All of Ben Hunt, Jack Bird, Jaydn Su'A and Mikaele Ravalawa are reportedly weighing up their futures at the St George Illawarra Dragons after the club moved to sack coach Anthony Griffin on Tuesday.
The Dragons statement, which was released on Tuesday morning prior to team lists being named for Round 12 - when the joint venture will take on the Sydney Roosters at Kogarah - acknowledged the performance of the team has been well below standards.
And it's hard to argue.
The Dragons have won just two of their first ten games this year following the first two seasons of Griffin's tenure at the club where he lost more than he won and couldn't land a finals spot in either season for the Red V.
Griffin's departure has seen assistant coach Ryan Carr step into the interim hot seat and immediately switch up the team, with Moses Mbye dropped, while Zac Lomax and Jacob Liddle have been recalled after a number of controversial selections in the final weeks of Griffin's time at the club.
But a number of players reportedly less than impressed with the direction of the joint venture. Fox Sports are reporting that the Canterbury Bulldogs are likely to go after Ben Hunt, while Wide World of Sports are reporting that all of Jack Bird, Mikaele Ravalawa and Jaydn Su'A are considering their futures.
Reports of Hunt's dissatisfaction will hardly come as a surprise. He is on the record as suggesting he would consider his future if Griffin was sacked, and simply didn't want to "start again" at this stage of his career under a new coach at the likely to need a rebuild Dragons.
Speaking on NRL 360, player manager and host Braith Anasta said he has already heard murmurs that the Bulldogs are interested in Hunt.
“I'm not sure he wants to stay there, in my eyes there are a lot of other clubs that would be circling, there is one that stands out to me and that is the Bulldogs,” Anasta said.
“There are murmurs that the Bulldogs are chasing, I know Gus has interest in Hunt.
“Hunt would be the perfect fit for the Bulldogs right now, Kikau to come back in, Mahoney, Burton, Crichton to come in next year.
“He would be the perfect solution to the Bulldogs.”
It's not the first time the club have shown interest in the Queensland Maroons and Australian Kangaroos representative, having made a play for him last year before Hunt chose to re-sign with the Dragons through to the end of the 2025 campaign on a new two-year extension.
It's less than clear whether the Bulldogs, with their recruitment drive and already stretched salary cap, could make a legitimate move for Hunt.
Meanwhile, both Su'A and Bird have been forced to defend their desire to remain at the club in recent weeks. Bird only re-signed last off-year with the Dragons and stated last week he has no intentions of leaving, but Wide World of Sports are reporting that is not what rival clubs are saying.
Su'A, on the other hand, is believed to have bought a house in Wollongong and the former Queensland representative has stated he has no plans of leaving the Red V. He is currently contracted through to the end of the 2024 season.
Ravalawa is the newest addition to the list of players who reportedly have concerns over the direction of the club, and has a player option for next year, meaning he is free to leave at the end of the current campaign.
The Fijian, who has improved out of sight in recent years, could be the most likely of the quartet to abandon the Dragons should the reports be true, and multiple clubs could make a play for the powerful winger.
The media love trying to destabilise dragons. Funny how players are arcing up about an incompetent coach being sacked. They could have prevented this if they really wanted Griffin as coach. Their on-filed performances have not been up to first grade standard. They would struggle in the NSW cup!
Maybe these clowns should shut up and start playing football for the new coach because the direction we take is reliant on on-field performance as much as anything else.
New coach has to be a hard nut that takes no crap, like Hasler.