NRL winger Tyrell Sloan has become the first big name player linked with a move to Darren Lockyer’s London Broncos.
Lockyer is in the process of buying a majority stake in the Broncos in a move that gives Broncos fans hope that the club could soon be returning to Super League. Lockyer is joined in the deal by Grant Weschel and together it seems they are set to acquire 90 per cent of the club, with Gary Hetherington holding the other 10 per cent.
The initial takeover report, which came in the Australian press, linked Jason Demetriou with the head coach role in the capital and that remains a possibility, but with Lockyer and Weschel making it clear they intend to bring over a raft of players from the NRL, they are now starting to be linked with options.
NRL man linked to London Broncos
Sloan is the first of those to be linked with a move to the capital, with the St George Illawarra Dragons winger said to be of interest. That’s according to the Daily Telegraph down under, who claim Sloan could be an option for Lockyer and co for 2026.
The winger is off-contract at the end of next season but has been given permission to explore other options away from the Dragons.
However, according to the report, he hasn’t attracted any interest from the NRL and if he is to move on, a switch to the Northern Hemisphere might just be on the cards for the 23-year-old.
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He was linked with a move to Catalans Dragons earlier in the season, but London might well be an option for him.
Sloan, who can also play full-back, has made 79 appearances for the Dragons since making his debut for the club in 2021 and that includes 20 outings this season. He scored 17 tries for the club this term, too, with his last coming against Penrith Panthers last weekend.
His future looks more than uncertain moving forward, though, and should he make the move to London, he could be the man spearheading the Broncos’ revival.
Eric T Cat
September 12, 2025 at 1:22 pm
This is shocking news, it makes me believe that the fix is in., that London are guaranteed a spot in Super League, where nobody will essentially go to watch them. A city of 9 million and they will get crowds of 1,500, that’s not a crowd that’s a statistical anomaly. London doesn’t want rugby league, it’s not like they haven’t tried, people just will not go! Give Goole Vikings two more seasons and they will be exceeding the attendance at London matches. You could take any of the former great clubs Halifax, Bradford, Widnes, they all have a better claim to a place in super league. Over the last 10 years Featherstone Rovers must have the strongest claim to a super league spot based on performance alone! How many times have they been denied because of the structure of the Rugby Football League from being promoted? Based on current performance, infrastructure in place, players in place, then York have the strongest claim to a spot. London have done nothing this season that indicates they are deserving of a spot in the super league. 10th is not a position that indicates they are ready to make the step. I wonder how much this has to do with the personality of ownership than the merit of performance and infrastructure.
If the IMG ratings are applied, London are still going to fail and fall well short. But you can guarantee the first amount of the hat when the names are announced will be the London Broncos.
All that comes to mind went looking at this process is a quote from Shakespeare, from Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 4, Marcellus “Somethngbis rotten in the state of Denmark”. This selection process has the whiff of surströmming about it!
Wiganexpat
September 12, 2025 at 2:35 pm
I think this is a difficult one. We have been trying to make London work since I was a teenager but it hasn’t. I understand the emotional side of say Halifax making a comeback and getting a place in Superleague and on sporting merits alone, they would be in. However, it is a strange commercial world we are in and it is one where Superleague are amateur hour operators. The Nrl have said that to develop our sport we need to focus on the big population centres to capture the imagination of your streaming punters. Certainly we very much need the sorts of leadership that they have downunder so maybe we have to live with it. I don’t know what the answer is, I just don’t want any more of our clubs to follow Salford down the gurgler. So I am prepared to give Lockyer and London a chance and prey the can pull something off.