The St George Illawarra Dragons have emerged as the front runner in the pursuit of Bronco Tevita Pangai Jnr following Wests Tigers' going “cold” on him.
The Australian’s Brent Read and Courier Mail’s Travis Meyn and Peter Badel have all reported that St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin is keen on Pangai Jnr after he was told by the Broncos that he was free to leave last month.
This comes despite Pangai Jnr having a year and a half left to run on his contract.
Related: Five potential landing spots for Pangai Jnr
According to the Mail Broncos coach Kevin Walters has changed his mind on Pangai Jnr, with clubs now lining up to bring him south.
It's reported that the Tigers were set to offer him a two-and-a-half-year deal, however the rumoured $700k per season asking price has become an obstacle.
Readis reporting that the Dragons and the Canterbury Bulldogs are now ahead of the Tigers in the race to land Pangai Jnr’s signature.
“At the moment, I think the Wests Tigers have gone a bit cold on him.” Read said on Triple M.
“I would suggest Canterbury are the side if they decide to press ahead with it. I’m not sure how advanced they are... I think Canterbury or the Dragons are probably the two sides who are in front for him at the moment.”
“I think we all thought he would be going to Wests Tigers but you just get the sense that maybe they’re not 100 per cent sure on him at the moment and I think Canterbury and the Dragons are the two clubs who seem to have the most interest in him, so I think he’s probably going to end up at one of those two clubs.”
See Also: Broncos to fight for Haas as rivals loom
With a long history of taking players from the Broncos, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the Dragons would be linked to Pangai Jnr. There’s bound to be more to come as this story develops.
