Manly Sea Eagles middle forward Nathan Brown will depart the club at the end of 2026, and is set to land in the English Super League.
Now 33 years of age, Brown has been with the Manly Sea Eagles since the start of 2024 and become an important part of the middle third rotation.
A former two-time NSW Blues player from the 2020 series, Brown, who has also represented Italy six times, has a reputation as one of the game's no-nonsense forwards.
It's something he staked his name to during the longest part of his career at the Parramatta Eels, playing 109 games for the club between 2017 and 2022. He has played 47 games for Manly since joining, while he also had stints at the Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers, taking his tally to 195 games.
He needs just five more to get to 200, and has played 13 - all off the bench - so far this year where he has become an important part of Kieran Foran's rebuild, making almost 100 metres per game in limited minutes, and adding over a quarter of those metres in post-contact yardage.
News Corp are reporting though that Brown, who is off-contract at the end of this season, is in negotiations with multiple clubs in the English Super League and will make the move to that competition at the end of the year.
While it's unclear which club will pick him up, there is no surprise around a fight for his services given the experience and work rate he will bring to wherever he ultimately lands.
Manly were believed to be interested in retaining Brown earlier in the season, but they are also preparing for their salary cap for big spending and plenty of contract extensions, so Brown will be one of the players to go by the wayside.
Brown is in his third season with Manly and will have a role to play as the club push to make the finals series before he heads to the exit gates.
Brown's departure is offset by the news the club are on the verge of signing breakout dummy half Brandon Wakeham to a new two-year deal, while they also have locked up a number of young players this year, led by contracts for Joey Walsh and Josh Feledy.
