Woods confirms push for move to Manly as swap deal looms

St George Illawarra Dragons' veteran prop Aaron Woods has revealed nothing has been finalised, but that his management have been contacted over a potential player swap to the Manly Sea Eagles.

In a surprise move that was first reported over the weekend by News Corp, Woods was linked with a sudden swap to Manly in exchange for Viliami Fifita and Alec Tuitavake.

It's understood the Dragons are keen on both of the young forwards and that Anthony Seibold's recruitment team at the Sea Eagles had given them permission to negotiate.

Manly CEO Tony Mestrov revealed however that they wouldn't be allowed to walk to the joint-venture without a price, and it now appears that price could be Woods.

While Dragons fans would chalk the proposed trade between the two clubs up as a major win, Woods revealed on LISTNR'S Footy Talk podcast that nothing is over the line at this stage.

“The Dragons are trying to get a couple of young kids from Manly and they want them as soon as possible so I think what's happened is that they've (Dragons) reached out to Manly asking for a swap deal,” Woods said.

“The club reached out to my management on Saturday and they are just going through all the finer details and all that sort of stuff now, but nothing has happened as of yet.”

That followed a grilling during Triple M's coverage of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Manly Sea Eagles on Saturday evening, where Woods was in commentary.

He refused to rule out the move in his conversations ahead of the game - which was won by the Rabbitohs in golden point - kicking off.

Woods said on the podcast however that the Dragons have been open about the whole process.

“When I got to training yesterday the Dragons general manager of football Ben Haran called me into his office and said look this is what is happening,” he said.

“The club's been really good with everything, they've kept everything open and it's not like you've heard things or information through other sources because then you are thinking, geez am I getting shafted?

“The coaches understand and as I understand and it could be a good opportunity for me and a opportunity for the Dragons to add some young talent.

The 32-year-old, who has played north of 250 NRL games, has previously spent time at the Wests Tigers, Canterbury Bulldogs and Cronulla Sharks, while also playing 14 games for New South Wales and 17 Tests for Australia.

He is yet to make an appearance for the struggling Dragons in 2023.