Manly is starting to think about life after Daly Cherry-Evans - and a player high on the wish list is a Tigers wonder boy.
Manly is starting to think about life after Daly Cherry-Evans - and a player high on the wish list is Tigers wonder boy Lachlan Galvin.
DCE played as well as ever in 2023 and still has two years left on his contract at Manly.
But by the time he has completed his 14th and 15th seasons with the club, he will be 36 years old and likely to hang up his boots.
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Galvin, 18, is regarded as the premier young halfback talent in the game and will join the Tigers' top-30 squad next season with a view to being blooded in the NRL late in the year.
The Tigers have a high opinion of the Australian Schoolboys rep but also have an abundance of playmakers in their ranks - they have signed Jarome Luai, Jayden Sullivan, Aidan Sezer and Latu Fainu in recent months and also have Adam Doueihi in their ranks.
Having so many playmakers on good money in their squad leads to an unbalanced salary cap and at least one or two will have to go in coming seasons.
Galvin is managed by Isaac Moses - who also happens to handle Manly coach Anthony Seibold - greatly boosting the Sea Eagles' hopes of getting Galvin on board.
No formal talks have been held - but watch this space.
STORM EYE NEXT NO.9 SUPERSTAR?
There could be a surprise contender to be Harry Grant's back-up hooker with the Storm in 2024.
Melbourne feeder club North Sydney has signed promising Tigers hooker and Cook Islands international Rua Ngatikaura for next season.
The 23-year-old is a genuine dummy-half with plenty of skill and was in the sights of plenty of NRL clubs in recent months.
Grant will have a heavy workload at club and State of Origin level again next season and Ngatikaura could ease some of the pressure on the Storm superstar.
BOOST IN FIJI'S NRL BID?
Fiji is about to secure a massive coup by fielding a team in the Jersey Flegg Cup for under 20s next season.
The move will be a great pathway for the hundreds of promising youngsters from the island nation hoping to break into the big league.
Fiji already has a team in the Ron Massey Cup but this new side gives the Silktails an even greater foothold into Australian league.
"It's a great result for us and we can't wait to showcase our young talent," Silktails chairman and Broncos legend Petero Civoniceva told WWOS.
"Rugby union is the number one code in the country but we are slowly but surely making inroads."
Papua New Guinea is the hot favourite to be the NRL's 18th franchise in two or three years after a massive cash grant from the Australian government, but don't rule out Fiji, which would be a much better holiday/football destination and has some heavy hitters behind its bid.