The reports this week that Israel Folau was first in talks with the Wests Tigers, then had three or four interested clubs, came as one of the bigger rugby league shocks of the year.
There is no doubting the talent of Folau at his prime.
Maybe one of the most gifted athletes the sport has ever seen, the outside back scored 36 tries in 52 games for the Melbourne Storm, and another 37 in 39 games for the Brisbane Broncos before departing for the AFL at the end of 2010 as a marquee recruit for the GWS Giants as the sport looked to establish a stronghold in Western Sydney.
That two-year stint was an abject failure, but his time in rugby union afterwards between 2013 and 2019 wasn't, with the fullback, wing and centre scoring 60 tries in 96 games for the Waratahs, and 37 in 73 Tests for the Wallabies.
Controversy followed the end of his time in rugby union, and while he then had a short stint with Catalans and Japanese rugby, it was thought Folau's professional sporting career - now at the age of 37 - was done and dusted.
But reports he is looking for an NRL opportunity are a shock.
The thing is though, from a club's point of view, it could be almost a risk-free punt on a guy who played five State of Origins for Queensland and eight Test matches for Australia by the time he left the NRL at the age of 21.
A train and trial deal doesn't cost a club a roster spot, it doesn't cost a heap of money, and could provide some back-up if he works out starting in the NSW Cup.
If it doesn't, then there is nothing lost, they cut ties at the end of the year and move on in their own respective directions.
So, which clubs could conceivably be in the mix for Folau?
3. Melbourne Storm
The Storm have been maybe this year's biggest shock, and not for the right reasons.
They are now up to their eyeballs in a battle to make the top eight, and will need to be very good over the second half of the season to get there.
With Nick Meaney currently on the injury shelf, and leaving at the end of the year alongside Will Warbrick, Xavier Coates out for the rest of the year, and Marion Seve dealing with a tricep injury, a risk-free play to have a look at Folau may be a good one.
Craig Bellamy has coached Folau before, so knows exactly what he is like as a person and a player to have around the group.
