{"id":48800,"date":"2026-07-12T03:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T03:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/48800\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T03:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T03:51:08","slug":"bulldogs-reportedly-sign-fullback-from-knights-as-souths-star-rejects-offer-to-join-perth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/48800\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulldogs reportedly sign fullback from Knights as Souths star rejects offer to join Perth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Canterbury Bulldogs have reportedly signed highly-rated fullback Connor Votano<\/a> from the Newcastle Knights after missing out on Jahream Bula<\/a>. The 20-year-old Votano is a junior State of Origin player with big raps on him.<\/p>\n

However he’s stuck behind Kalyn Ponga, Fletcher Sharpe and Fletcher Hunt at the Knights. Votano made his first-grade debut in 2025, but it stands as his only NRL<\/a> appearance to date.<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

Jamie Humphreys (L) to the Bears is off, while Phil Gould (R) and the Bulldogs have signed Connor Votano from Newcastle. Image: Getty<\/p>\n

The Daily Telegraph and ESPN<\/a> are both reporting that Votano will be at the Bulldogs in 2027 on a two-year deal. It adds to the intrigue around the fullback position at Canterbury.<\/p>\n

Phil Gould and the Dogs recently re-signed Connor Tracey<\/a> until the end of 2028. However they made a big play to try and lure Bula from the Wests Tigers. Bula eventually decided to extend with the Tigers on a bumper new deal.<\/p>\n

\"Connor<\/p>\n

Connor Votano has been starved of first-grade opportunities at Newcastle.<\/p>\n

Jamie Humphreys won’t be joining Perth Bears<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Rabbitohs utility Jamie Humphreys<\/a> has reportedly backflipped on joining the Perth Bears. The Daily Telegraph<\/a> is reporting that Humphreys’ management has informed Mal Meninga’s new side that he won’t be taking up a three-year deal starting in 2027.<\/p>\n

Reports had been swirling for months that Humphreys had agreed to join the Bears. He was firming to partner Toby Sexton in the halves for the new franchise, but is now back on the open market.<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

Jamie Humphreys won’t be joining the Perth Bears.<\/p>\n

Curiously, the Rabbitohs haven’t offered Humphreys a new deal for 2027 either. The 26-year-old has lost his starting halfback spot to Ashton Ward and has instead been used as a dummy-half option off the bench.<\/p>\n

The situation could change depending on what Cody Walker decides to do in 2027<\/a>. The 36-year-old doesn’t have a contract past this season and is weighing up whether to keep playing or retire.<\/p>\n

Souths keen on Kodi Nikorima?<\/p>\n

Reports have emerged that Wayne Bennett could be keen to bring Kodi Nikorima to Souths after working with him at the Dolphins. The Dolphins have signed George Williams for 2027, clouding Nirkorima’s future at the club.<\/p>\n

Speaking last month, Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf insisted there will be room for Nikorima, Williams and Isaiya Katoa. “I’d love to stay here, Brissy is home,” Nikorima said.<\/p>\n

“I’m an inaugural player here so I’d love to continue that. I obviously know this is a business at the end of the day. I do have options elsewhere, which I’m going through now with my management.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Canterbury Bulldogs have reportedly signed highly-rated fullback Connor Votano from the Newcastle Knights after missing out on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1255,35573,35577,35575,778,35576,705,1406,335,12377,35574,35578,725],"class_list":["post-48800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-canterbury-bulldogs","tag-connor-votano","tag-fullback-position","tag-jahream-bula","tag-jamie-humphreys","tag-jamie-humphries","tag-newcastle-knights","tag-nrl","tag-perth","tag-perth-bears","tag-phil-gould","tag-the-bears","tag-wests-tigers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}