Tommy Makinson called time on his Super League career at the end of the 2026 season but he’s not done with the sport having signed a deal down under.

Makinson, 35, has not penned an NRL deal, nor even a reserve grade deal, but instead he will play in the Group 2 competition of local footy for Coffs Harbour Comets – an extraordinary step down in grade.

However, the Comets’ vice president and recruitment chief, Billy Griffiths, has revealed exactly how the club were able to secure the services of Tommy Makinson, with the story one of the more unique ones of the off-season.

A former international Golden Boot winner, Tommy Makinson sits fourth on the list of all-time Super League try scorers, behind only Josh Charnley, Ryan Hall and Danny McGuire.

He’s also a five-time Grand Final winner and all those accolades meant that plenty of clubs made offers for him but Griffiths, who is also English, has revealed to Code Sports exactly how the club convinced Makinson to sign.

“It was a long process, probably six months worth of talking and slowly getting the feel that he was getting more and more interested,” Griffiths, who will also play alongside Makinson, revealed.

How Coffs Harbour Comets managed the coup of signing Tommy Makinson

Makinson, who will be a player-coach for the Comets, was keen on a move to Australia for himself and his family and that saw his CV passed on to Griffiths, who put together a pamphlet advertising the area, as opposed to the rugby.

He explained: “Tommy’s brief was very simple: he wanted a beautiful place in Australia to be able to settle down with his family. So at that point I think we became seed number one.

“Our biggest strength is the area, the Coffs Coast and Coffs community, and what we can bring as a club in terms of looking after overseas players.

“So instead of just filling out a blank form, which just pretty much highlighted the amounts that he’d be getting for his services, we went out of our way to create a pamphlet and more so sell the beautiful town of Coffs Harbour.”

Remarkably, that idea stood out and separated Coffs Harbour from the ‘hundreds and hundreds’ of other pitches that Griffiths claims Makinson received, with the ex-St Helens man picking up the phone after reading through the unique approach.

“Even though we were probably one of the lower-paid offers out of most of the clubs, I did feel that being English and having that story of coming from the UK and creating a better life for myself would resonate with him,” Griffiths explained.

“So I did believe if I managed to get a phone call with him, I’d be able to put us in a really good standing to sign him.”

That ultimately worked with Makinson signing a deal that will see him do far more than just coach and play for the club, with Griffiths admitting that the club need a ‘community-based player’, meaning that Makinson will be selling raffle tickets, helping out with the barbecue at fundraising days, and that’s exactly what he will be doing having signed a a two-year deal with the club.

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