Canberra Raiders prop Corey Horsburgh is eyeing off an early exit from the Canberra Raiders, despite having a year to run on his contract.
Horsburgh, who hbas developed into one of the better middle third forwards in the game, is critical to the success of the Raiders and now viewed as a leader around the club.
The 28-year-old has 129 NRL games under his belt - all of which apart from two on loan at the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2021 - have come for the Raiders since his debut in 2019, while he also played a single State of Origin match for Queensland in 2023, and was 20th man for Billy Slater's side last week.
Horsburgh though is eyeing off a return to Queensland, per a News Corp report, and it's believed the Raiders wouldn't stand in his way if he was to secure a contract.
That ultimately means he could be given permission to negotiate with those rival clubs, being the Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and Dolphins.
At this stage, it's unclear if Horsburgh will land a deal though. The Broncos salary cap is incredibly stretched with the signing of Mitch Barnett, and the push to lock up Xavier Willison on a major extension, while the Titans have Moeaki Fotuaika and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui as their leading lights in the middle third.
At the Dolphins, salary cap space is also an issue, although depth in the middle third could pique their interest in bring the aggressive prop and lock to the club.
It's believed Horsburgh, who is on about $600,000 this season, is facing a pay cut to stay in Canberra beyond the end of this current deal, and so could look to cut his time there early and head back to Queensland with longer-term job security as he moves into what is ultimately the second half of his NRL career.
The Raiders have confirmed they are not trying to force Horsburgh out.
“We're happy to honour our deal with Corey," CEO Don Furner was quoted as saying.
“I don't know if he is looking at other options but he is more than welcome to stay with us.
The Green Machine will lose Josh Papalii at the end of the year, while Joseph Tapine is approaching the back-end of his career, potentially turning Horsburgh into the undisputed forward pack leader, however, with the likes of Ata Mariota, Morgan Smithies and youngster Vena Patuki-Case pushing their plight for more minutes, there is an argument to say the Raiders should move in a different direction.
