Flegler to reject $4m offer
TOM Flegler is poised to reject a massive $4m offer from Manly, with the Origin enforcer outlining his plans to stay at the Broncos in a major coup for Brisbane coach Kevin Walters.
Walters is adamant he is implementing the building blocks for a fresh premiership dynasty at Red Hill and Flegler is putting faith in Brisbane’s “Kev-olution” by declaring he has no plans to walk out on the Broncos.
As revealed by News Corp, Flegler is one of the most sought after forwards in the code. Off-contract next season, the Queensland bookend is officially a free agent and has attracted interest from five NRL rivals, including Manly, the Warriors and Brisbane’s derby foes the Titans.
The Sea Eagles are rated the greatest poaching threat, with Manly having discussed a mega six-year offer worth $675,000 a season to lure the front-row firebrand to Brookvale until the end of 2027.
New Manly coach Anthony Seibold has links to Flegler, having coached him in 2019-20 during his turbulent two-season tenure at the Broncos. But in the wake of front-row colleague Payne Haas pledging his allegiance to the Broncos, Flegler wants to follow suit. While he has yet to officially ink an extension, the 23-year-old is adamant he will stay loyal.
“I have been at the Broncos since I was a kid and I don’t plan on leaving,” Flegler said. “For myself, I need to play good footy, more importantly for the team rather than myself. You would be lying if you said you didn’t think about it, but I have been at the Broncos since I was 15 and this is home for me.”
Mindful of poaching raids, the Broncos have kicked off preliminary extension talks with Flegler, who said he was in no rush to ramp up talks as he focuses on a critical summer after two seasons of personal turbulence.
“I haven’t thought about it (making a final decision) at the moment,” Flegler said.
“First things first is to have a good pre-season and train hard and then I guess we will get into those contract talks next year. I came through the (Broncos) under-20s with the majority of the NRL squad so I don’t see myself moving any time soon.”
For all the external interest in Flegler, the hulking prop feels a sense of gratitude to the Broncos for showing faith in him amid his on-field woes.
Flegler goes into the new season with a reputation as one of the NRL’S most ill-disciplined players after a series of suspensions, including being reported four times in one horror afternoon against the Warriors in April.
The Broncos are banking on a Haas-flegler engineroom alliance to lead their finals revenge mission next year. Now a veteran of 74 first-grade games, the nononsense Flegler insisted he would retain his rugged style, but accepted he could ill afford more suspensions for high shots and hip drops.