The Panthers are reportedly keen to lure Broncos forward Matt Lodge to the foot of the mountains as his future at Red Hill remains uncertain.
Lodge remains contracted to Brisbane for the 2022 season and has the option in his favour to extend his stay with the Broncos for a further two years.
However, according to Channel 7, the Broncos could table Lodge to rival clubs for a bargain price, with the Panthers showing an "active interest" in the 25-year-old.
Following the departures of James Tamou and Zane Tetevano ahead of the 2021 season, Ivan Cleary has looked to bolster his middle forward stocks and could see Lodge as a key acquisition.
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7NEWS can reveal the @PenrithPanthers are considering signing controversial prop Matt Lodge from the @brisbanebroncos. The club had tried to keep it quiet to avoid backlash. 7NEWS at 6pm. https://t.co/OF81oZFF1j #NRL #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/1rpDQ1WHBZ
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) April 23, 2021
Lodge has played 58 games for the Broncos since arriving at the club in 2018 after a three-year spell outside of the NRL following his axing from the Wests Tigers.
Journalist Brent Read claimed last week that Lodge could be one of Kevin Walters' senior forwards to be shown the door at some point in 2021, with teammates Tevita Pangai Junior, Payne Haas and Thomas Flegler also listed.
“There’s been some whispers around in the last couple of weeks that there’s about to be some big changes at the Broncos,” Read said on Triple M.
“There’s been some agents that have been told ‘just hold fire, we’re going to make a call in the next couple of weeks on what we do and who we move.
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“I expect there’ll some guys to be tapped on the shoulder potentially in the next week or two at the Broncos.
“They’re very stacked in the middle of the field. They’ve got about $3 million in Payne Haas, Tevita Pangai Jnr, Matt Lodge and Thomas Flegler.
“They tried to move Lodge in the off-season, they weren’t able to do it but I suspect one of those guys will be on the move because they need to free up cash."
The Broncos and Cowboys are understood to be chasing Panthers' Origin calibre second-rower Kurt Capewell and could add further headaches to Cleary's forward crop.
Capewell, alongside Isaah Yeo, James Fisher-Harris and Viliame Kikau have seamlessly glued once again this year, with Penrith sitting atop the ladder after seven rounds following their undefeated start to the season.
