The Canterbury Bulldogs have offered three-year deals to Jesse Ramien, Apisai Koroisau and Herman Ese'ese, yet only have the salary to recruit two players, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Bulldogs currently sit 15th on the ladder but already have their eyes set on turning their form around in 2020.
Key to this turnaround is capturing the prized Koroisau, however, the Bulldogs face competition from the New Zealand Warriors in competing for the Manly hooker's signature.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Canterbury cannot compete with the offer from the Warriors.
If the Bulldogs were to match the offer from across the ditch, it may impact the club's ability to land its other two targets.
Ese'ese is on his way out of Newcastle after the arrival of David Klemmer, although coach Nathan Brown has picked him to replace the injured Tim Glasby for this week's match against the Cowboys.
Ramien is also out of the picture at the Knights, although the centre said on NITV earlier this week there were no hard feelings between him and the club.
“It’s a great club. I haven’t got a bad thing to say about the club. I got along great with all the boys there. These things happen in footy and I guess it’s just time to move on," said Ramien.
“I enjoyed my time there. When I left the bush I pretty much grew up in Newy. It was a bit of a going home for me. As I said before, I’ve just got to move on now.”
If the Bulldogs miss out on signing Apisai Koroisau they should do themselves a favour and have a look at Souths’ Canterbury Cup hooker Billy Brittain. This bloke is too good for the CC and would be a regular first grade hooker at a lot of other clubs.