The emergence of the Perth Bears at the start of the 2027 NRL season will have plenty of clubs nervous over the status of their off-contract starts, but one that can breathe easy is the Dolphins.
The NRL's last expansion side, who launched poaching raids all over the competition ahead of their first NRL season under Wayne Bennett in 2024, have numerous players coming off-contract at the end of 2026, including Jake Averillo, Jamayne Isaako, Oryn Keeley, Connelly Lemuelu, Francis Molo, Kodi Nikorima and Ray Stone, but arguably, it's centre Herbie Farnworth who they will be making priority number one in the coming months.
All of those players - Farnworth included - will be free to negotiate from November 1 with rival clubs, including the Bears.
The star centre has already had nine try involvements in ten games this year to go with 62 tackle busts, 165 metres per game, and is defending at almost 93 per cent - an excellent figure for a centre.
Widely rated as one of the best centres in the game, the Englishman is one player who could be tempted with a move to Perth, but speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, he revealed his priority is to remain with the Dolphins.
โIt's always nice to be wanted from different clubs, especially teams coming in, but I'm very happy at the Dolphins,โ Farnworth told the publication.
โI'd be a bit silly to pass up on the opportunity to play with the likes of Jack Bostock in the next couple of years and Issy Katoa โฆ we've got some great players and some really good young players who are going to kick us on in the future, so I'd love to play with them for the next couple of years.
โI'm just focusing on my footy, that's the main thing โ if you keep playing good footy, that [my future] takes care of all that sort of stuff. I'm sure we can get a deal done here."
Farnworth's desire to stay at the Dolphins will be a sigh of relief for the Dolphins, who have also faced questions regarding halfback Isaiya Katoa in recent times.
He was linked with a desire to move back to Sydney, something that only had fuel thrown on it with the emergence the Dolphins were making a play for Daly Cherry-Evans.
The reported move is now off, with the veteran Manly halfback instead expressing his desire to stay in Sydney, where he will likely stay with the Sydney Roosters.
Katoa is signed on a long-term deal with the Dolphins, a long with a number of other key players including Queensland Maroons Origin star Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and hooker Jeremy Marshall-King.
