it was likely to be.
He admitted to talking to clubs about a loan, and said Pezet's close friendship with Jason Ryles played into the decision.
"It hasn't been signed yet either, but there is a strong likelihood that it will happen the way it has been put in the media, but what happens next is when we executed the clause, he becomes off-contract. Completely off," Anasta said.
"The loan [that was on the table] wasn't neccessarily a loan even though we had been talking to a few clubs about a loan.
"We as a group are very hands on and strategic. Jonah probably has the best IQ of any player I've ever met.
"A lot of the decision making was around opportunity, where he is going to flourish and be the genuine number seven. Really, we came to Parramatta he goes to for a year. Him and [Jason Ryles] are like this, even since Rylesy left they talk every couple of weeks.
"A lot of where Jonah is right now, he does give Ryles credit for. We thought, go to a club that is on the improve, evolving and knows the standards. He'll play alongside Mitchell Moses for development, but Jonah is going there to win, to get in the top eight and give his all for the club."
Anasta went on to say Pezet simply couldn't turn down the idea of playing in Brisbane alongside Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam.
"The Brisbane thing. That's hard to knock back. To partner Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam, add Jonah into that. To be at the Brisbane Broncos, a powerhouse club, the number seven, taking over from Adam Reynolds. What better opportunity could you want? It was hard to knock that back," he said.
