Star rugby teen turns down PNG as Lomax is unveiled as ‘Chief 005’

Australian rugby has had a major win with rising superstar Treyvon Pritchard turning down the PNG Chiefs and Sydney Roosters to sign a long-term contract extension with the Queensland Reds and Rugby Australia.

But the Chiefs haven’t wasted any time in moving on, with cross-code star Zac Lomax confirming on Sunday he will be headed to PNG on a three-year deal in 2028.

Pritchard became the most in-demand teenager across both codes this year after the Chiefs made him one of their first targets ahead of the 2028 arrival of the NRL expansion club.

In his first year out of school, Pritchard made his debut for the Reds in Super Rugby Pacific and the utility back – who plays centre, wing and fullback – was dominant for the Junior Wallabies at the recent under-20s world championships in Georgia.

This masthead revealed Pritchard, 19, and his 21-year-old brother, Kadin (who plays for the Brumbies), were pursued by the PNG Chiefs and made tax-free offers after meeting club officials in Brisbane. The Roosters also joined the chase and recently expressed interest in bringing Treyvon to the Bondi club when his deal with rugby expired at the end of 2027.

But after Rugby Australia and the Reds countered with a strong offer for Treyvon to extend his stay, the outstanding youngster agreed to terms on a three-year deal late last week, according to informed sources unable to comment publicly due to the confidentiality of the negotiations.

The PNG Chiefs, who saw Pritchard as having a future in the halves in league, were informed of his decision last week.

As forecast, the Chiefs have finalised a three-year deal with Lomax after flying him and his partner to Port Moresby on the weekend. Lomax was announced as “Chief 005” on the club’s social media accounts on Sunday along with footage of him being introduced to the crowd at a PNG domestic league game.

“I am super honoured to have committed to you guys,” Lomax said. “We are going to shock the NRL, I am telling you, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Lomax is sidelined with a groin injury, but is expected to return to action in for to six weeks. He will see out his deal with the Western Force and RA before returning to league at the end of 2027.

The Chiefs are also deep in discussions with Joey Manu to make a return from rugby.

Securing Pritchard is a significant victory for Australian rugby. Many teenage stars have moved to the NRL in the past decade. Eleven players who featured in the recent State of Origin series had played for Sydney or Brisbane schoolboy rugby teams and junior rep rugby.

The importance of Pritchard’s retention sits alongside Max Jorgensen last year re-signing through to the end of 2031, but the true value will likely grow in the coming years as the youngster continues to develop and get more time on the game’s biggest stages. Like Jorgensen, he will become a face of the game in Australia.

The potential for Pritchard to become an Olympian in 2028 was no doubt one of rugby’s selling points, given he is also an accomplished sevens player.

The Junior Wallabies narrowly missed the semi-finals of the under-20s event in Georgia, but the teenager was named in the team of the tournament after some eye-catching performances, including one against eventual runners-up France.

Pritchard’s sizzling footwork, speed and strength helped him beat 25 defenders in three pool games and run for 350 metres, of which 250 metres were post-contact. But his tournament was cut short by a broken leg, suffered in a hip-drop tackle against Wales. He underwent surgery last week.

It is hoped Pritchard will be back in action to potentially play for Australia A in late October against the USA. If fit, some argue Pritchard should even go on the Wallabies’ spring tour, even if only on a non-playing development basis.

Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika used that approach for several years, and took young future stars such as Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Izzy Perese, Jack Dempsey and Andrew Kellaway away between 2016 and 2018.

New Wallabies coach Les Kiss will gather with his first squad in Sydney this week, after naming a 34-player group last week for the two Tests against Japan on August 8 in Osaka and August 15 in Townsville.

Speaking about his selection plans for the first few months of his tenure, Kiss revealed he would continue to experiment with players to “explore the depth” ahead of the World Cup next year.

“It’s important that the players that played the recent [Nations Championship] series are seen, and [that] they see me and the new coaching team,” Kiss said on Nine’s Wide World of Sports on Sunday. “But over the next, you know, 10 Test matches, I’m going to stretch it out a bit and make sure I see a few players as well in other positions.”

But Kiss said five-eighth would not be a position he plans to chop and change unnecessarily.

“There have been challenges in that position over the last two years – injuries have got in the way, and we haven’t been able to get consistency,” he said.

“I’ve stuck with the three that they had in the Nations Cup. I want to try and keep that as consistent as possible in the next few Test matches.”

Waratahs defy doubters to win seventh title

After an uncharacteristic mid-season wobble when they lost two games, the Waratahs not only resumed normal service in smashing the Fijian Drua in the Super Rugby Women’s grand final on Saturday, they arguably broke new ground.

The Tahs bounced back from defeats in the regular season to the Western Force and Queensland to smash Fiji 34-17 in Ba, in a six-tries-to-three performance to claim a record seventh Super W-Super Rugby Women’s title in nine seasons.

Two tries from the home side in the final 10 minutes reduced the winning margin after the Waratahs dominated for most of the game and established a 34-5 lead, courtesy of two tries to Amelia Whitaker and one each to Rosie Ferguson, Maya Stewart and Desi Miller. Returning Wallaroos fullback Caitlyn Halse was also in the middle of much of it, with lovely assists.

But while the star backs doing their thing was par for course in another NSW title, there was no question the powerhouse performance from the Waratahs forwards was the driving force in the win.

In what was arguably the most complete Waratahs performance in any of their Super W deciders, their forwards muscled up from the outset and dominated Fiji at their strength. The sharp connection of forwards and backs then built up momentum for NSW that proved, at times, unstoppable.

Wallaroos prop Faliki Pohiva was immense in attack and defence, and her second-half try was just reward for a superb game. The 25-year-old from western Sydney was also named player of the final.

The NSW pack allowed dynamic halves Tia Hinds and Waiaria Ellis to apply huge pressure. Despite only being two games into their new partnership, the duo have during the past two weeks made a strong claim to be the Wallaroos halves, too.

The skill and strength of the Waratahs forwards in Fiji points to the potential for a competitive showing against the Auckland Blues women next Saturday in Sydney in the Women’s Super Rugby champions final.

The Blues also completed a hat-trick of Super Rugby Aupiki titles when they snatched victory from Matatū, scoring a late try to beat the South Islanders 28-21.

The trans-Tasman winner’s showdown began last year when the Blues dispatched NSW 36-5.

The Blues pack was able to get on top in the forwards and stretch the Matatū defence out wide thereafter, and that has been the pattern for a lot of trans-Tasman Test rugby as well. But the smartly coached Waratahs pack showed enough in Fiji to suggest they will be up for the battle against the Blues on Saturday.

Waratahs captain Emily Chancellor paid tribute to the 34 players who had played during an injury-plagued season for NSW, which had rivals hoping the sky blue juggernaut might have finally run out of steam.

“I want to shout out to every single player that’s been part of this program this year,” Chancellor said.

“What an incredible group. I feel like rugby in Australia wrote us off – we lose two games and that’s it for us. This is the response, and I’m so proud of this team. I couldn’t be more proud of the way we played today and the belief we have in each other.”

The Women’s Super Rugby champions final will be played at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday.