Three NRL stars who have been named to play in Sunday evening’s grand final are still without contracts for next season.
Three NRL stars named to play in Sunday’s grand final between the Rabbitohs and Panthers are still without contracts for next year.
Penrith utility Tyrone May and South Sydney veterans Benji Marshall and Mark Nicholls will all take to the field at Suncorp Stadium for the biggest game of the year, but none of the three have put pen to paper ahead of the 2022 season.
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Informed he was unwanted by the club with whom his name had become synonymous, Marshall left the Wests Tigers to link up with former coach Wayne Bennett on a one-year deal at Souths this season.
He’s proven a handy pick-up — the Kiwi international has been devastating off the Bunnies’ bench in season 2021 and has shown he can still match it with the kids when called upon to start in the halves.
Marshall will turn 37 before the start of next season and has yet to officially announce his retirement, but Bennett said on Friday that there was no chance the veteran would pull on the cardinal and myrtle again in 2022.
“He won’t go another year at the Bunnies,” Bennett told reporters.
A fan favourite at Redfern, Nicholls signed a two-year contract extension in 2019 that runs out at the end of this season.
NCA NewsWire reported last month that Nicholls was on the verge of a new deal with the Bunnies, but the club has not yet made the re-signing official.
A fringe first grader during stints with Canberra and Melbourne, Nicholls has become a regular of the Bunnies’ forward pack under Bennett and has featured in every game of the side’s 2021 campaign.
When Bennett elected to rest a handful of players ahead of the finals, Nicholls was named captain of the Rabbitohs for the first time in his four seasons at the club.
May is the only member of Penrith’s grand final side who is yet to sign on for 2022.
The mountain men’s Mr. Fix-It has come off the bench on 15 occasions this season but also helped plug holes in the starting side when the Panthers lost their halves to Origin duty.
The 25-year-old played at centre in Penrith’s grand final loss to the Storm and with both Matt Burton and Brent Naden departing at the end of this year, a spot in the outside backs may just open up for Tyrone, should the Panthers extend his contract.
He will play off the bench on Sunday’s grand final.
May is accustomed to waiting until the 11th hour to re-sign — he was offered a one-year contract extension for 2021 after last year’s regular season had wrapped up.
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