The Dolphins have spent much of the week in the news, with the NRL's 17th club facing their biggest challenge since they first joined the NRL in the lead-up to November 1.
Kristian Woolf and his staff have built one of the NRL's most talented - and most exciting - playing rosters over the last few years, but as it stands, the club have a staggering 15 players off-contract at the end of 2027.
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Included in that list are a number of top-tier stars who could be in for significant pay bumps. Guys who signed their last deal as a relative unknown, and are now either representative players, or banging on the door of being so.
One of those is Jack Bostock, with the towering centre and winger earning a call up to the NSW Blues side during this year's State of Origin series.
The Dolphins star is one of a few who it has been indicated will be testing the open market on November 1, and while the club have expressed that they want to keep everyone, the simple, cold hard reality of the situation is that it seems unlikely.
With rising salaries, the threat of expansion clubs and tax-free dollars from PNG, and the player pool becoming skinnier compared to the number of spots available as the NRL line up three years of back-to-back-to-back expansion, someone, or potentially multiple players, are going to leave the Redcliffe-based club.
With that in mind, and the race to November 1 on, here are the clubs who could make a play for Bostock once we get to that date.
3. St George Illawarra Dragons
Bostock is a Dragons junior, and it's a headache for fans of the club that they let Bostock walk to the Dolphins prior to his first-grade debut.
Bostock always had the physical attributes, talent and potential to be something great, and very early in his career, he is already realising that.
A try-scoring outside back who has already made the representative cut.
The Dragons have put up one of the most impressive recruitment runs for 2027, signing six players, and re-signing another six of their young forwards as Dean Young's side build for the future.
Arguably the only weak spot left is the outside backs, their speed, their height, and their try-scoring ability.
What is clear is that Valentine Holmes' last season with the club will likely be 2027, and Bostock would be a tremendous replacement and addition to their backline.
Money isn't a huge question, because Holmes is currently on around a million dollars per season.
This should be a slam dunk for the Dragons.
If I were Bostock, I wouldn’t go to PNG to live in a compound or to Perth to spend ten+ hours on a plane every other weekend.
Brisbane would be handy, but that team’s recent recruitment wouldn’t enthuse me, nor would the club culture.
Wests and Parramatta don’t seem to have a clear idea of where they are going.
St George – with its 2027 signings and retentions – would seem to be easily the most attractive option.