The Perth Bears preparation for their inaugural season took an unexpected turn recently when South Sydney Rabbitohs half and hooker Jamie Humphreys decided he wouldn't be joining the club for their inaugural season.
The deal had been as good as done, if you listened to the reports circulating, for weeks.
But then he backflipped. Decided moving across the country to join a squad that, on paper, is a long way away from where it needs to be, wasn't the best move for his career.
Instead, he decided to go back to the open market, where he has been since November 1, and take his chances there.
The Rabbitohs seemingly don't have the money, or, given the form of Ashton Ward, even the appetite to play Humphreys in anything other than a bench role, but his current club could yet become his future club if things go one way in the coming days and weeks.
Humphreys backflipping this late in the piece is an eyebrow-raiser given most clubs are well and truly closing on full squads for next year, but he is too good to not land a deal somewhere.
Here are the five clubs who could land him for 2027 and beyond.
1. Canterbury Bulldogs
This seems like the fairly obvious no-brainer.
The backflip on the Bears was surprising, but would be less so if Humphreys was already on the way to having something else locked up.
The Canterbury Bulldogs seem the ideal fit.
They have, in a word, struggled this year. Their spine simply hasn't worked. Stephen Crichton is an improvement at five-eighth, but his best position is in the centres, as it is for Matt Burton.
Lachlan Galvin is a five-eighth, and Sean O'Sullivan, as good as he is looked at times this year, is unlikely to be a Bulldog in 2027.
With Mitchell Woods hamstrings continuing to play up, that could leave the number seven jersey vacant.
Humphreys is by far the best option on the market.
