The St George Illawarra Dragons have moved to distance themselves from a link to Penrith Panthers' second rower Viliame Kikau.
The Fijian forward, one of the best and most dangerous in the game, comes off contract at the end of the 2022 season, and with the Panthers likely to be in for a contract crunch, Kikau is earmarked as the one to make way.
It comes after a big-money extension for James Fisher-Harris, while Apisai Koroisau could also be in for a big increase on the current deal of his contract.
It was reported earlier this week that the Dragons were one of the clubs lining up to chase Kikau as they look to continue strengthening a forward pack which will already have Francis Molo, George Burgess and Jaydn Su'A added to it for 2022.
But Dragons' coach Anthony Griffin denied reports the club had made contact or reached out to Kikau in any way during his post match press conference after yet another Dragons loss as the club fell to the Panthers on Friday night.
“Someone told me (about the report)... I thought he was happy at Penrith and Penrith would want to keep him,” Griffin said.
“He’s certainly someone we haven’t made an offer for. We haven’t discussed that.”
Griffin's Dragons are in all sorts, losing their last five games on the trot with their finals hopes all but going up in smoke.
