Perth Bears head coach Mal Meninga has revealed the club couldn't afford to sign AJ Brimson for their inaugural season in 2027.
Despite having a roster that is widely viewed as one more likely to be at the bottom of the table than the top next season, the Bears, with just four spots left in their Top 30, have made some strong signings and plenty of good ones for the future.
“He's a great player... we've had no approaches as yet,” Meninga said on Triple M's Sunday Sin Bin.
“I believe that he's talking to the Chiefs. He's a Gold Coast guy, so he loves the Gold Coast.
“He's probably just looking for opportunity, but from our point of view we probably couldn't afford him to be honest with you.”
The Western Australian-based outfit were an immediate natural link to AJ Brimson when it was revealed last week he had requested, and been granted permission to negotiate his future away from the club, despite being contracted on the glitter strip until the end of 2030.
That comes with the Titans having too many options at the back, and Brimson wanting to play there. He has fallen behind Keano Kini this year, and been banished out of the spine with Jayden Campbell slotting into the five-eighth role.
The spine is expected to remain in place next year, with the Gold Coast to welcome Zane Harrison back from injury to hold down the halfback jumper, leaving Brimson in the centres.
His departure from the Titans has been called for in recent times with the club needing to rebalance their roster and salary cap, although Josh Hannay's side have shown some positive signs towards the back-end of this year.
Brimson is still regarded as one of the best fullbacks in the game, with the one-time Queensland and current English representative adding plenty to the Titans attack when he plays there.
That could leave him to become the inaugural number one at the PNG Chiefs, potentially with a stop over year somewhere else in 2027, or head to one of a number of other clubs in search of a first-choice fullback.
