The South Sydney Rabbitohs have reportedly opened talks with Jye Gray, a young gun and future NRL player, over a new contract.
A standout in the club's Charity Shield match against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Gray has continued his brilliant form in the NSW Cup.
Last week against the Roosters, he had 271 running metres, four line breaks, one try, nine tackle busts, and 73 post-contact metres.
A great player as a schoolboy, Gray has been previously seen by club officials as the long-term replacement for Cody Walker in the halves but is also successful in the fullback role.
Off-contract at the end of the season, News Corp has reported that the Rabbitohs have opened talks with him over a new contract.
It is currently unknown on the fine print of the details at this stage or how many seasons they are looking to lock him down for.
As the Rabbitohs continue their losing streak and Jason Demetriou continues to come under fire, multiple critics have proposed that Gray may make his NRL debut sooner rather than later in the number one jersey, pushing Latrell Mitchell to the centres.
Former NRL player Gordon Tallis and Fox League journalist James Hooper spoke on the issue earlier in the week.
“There's talk that Latrell should be a centre. There's got to be someone in the system, that's the role of the recruitment to have a backup in case he goes down,” Tallis said on NRL 360.
“The fullback has become an effort role where Latrell is a strike weapon. He's powerful, give him the ball eight times a game and see what he does instead of all that running.
“Is that Latrell's weapon, as a strike centre?”
“I think Latrell would probably be better served at this point of time moving to left centre but I do worry about how he would receive that news and react to that,” Hooper added.
“You just have to look at all of his old footage from the Roosters and when he was at his best there and its in the centres,” Tallis responded.
“When he's dominated State of Origin its in the centres. When he gets quality ball he makes his opposition look like kids.”
