Parramatta Eels half-back Dean Hawkins is bound for Super League in 2026 and will sign a ‘multi-year deal’ according to reports Down Under.
Hawkins joined the Eels ahead of the 2025 campaign from fellow NRL outfit South Sydney Rabbitohs having come through the age grades with the Bunnies to make 14 first-grade appearances in their colours between 2021 and 2024.
Penning a two-year contract with Parramatta, this year saw Hawkins add 12 more NRL games to his CV, scoring two tries as he filled in for Mitchell Moses while the star man was either injured or involved in State of Origin with New South Wales.
But now, Hawkins is expected to drop down the pecking order with the Eels pushing to sign Brisbane Broncos ace Jonah Pezet for 2026, and he has set his sights on Super League.
The 26-year-old is set to head to the UK in search of regular game time and, notably, a #7 shirt.
Parramatta Eels half-back Super League-bound with ‘multi-year deal’ tabled
Born in the Sydney suburb of Randwick, Hawkins also has 92 appearances at second-grade level Down Under to his name having donned a shirt for North Sydney Bears as well as both Souths and the Eels’ reserves in the New South Wales Cup.
2023 saw him named the NSW Cup Player of the Year having shone for the Bunnies’ second string en-route to a Grand Final triumph against cross-city rivals and former club North Sydney.
The Sydney Morning Herald report that the playmaker has been granted a release by Parramatta to allow him to take up an opportunity in Super League.
As yet, the identity of the club Hawkins will join in a newly-expanded 14-team Super League competition – if reports are to be believed – has not been revealed.
But the Australian outlet state that his contract is a ‘multi-year deal’, with his long-term aim to put himself in the shop window for an eventual NRL return.
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