The Wests Tigers are reportedly in the closing stages of securing the services of former Canberra Raider and current Wigan Warriors star John Bateman on a possible three-year deal.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the deal is nearly done, with the 29-year-old set to join fellow new recruits Api Koroisau and Isaiah Papali'i with the hope of finally returning the Concord club to the NRL finals after years of perpetual disappointment.
The news also comes amid reports the Tigers are close to securing the services of either David Klemmer or Tyson Frizell from Newcastle, though it's still uncertain if the Knights could convince the club to include Luke Brooks in any potential agreement.
Though the deal for Klemmer was originally supposed to be a swap, it's now believed that the hulking prop could move away from the Steel City without an equivalent arrival. While the Knights are also ‘shopping around' Frizell, it's not known if any possible deal for the dynamic back-rower would include a move the other way.
With two years still left on his contract at Wigan, the Tigers are expected to pay a hefty fee to the English club – reported to be in the vicinity of $250,000. That sum is paid directly between clubs and not factored into salary cap calculations.
The 29-year-old returns to the NRL after he was granted an early release from his contract in Canberra.
Though his time in the nation's capital was wound down by injuries, he was essential to the team's 2019 Grand Final appearance and claimed the Dally M award for Second Rower of the Year in the same season.
Bateman would have been the better target than Liddell for the dragons.