The free agency window for 2027 is well underway, and one of the players who should be attracting plenty of interest ahead of a contract upgrade is South Sydney Rabbitohs halfback Jamie Humphreys.

The halfback, who can also line up at hooker, but made it clear during the most recent season that the number seven is his role moving forward, is off-contract with the Rabbitohs at the end of 2026.

Just 23 years of age, Humphreys joined South Sydney ahead of 2025 from the Manly Sea Eagles with frankly few expectations, but an excellent pre-season saw him win the number seven jumper, and it became clear as the campaign went on that he was their first-choice halfback.

Humphreys has always had the talent to become an NRL-level talent, and that is a view which is shared among scouts and fans on the Northern Beaches. They, of course, would have watched on with disappointment as he did it for another club.

Only injuries stopped Humphreys from having a properly fantastic season, with the Rabbitohs slumping well down the ladder in what was an injury crisis for much of the campaign.

Wayne Bennett and his recruitment staff will undoubtedly be keen to retain Humphreys, but his current deal with the Maroubra-based outfit is believed to only be worth about $150,000 per season.

That won't be nearly enough to keep him around, but there are also no prizes for guessing the state of the Rabbitohs' salary cap given other big-money deals for Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Murray and others around the club.

If Humphreys does take his exit from South Sydney at the end of 2026, here are the clubs who could make a play for him.

3. St George Illawarra Dragons

On the surface, the Dragons continuing to chase halfbacks makes less than a lot of sense.

But it's what the club have indicated time and time again. Shane Flanagan reconfirmed the club's chase of a half and prop recently when speaking to Zero Tackle.

Daniel Atkinson joins for 2026 and will still be there in 2027. He has a chance to take over the number seven jumper, but the jury is still out on the utility, so really, it's actually not a huge surprise that the Red V would still be in the market for an upgrade.

The thing is, Atkinson can play just about anywhere around the backline, even if a number of good judges believe he will turn number seven into his position.

The Dragons have real questions around their number six jumper too, with Lyhkan King-Togia and Kyle Flanagan both in the mix this year.

Youngster Kade Reed is also working his way through the system, but Humphreys would be an immediate upgrade.

Hooker is also a long-term question mark with Damien Cook's retirement on the horizon.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Shane Flanagan said yesterday that the Dragons want “another half”.

    So Humphreys and Anderson make sense as a half pairing. King Togia can play 6 when one of them is injured, with the other one playing 7.

    Kyle takes over at hooker when Damien Cooke calls it a day, and until then he hones his hooker skills in NSW Cup. I’m sure Shane could sell that to his lad !