It is becoming clear that Canterbury Bulldogs forward Josh Curran will not be at the club beyond the end of his current contract.
The forward, who was one an outsider for the State of Origin selection discussion during his time at the New Zealand Warriors, can play in the middle or on the edge, and moved to Belmore ahead of the 2024 campaign.
Now with 106 NRL games under his belt, his role actively seemed to go backwards at Belmore during 2026, and with a host of young forwards both in the middle and on the edge pushing through the system, there is a good chance the club simply won't have the capacity or need to extend his contract.
The four-time Indigenous All Star is talented and experienced though, so will likely have no shortage of suitors on the open market should he look that way for 2027.
Here are the most likely landing spots for the forward.
5. Melbourne Storm
The Storm are in a real era of change at the moment.
They will head into 2026 following the departures of Ryan Papenhuyzen and Nelson Asofa-Solomona, while a man once viewed as the future of the club in Jonah Pezet has also exited.
They will have other pressing concerns in the immediate free agency window, but with talk Shawn Blore is also thinking about a departure to head back to Sydney, it could well be that they have gaps to fill in their forward pack which they need to do with outside talent.
Money won't be as tight as it once was in Melbourne given those departures, but this a club who refuse to overpay for players, and sign them because they will fit into what the club is trying to build.
Curran has a strong attitude and is excellent in defence, so it's tough to see how we would fail any of Melbourne's pre-requisite areas.
