The Perth Bears have made Canberra Raiders forward Corey Horsburgh their priority after they didn't land the signature of Eels forward Junior Paulo.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the Bears will attempt to sign Horsburgh to lure him away from the Raiders.
The reason negotiations have failed is that Junior Paulo is seeking a two-year deal worth $900,000 a season.
The 18th NRL club has "scoffed" at the asking price, and Paulo and his management did not like Perth's counteroffer.
Bears coach Mal Meninga has flown to Canberra to meet with Horsburg on Tuesday afternoon.
The 28-year-old is contracted by the Raiders until the end of the 2027 season and was given permission by the club to look around.
With the Broncos' salary cap tight, it makes signing Horsburgh difficult for the Queensland club.
This leaves the Bears as the favourites to sign him, after he was not named in the Raiders' upcoming clash against the Cronulla Sharks.
There was a controversial moment in the final ten minutes of the Raiders' home match against the Newcastle Knights on Sunday afternoon when Raiders prop Corey Horsburgh was sent to the sin bin for striking Newcastle centre Dane Gagai.
Gagai first pushed the Raiders forward to play the ball, before Horsburgh responded by slapping the Knights' centre in the face.
The referee initially awarded a penalty to Canberra, ruling that Newcastle had started the small melee.
Shortly after, Kalyn Ponga opted to challenge a separate high tackle decision.
The challenge was not taken up by the referee, who instead overturned his original decision and sent Horsburgh to the sin bin, leaving the Raiders with 12 men.
If the Raiders had received the penalty, Ethan Sanders would have had the chance to take a penalty goal to tie the game 26-all, and instead, the Knights would have made their way into the Raiders' end, with winger Dominic Young scoring the game-winning try with one minute and a half remaining on the clock to seal the game.
Ricky Stuart was frustrated with the loss and the Horsburgh incident, calling him out during the post-match press conference and dropping an F-bomb.
“Of course it was (a sin bin)" Stuart stated.
With the loss to the Knights, Canberra can no longer reach the finals, becoming the first team to win a minor premiership and then miss the finals the following year.
Stuart admitted on Sunday afternoon that he could use the remaining rounds of the season to give some of his younger players an opportunity.
“I will play some young blokes that I want to have a look at," Stuart said.
The relationship between Ricky Stuart and Corey Horsburgh has declined in recent years, even more so after the Raiders' coach's reaction to the events of their last match.
In August 2024, Horsburgh had played just two games at the time before he requested a release after struggling with injuries, suspension, and poor form, believing he should play more first-grade football.
Before the media asked Stuart questions regarding the incident on the field, he called out Horsburgh in the locker room in front of his teammates.
If Horsburgh joined the Perth Bears, he would join teammate Morgan Smithies and become a likely starter in Western Australia for the inaugural season.
