Dylan Brown’s 10-year, $14 million contract with Newcastle Knights – the richest in rugby league history – has been the biggest story of the 2025 NRL season so far.
Drawing largely negative, or at least sceptical, reactions from fans and media, the deal is seen as a massive risk to take on an undoubtedly talented, but to an extent unproven, player who has spent almost his entire career at five-eighth and will be expected to slot into the No.7 jumper.
Brown’s mega-contract may be record-breaking, but it’s by no means the first of its kind – and it adds to the abundant narrative of clubs taking big-money punts on star athletes. Some have paid off…others have backfired.
Ian Roberts (Manly Sea Eagles)
Cash-strapped Souths were flying high in 1989 on the field but struggling to hang on to their bevy of off-contract stars – with athletic forward Ian Roberts at the top of rival clubs’ hit lists.
Manly’s six-figure contract blew rival clubs out of the water, despite being seen as something of an injury risk after playing just 18 games for the Rabbitohs in 1988-89.
Roberts never played more than 19 games in a season for the rest of his career, but he represented Australia in 14 Tests and NSW in nine Origins during six highly-effective seasons with the Sea Eagles before he linked with Super League-aligned North Queensland.
Martin Offiah (Eastern Suburbs Roosters)
Wigan winger Offiah had enjoyed fruitful stints in Australia with Easts (1989) and St George (1991), and was rated one of the world’s most valuable players when he agreed to another very well reimbursed off-season stint with the Roosters in 1993.
But the club’s hopes of getting more fans through the turnstiles and more competition points on the board courtesy of the electric finisher’s presence were dashed after just one game, with ‘Chariots’ dislocating his shoulder in his first appearance and heading back to England.
English players such as Ellery Hanley and Garry Schofield commanded five figures per game for guest stints in Sydney during an era where most players still had fulltime jobs.
Garrick Morgan (South Queensland Crushers)
Failing to heed the harsh lessons learned by Penrith – whose acquisitions of rugby union Test forwards Kent Lambert and Tony D’Arcy in the late-1970s and early-1980s were expensive failures – fledgling South Queensland Crushers dished out insane money for giant Wallabies lock Garrick Morgan.
The two-metre, 122kg Morgan was always going to struggle to make the transition from then-amateur rugby union to the fitness and mobility required of rugby league forwards.
Ultimately, he made just two first-grade appearances for the hapless Crushers in 1995 before returning to union and regaining his Australian jersey.
Paul Harragon (Newcastle Knights)
Newcastle captain ‘Chief’ Harragon famously became the game’s highest-paid player at the height of the Super League war, reportedly receiving a $1.2 million loyalty payment from the ARL establishment plus $700,000 a year for the next three seasons.
Harragon’s signature was crucial to the Knights staying with the ARL en masse, while he led the club to a euphoric premiership victory in 1997.
But injuries caught up with the kamikaze front-rower and he retired midway through 1999, aged just 30.
Brett Kimmorley (Northern Eagles)
Despite having representative halves Jason Taylor, Michael Buettner and Geoff Toovey, and rising talent Matt Orford on their book during their foundation 2000 season, Northern Eagles went chips in for the game’s hottest property for 2001.
Churchill Medal-winning Test halfback Kimmorley left Melbourne on a bumper contract that seemed certain to elevate the Eagles to contender status, but the embattled joint venture finished a disappointing 10th in the 14-team NRL and Kimmorley lost his place in the Australian team.
Incidentally, Orford joined the Storm and became an instant star, while Buettner and Taylor paired up in Parramatta’s 2001 grand final team.
‘Noddy’ exited the embattled Eagles after just one season to join Cronulla, where – after a rocky start – he became one of the Sharks’ best-ever players.
Chris Walker (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
A breath-taking speedster for perennial heavyweight Brisbane and a Queensland Origin regular, Walker was lured to rebuilding battlers South Sydney at the end of 2002 on a $1 million deal over three years.
A disgruntled Walker played just five games for the Rabbitohs before making a mid-season switch to the Roosters, where he played in the 2003 and 2004 Grand Finals.
Injuries plagued the rest of his career, playing just 40 NRL games for the Roosters, Storm, Titans and Eels from 2005-11.
Jamal Idris (Gold Coast Titans)
The 2009 Dally M Rookie of the Year and a NSW Origin debutant the following season, giant centre Jamal Idris left the Bulldogs for a Gold Coast contract worth a reported $1.8 million for five years.
The Titans intended to make Idris a franchise player, but he struggled to reproduce his best on the holiday strip and sought a compassionate release to return to Sydney after just two seasons.
Injuries and off-field issues hampered the ex-Kangaroo’s subsequent stints with the Panthers and Tigers.
Adam Blair (Wests Tigers)
Kiwis stalwart and Melbourne grand final winner Blair became one of the NRL’s highest-paid forwards when Wests Tigers splashed out on a four-year contract at $500,000 a season from 2012.
As the Tigers tumbled down the ladder, the enforcer became an easy target for criticism for the bulk of his tenure – but he played well enough in 2014, his last with the Tigers, to earn a New Zealand Test recall.
Blair played in a grand final with Brisbane in 2015 and passed the 300-game mark during a three-year stay with the Warriors.
Chris Sandow (Parramatta Eels)
Parramatta’s decades-long search for its first blue-chip halfback since Peter Sterling took them to South Sydney playmaker Chris Sandow’s door ahead of the 2012 season.
The nuggetty livewire signed for $550,000-per-year over four seasons, according to Rabbitohs owner Russell Crowe, though the Eels refuted that figure.
Nevertheless, the club received questionable return on investment as Sandow steered the blue-and-golds to just 27 wins in 75 games before he joined Warrington midway through 2015.
Greg Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
Pushed out of Melbourne by the club’s salary cap scandal, Inglis sensationally back-flipped on a $600,000-a-year agreement with Brisbane to link with South Sydney in 2011.
‘GI’ was initially on a reported $700,000 per season at Souths, spearheaded the end of the club’s 43-year premiership drought in 2014 and earned a significant upgrade that saw him earn $1 million a year by the time the all-time great retired in 2019.
Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys)
In 2013, Thurston rebuffed interest from Penrith to sign a four-year extension with North Queensland valued at $1.2 million a year.
‘JT’ unequivocally earned his keep, leading the Cowboys to a maiden premiership and joining the GOAT debate by winning a record fourth Dally M Medal in 2015.
Sam Tomkins (New Zealand Warriors)
In one of the most infamous deals of the NRL era, the Warriors paid Wigan a record £700,000 transfer fee for superstar fullback Tomkins – on top of a reported $700,000 salary – in 2014.
Tomkins’ tenure is not recalled fondly by the majority of Warriors fans, though he was an underrated performer in his first season with 13 tries and 13 try assists, as well as playing every game.
But he was plagued by injury in 2015 and returned to Wigan two years into a four-year deal.
The Warriors recouped some of their outlay following Tomkins’ premature exit, with the English outfit reimbursing around a third of the original transfer fee.
Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles)
After performing one of the most infamous contract backflips in NRL history to leave Gold Coast Titans hanging in 2015, Cherry-Evans re-signed with Manly on an unprecedented eight-year contract worth over $10 million.
While he has been unable to steer the Sea Eagles to another premiership, DCE’s form has rarely been any less than elite level and most would say he has repaid the club’s faith.
In 2022, he penned an extension tying him to Manly to the end of 2025.
Kieran Foran (Parramatta Eels)
While they were able to keep Cherry-Evans, Manly lost his long-term halves partner Kieran Foran to Parramatta on a four-year, $4.8 million deal.
Described by Eels legend Peter Sterling as one of the most important signings in the club’s history, Foran – who was also installed as skipper – broke down with injury just nine games in 2016 and left Parramatta amid personal off-field turmoil.
Foran spent 2017 at the Warriors, had an injury-plagued three-season stay with the Bulldogs, then resurrected his career back at the Sea Eagles and with the Titans.
Jarryd Hayne (Gold Coast Titans)
Following an NFL and Rugby Sevens odyssey that saw him depart the NRL for a season and a half, Hayne smashed the Titans’ salary records when he signed a two-year deal worth $1.2 million a season.
Hayne produced some match-winning displays early on for the Titans but was ultimately a disappointing signing and returned to Parramatta in 2018.
Jason Taumalolo (North Queensland Cowboys)
Widely regarded as the best forward in the game when he renegotiated with the Cowboys in early-2017, 23-year-old Taumalolo’s groundbreaking 10-year extension at $950,000 a season was viewed as a risky move by the club.
The blockbusting middle forward was named the Cowboys’ Player of the Year from 2016-20 and ’22, but diminishing returns over the past two seasons have arguably seen the bulky contract become a millstone that the club is obliged to carry until the end of 2027.
Ben Hunt (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Broncos playmaker Hunt became an instant million-dollar man when he signed a six-year deal with St George Illawarra starting in 2018.
While his form was generally of a very high standard and he remained a Test and Origin regular, Hunt was unable to consistently lift those around him – the Dragons only made the finals in the first season of his stay before he returned to Brisbane in 2025.
Bryce Cartwright (Parramatta Eels)
Adding to the Titans’ list of highly-questionable deals, troubled Penrith game-breaker Bryce Cartwright was released from his long-term Panthers contract to sign with Gold Coast for four years on $500,000 a season at the start of 2018.
Cartwright flamed out at the Titans, spending time in Queensland Cup in 2018 and making just seven NRL appearances in a 2020 campaign overshadowed by a flu-shot drama when he was released to take up a near-minimum wage deal with Parramatta.
Shaun Johnson (Cronulla Sharks)
Johnson was ruthlessly jettisoned by the Warriors after steering the club to its first finals series in seven years in 2018 – and Cronulla took the short-notice plunge on the enigmatic halfback to the tune of $900,000-a-season for three years.
While he was a top-five Dally M finisher in 2020, SJ largely underdelivered in an injury-hampered stay at the Sharks.
He returned to the Warriors on half the money of his previous contract in 2022 and produced an astounding, career-best season in 2023.
Johnson rejected $1.7 million over two years overtures from a Sydney club to hang up the boots in 2024.
David Fifita (Gold Coast Titans)
Rampaging second-rower Fifita was a prized signature for the yet-again big-spending Titans in 2021, leaving the Broncos for a cool $1 million per year.
He broke the club’s tryscoring record with 17 in his first year but subsequent campaigns have been patchier, while he sensationally backflipped on a three-year, $3.3 million agreement with the Roosters during 2024 to activate and extension clause with the Titans.
Kalyn Ponga (Newcastle Knights)
Ponga became the game’s richest teenager in the game’s history when he was lured from Townsville on a five-year, $3 million contract by the Knights in 2018.
The brilliant fullback repaid it in spades in subsequent seasons and broke into million-dollar-a-season territory when he penned extensions with Newcastle in 2020 and 2022.
Ponga is tied to the Knights until the end of 2027, meaning he and Brown will chew up $2.5 million of the club’s cap between them for each of the next two seasons.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (Gold Coast Titans)
Given the furore around Dylan Brown’s Knights deal, the Titans’ re-signing of front-rower Fa’asuamaleaui for $12 million over 10 years in 2023 attracted comparatively minimal scrutiny – particularly given they created history as the first to have two $1m-plus forwards on their books.
Though an established Origin player and a recent Kangaroos debutant, the enforcer arguably was not yet worthy of the million-dollar-a-season-plus bracket – and certainly not on one of the longest deals ever seen in the NRL.
In contrast, Haumole Olakau’atu signed an eight-year extension for $900,000-per-season at Manly soon afterwards.
Big Tino, the Titans’ captain, suffered an ACL injury in their second game in 2024 and makes his return this weekend.
Tom and Jake Trbojevic (Manly Sea Eagles)
The brothers signed six-year extensions with Manly in 2019 – tying them to the club until the end of 2026 – with Tom reportedly on $1.2 million at present and Jake $1 million.
‘Turbo’s’ price-tag has intermittently come under scrutiny due to a torrid run of injuries – he has missed 70 games over the past six seasons – but he unquestionably remains one of the NRL’s premier players when fit.
The fullback’s reported approach to Manly to take a pay cut worth $750,000 over two years was shot down by the NRL.
Jarome Luai (Wests Tigers)
Three-time wooden spooners Wests Tigers offered the biggest contract in their history to Penrith star Jarome Luai in an attempt to drag themselves out of the doldrums.
Luai signed a five-year contract worth a reported $1.2 million a year, making his club debut in Round 1 this season.
Mitch Moses (Parramatta Eels)
Only weeks ago, incumbent NSW and Australian halfback (and Brown’s current club halves partner) Moses signed an extension with Parramatta until the end of 2029 for $1.3 million per year.
While seemingly at the peak of his powers after a magnificent Origin series in 2024, he managed just eight games for the Eels last season, has missed the early rounds of 2025 with injury and will be 35 by the time his contract runs out.