Record $3.3m offer not enough to end star back-rower’s PNG interest

NSW Origin star Hudson Young will leave a record $3.3 million Raiders deal on the table – for now at least – as the club grants him a brief window to explore interest from cashed-up expansion franchise the PNG Chiefs.

Young’s management will formally request a week-long period to enter negotiations with Chiefs management early in September after meeting with Canberra officials on Friday.

The Raiders last week increased their initial three-year contract extension for Young to $3.3 million , the largest salary offered in Canberra’s history, in the hope they could tie down one of the game’s hottest properties.

But given the Chiefs’ entry into the player market with tax-free salaries, the Raiders understand Young’s desire to explore interest from the franchise.

Canberra plan to grant Young permission to negotiate only with PNG, and potentially tour the Chiefs’ facilities in early September, once his season-ending Achilles injury has healed to the point that he no longer needs crutches.

The Raiders are in the midst of a significant overhaul of their forward pack and do not want to wait until November 1 when Young becomes a free agent for an answer, given how much of their salary cap he would take up.

While Canberra offered Jack Wighton a $4 million, four-year deal in 2023 before he ultimately joined Souths for less money, the $1.1 million a season they have put to Young is the richest in Raiders history.

Canberra’s faint finals hopes were officially doused in Friday’s 34-30 loss to Brisbane.

Front-row legend Josh Papalii (retirement), Corey Horsburgh and Morgan Smithies (Perth Bears), and Jayden Brailey (Wests Tigers) will all exit the club at the end of the season. Chief executive Don Furner last week acknowledged the Raiders need to recruit middle forwards.

Horsburgh’s three-year Bears deal – worth about $2 million in total – was formally announced on Sunday.

Broncos prop Jaiyden Hunt recently met with Canberra officials, while the club is anticipating upheaval in a particularly volatile player market once the season ends.

Young’s move to meet with PNG does not necessarily mean he is signed and sealed as their latest big-name recruit, and no negotiations have taken place yet due to the NRL’s anti-tampering rules.

While the Chiefs’ tax-free wage arrangements – courtesy of legislated agreements between the Australian and PNG governments – provide a significant advantage in the market, any NRL contract must still be registered at what the salary cap auditor deems a player’s market value.

Canberra’s $1.1 million offer to Young, along with his status as an elite, representative back-rower in his prime, will ensure any PNG offer must be in that ballpark before tax-free exemptions are included.