The PNG Chiefs have landed their first two signings, with Jarome Luai locking down a two-year guaranteed contract in Port Moresby, and Alex Johnston confirming his own signing, believed to be for a year, on Tuesday.
Eyebrows have been raised, though.
Under NRL contract rules, off-contract players are unable to talk to rival clubs until November 1 in the year before they are off-contract.
So in the case of players, the Chiefs will be chasing after them for their inaugural season.
November 1, 2026, would be the first day they were formally able to talk to anyone.
There have been plenty of accusations slung in previous years around clubs and agents talking about the future of still-contracted players before that date, but not much has been proven or consequently sanctioned by the NRL.
The November 1 deadline, which allows players to play potentially an entire season for their current club before moving homes, has long been a talking point in the game, but the Chiefs, with their first two signings, have taken that to a new level.
Both Luai and Johnston will now play, potentially if they stay fit, up to 40 regular-season games for their current outfits, as well as finals, before shuffling to Port Moresby.
And all it took was a loophole in the rules around November 1.
Johnston's is a far easier contract to explain.
When he re-signed with the Rabbitohs through to the end of 2027, a special clause was included in the contract that allowed him to talk specifically with the Chiefs before November 1.
A long-term Papua New Guinean representative, he has always been on the list of targets for the Chiefs to finish his career, and there has been little doubt for some time in most minds that it's where he would wind up.
It wouldn't have felt right - a PNG NRL franchise without the 31-year-old who has played 12 Tests for Australia's closest neighbour.
The Rabbitohs should be congratulated for their decision to allow Johnston the right to negotiate early, and it's the kind of move that will give the Chiefs bargaining power that the Dolphins and Perth Bears - the last two NRL expansion clubs who have and currently are struggling to sign talent - didn't have.
Arguably, Luai, a premiership-winner and one of the game's best spine players, brings the club even more in the way of bargaining power.
His contract is far trickier to explain; however, he ultimately used the same loophole, with the blessing from current clubs, that Jonah Pezet used to sign with two clubs at the same time when he exited the Melbourne Storm.
The rising star left the Storm at the end of 2025, and in doing so, signed with both the Parramatta Eels for 2026 and the Brisbane Broncos for 2027.
That deal was locked in on October 29, days before November 1, but given negotiation timelines, discussions would have been underway well before the deadline.
In that instance, Pezet had been released by the Storm and wasn't contracted anywhere for 2026 - the very next season - hence being able to negotiate his future so far down the line.
Obviously, the move came with the blessing of the Storm, Eels and Broncos.
Luai's case is similar.
When he signed on with the Tigers, he had player options as far as the eye could see from the start of 2027, with an end-of-April deadline each year to determine whether he would accept or decline.
But because Luai hadn't accepted his 2027 option, he was technically uncontracted beyond the end of this season.
It means the November 1 rule didn't apply to the Tigers' half, and he could negotiate his future elsewhere.
Obviously, none of that happens without the blessing of his current club, which he still wants to play for in 2027, but the joint venture's hands were effectively tied.
They couldn't do anything other than wait for Luai's decision in 2027, while he had the right to negotiate for 2028 with other clubs if he chose to.
That is exactly what happened, with Luai now signing on for the Chiefs' inaugural season, and the Tigers keeping his services in 2027.
It's an intriguing situation for the Tigers, given they have both Latu Fainu and the in excellent form Jock Madden at the club.
Luai, as club captain, is hardly likely to spend any time out of the top grade, but whether he remains skipper in 2027 now remains to be seen, while any drop off in form could see opportunities afforded to both Fainu and Madden in his place.
The restrictions on negotiation are a direct result of the absence of a formal transfer system.
If the NRL had one, there would be much less angst about players/agents talking to clubs.