Parramatta Eels star Dylan Brown is heading to the open market for the 2026 NRL season, and it has now been revealed that the Dolphins are the first club to have expressed interest in securing his services.
Brown is contracted until the end of 2031 at the Eels, but the final six years of that contract are in the form of two player options.
Parramatta, who have more options on their roster than any other club in the competition, have been working to remove them all, but have failed to do so in Brown's case, with his management sending a mass email to all rival NRL clubs earlier this week asking them to express interest in the New Zealand international five-eighth.
Brown has been able to negotiate with rival clubs since November 1 in line with all players who are off-contract at the end of 2025.
The move could speak volumes of Brown's current feelings towards the club he played the 2022 NRL grand final with. Ever since, the Eels have struggled, and Brad Arthur was axed in 2024, with Jason Ryles now preparing for his first season in charge.
Fox Sports are reporting that the Dolphins are the first club considering making a play for Brown and will likely meet with him.
The email from his management called for expressions of interest, with 'suitable times' to be determind for meetings between interested suitors and Brown, who has played 123 NRL games for the Eels since his debut in 2019, and eight Tests for New Zealand in 2022 and 2023.
Injured at the end of 2024, Brown is on track to be fit for Round 1 with Parramatta when they open their season against the Melbourne Storm.
He is clearly the best option available on the open market when it comes to halves for 2026, with other top options including the veteran duo of Kieran Foran and Cody Walker, New Zealand Warriors' playmaker Te Maire Martin, utility Adam Doueihi and the likes of Jackson Hastings, Drew Hutchison and Toby Sexton, while both Daly Cherry-Evans and Adam Reynolds could be weighing up retirement at the end of 2025.
The Dolphins making a play for Brown would hardly come as a surprise.
Kristian Woolf is set to take over the club for his first season as an NRL coach in 2025, and while he will likely rely on the first-choice combination of Isaiya Katoa at halfback and Kodi Nikorima in the six, the club have money as evidenced by their failed chase of released St George Illawarra Dragons captain Ben Hunt.
While the veteran wound up signing with the Brisbane Broncos on less than what was being offered by the Dolphins, it means the Redcliffe-based outfit could be one of the most likely contenders for Brown's signature anywhere in the NRL with an open chequebook to pursue his signature.
The New Zealand international will need to make a call on whether he is taking his player option in the west of Sydney by Round 10, giving him approximately four months to make a call on his future.