He was given permission to negotiate by the Warriors.
Josh Curran has reportedly inked a long-term deal with the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Curran had a difficult 2023 season and it was revealed in recent times that he had been given permission to negotiate his future away from the Warriors.
The club had a resoundingly successful 2023 campaign, of which Curran predominantly played a bench role, falling behind in the pecking order for minutes in the middle or on the edge.
It was a dramatic fall for a forward who was once touted as being on the fringes of Brad Fittler’s New South Wales State of Origin squad, although he still hasn’t made his debut in that arena.
It’s understood the Warriors gave him permission to negotiate in an effort to hang youngsters more playing time and also clean up the club’s salary cap.
Instead of playing for the Warriors again next year though, News Corp are reporting that Curran will make his return to Sydney where he will line up for the Canterbury Bulldogs.
It comes with the Bulldogs having already signed a number of key backline players for next year, including Stephen Crichton, Bronson Xerri and Blake Taaffe.
The move to sign Curran finally sees coach Cameron Ciraldo and director of football Phil Gould focus on the forward pack that struggled enormously in 2023, with the Belmore-based outfit winding up 15th on the ladder at the end of the year despite promising plenty.
Curran will likely be joined by Siosiua Taukeiaho at the club, although the departing Catalans enforcer is yet to be confirmed as a new face.
The Bulldogs, desperate to make their way back to the finals, will view the 24-year-old as a key to their engine room. Luke Thompson has departed bound for England, and Tevita Pangai Junior has retired, but otherwise, their starting forward pack is more or less intact for 2024.
It means Curran will likely battle for a spot in the second-row where he would join ex-Panther Viliame Kikau, while Taukeiaho would be the market leader to take over Thompson’s spot in the middle third.
Curran has played 61 NRL games, with 60 of those coming for the Warriors after he switched to the club in 2019 following a debut with the Sydney Roosters in the same year.
He is also a three-time Indigenous All Stars player, and made his debut for the Prime Minister’s XIII against Papua New Guinea in 2022.
