A Queensland club has reportedly exited the race to try and recruit centre Jesse Ramien from the Cronulla Sharks despite previously expressing an interest in him.
Eighteen months after nearly being selected to represent the NSW Blues, Ramien's future has been up in the air for the past few weeks, with reports emerging that he is set to be squeezed out of the Sharks due to salary cap struggles.
After initially showing strong interest in signing Ramien, The Courier-Mail is reporting that the North Queensland Cowboys are no longer interested in recruiting him from the Sharks and have ruled out "making a formal play" for his services.
It is understood that one of the main reasons behind this is due to him asking for a salary of around $600,000 a season.
While the Cowboys have bowed out of the race for the centre, he has still attracted the interest of five other teams around the NRL, including the Gold Coast Titans, which has been taken over by his former assistant coach, Josh Hannay.
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A four-time Indigenous All-Stars representative and member of the Prime Minister's XIII side in 2018, the 28-year-old has played 170 matches in the NRL since his debut in 2017 - 143 with the Sharks and 17 with the Newcastle Knights.
"The old cliché is the dream is to play one NRL game," Ramien said earlier this year after reaching the 150-game milestone.
"It's been a bit of a wild ride. There's been plenty of highs and plenty of lows as well. I wouldn't change a thing about it.
"It's brought me to where I am and made me the person I am today. It's all part of it."
