Brisbane Broncos centre Herbie Farnworth is set to be at the centre of a bidding war as the Broncos try to hold onto him and four other teams, including the Dolphins, try to steal him.
Centres are one of the more sought after positions for teams right now. A shortage of quality in the competition, combined with the importance of the position, has led to their market value rising.
Farnworth appears to be improving with every game he plays, putting on a stellar performance against the Canterbury Bulldogs on Sunday evening, with two tries, three tackle breaks, a linebreak and 262 run metres. He has now played 42 NRL matches.
On Triple M, Brent Read revealed the ins and outs of his contract situation.
Farnworth is off-contract at the end of 2022 and according to Read “he has basically said to the Broncos, I want to play some football then I want to sit down in a month or so and... sit down, have a talk and see what happen".
With Covid disrupting his pre-season, Farnworth came into round one underdone, explaining his improvement into Round 2.
As usual, where there is smoke related to a player's contract, a Dolphin-shaped fire isn't far behind.
“Since then (the pre-season and putting negotiations on hold with the Broncos) there has been about four or five clubs that have come in for Herbie, the Dolphins are one of them, there are a few others that have come in," Read said.
“My understanding is that he doesn’t want to leave the Broncos, his preference is to stay, he is optimistic about the direction the club is heading in, he is a loyal bloke.
“Obviously born in England but he has been flying over to train with the Broncos since he was 15, he would come over when school would finish in England in June or July, train with the Broncos, fly home and play footy over there until he moved back on a permanent basis.
“So my gut feel is he will stay but obviously with every game he plays his price tag probably goes up a little.”
Farnworth made loyalty known when he re-signed with the club in 2020 despite offers from 20 clubs.
That loyalty will be tested these coming weeks if he continues to show this kind of form as the Dolphins circle like Sharks around any talent they can build their roster around.
The Dolphins are currently exceptionally short in the backline at this stage, with only Jamayne Isaako holding NRL experience in their currently signed players for 2023.
