St George Illawarra Dragons half Ben Hunt has a new suitor, with the Gold Coast Titans reportedly throwing their hat into the ring.
While Hunt is contracted at the Dragons until at least the end of the 2025 campaign and would need the blessing of the club to entertain any offers from anywhere in the competition, Hunt has done little to rule himself out of a move away from the club.
The club captain was one of Anthony Griffin's biggest supporters, and while he said he was happy with the appointment of Shane Flanagan from within the Queensland Maroons' State of Origin camp on Thursday, he had a simple "I don't know" response when asked if his future was now secure at the Red V.
He also told News Corp that a couple of clubs have thrown their hat into the ring, telling the publication that no official offers have been made.
โI really haven't made any decisions on (my future) yet. I haven't talked to โFlanno' or anyone since the decisions were made.
โThere's always a couple of clubs interested that have thrown their hat in the ring. I'm not going to go into too many details.
โI haven't had any official offers or anything from anyone at all. At the moment I'm contracted to the Dragons.
โIt's hard to say (if I'd return to Queensland). The career is coming to an end pretty quickly. I've only got a few years left.
The publication reports that one of the offers has come from the Titans, who were entertaining the idea of making a play for Hunt last year before he chose to re-sign with the Dragons on a two-year deal.
Ultimately, the Titans signed another veteran in Kieran Foran as they attempted to turn around their fortunes from a dismal 2021 season where a spine shake-up backfired spectacularly on coach Justin Holbrook.
Moving on Jamal Fogarty, Holbrook moved AJ Brimson into the five-eighth role, allowing Toby Sexton to take over the team, while Jayden Campbell came in at fullback.
Ultimately, their attack fell to pieces and the club finished in the bottom four.
The arrival of Foran, alongside ex-Sydney Roosters' hooker Sam Verrills, has led the club to some success this year, although they are still well short of where they'd like to be.
That could leave the club with more than a chance of making a play for Hunt if he does become available, although new coach Shane Flanagan has already had conversations with Hunt about his future.
The coach, speaking on 2GB Radio on Monday prior to being appointed in the role that he will take over from the start of the 2024 campaign, said it was the only question he had for Hunt during a recent meeting, although he admitted the pair are close and live locally - crucially, Flanagan didn't confirm Hunt's answer to the question.
โThe question I did have for Ben Hunt - if I was lucky enough to get the coaching job, would you want to stay at the club, because there has been a lot of speculation that Ben Hunt wanted out, and I just wanted assurance that Ben Hunt would not [want to leave] if I got the job, and all of sudden Day 1 of my job I'm looking for a halfback.
"That's the conversation I had with Ben and there is still a lot of water to go under the bridge for me to get the job, but in my mind, I had to know what was going on there.
โWe are good mates. We have worked together, and from a professional basis, I did his contract there for the next three years when I was doing the list management at the Dragons.
โIf I do get the job, I said to him, โyou will be my halfback'. I don't think that's a real big statement.โ
The Dragons are on the bottom of the NRL ladder, while the Queensland side can take out the State of Origin series with a game to spare if they win Wednesday's encounter in Brisbane against the Blues, having taken out the series opener in Adelaide where Hunt played a crucial role starting in the number nine jersey.
