during the round six NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the St George Illawarra Dragons at Lottoland on April 8, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.

The Storm will look to sign former five-eighth Gareth Widdop if their bid to lure Kieran Foran to Melbourne fails.

With Cooper Cronk departing at the end of the season, the Storm are looking for a marquee signing to fill the gap in their halves.

According to the Sydney Morning HeraldMelbourne have identified Foran as their number one priority to replace Cronk. It won't be an easy task, as Foran has been quite open though about his desire to return to Sydney to be closer to his young family.

The Warriors haven't given up hope of re-signing Foran and keeping him New Zealand but with Shaun Johnson also off contract, the club has plenty to do and if push comes to shove, Johnson will take the priority.

With the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Newcastle Knights also rumoured to be keen on signing Foran for 2018, the Storm might find that distance from Sydney to be their biggest hurdle.

As such, the Storm have flagged Widdop as the next name on their list. Widdop's St George Illawarra Dragons are currently sitting atop the NRL ladder and his form this season has been some of his best.

With Ben Hunt moving to St George Illawarra next season on a big money deal, the Dragons hope Widdop will re-sign and form a long-term halves partnership with him. But Hunt's deal could also be the tipping point for Widdop to move elsewhere with the salary cap a constant juggle for clubs.

Already we've seen Hunt sign the Dragons, Jack Bird move to Brisbane and Mitchell Moses move to Parramatta for 2018.

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