A surprise meeting between Gold Coast Titans captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and the club's former recruitment boss Ezra Howe has reportedly sparked alarm among club officials.
According to Sport Confidential, Fa'asuamaleaui was seen catching up with Howe over coffee on the Gold Coast last week, just days after returning from Australia's Ashes campaign.
The Queensland Origin enforcer is free to test the open market for 2027 and beyond, thanks to a get-out clause in his current Titans contract, allowing him to explore rival offers.
Howe, a long-time ally of Perth Bears coach Mal Meninga, played a major role in convincing Fa'asuamaleaui to leave Melbourne in 2020 and join the Titans.
The pair, alongside Meninga, were credited with reshaping the club's culture during its rebuild phase.
Meninga had planned to hire Howe as his recruitment chief before Howe became embroiled in the Titans' integrity saga - a scandal that saw Titans bosses accuse him of compiling a Bears hit list using insider knowledge of the club's salary-cap position.
While the catch-up may have been casual, Titans higher-ups will likely be nervous about the timing, especially with Meninga's Bears project eyeing marquee signings and Howe again in his orbit.
The optics look poor.
Whether there is anything in it or not, these guys should have had the sense to not meet in plain view.