The Newcastle Knights' chances of retaining Dominic Young seem to have received a boost, with the Canterbury Bulldogs and South Sydney Rabbitohs both reportedly pulling out of the race.
Young is one of the most widely-chased players coming off-contract at the end of the 2023 season, with the star English winger being at one point or another reportedly chased by up to half of the NRL.
The Knights have always maintained that they are in the hunt to retain Young, and it's understood that he has been handed a big contract offer by the Knights to remain in the Hunter, potentially long-term.
But that will be less than straight forward.
It has been previously revealed that Young has already met with the Canterbury Bulldogs, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Dolphins, with a handful of other clubs also interested, according to News Corp.
Now it's understood that the Sydney Roosters are also one of the favourites after Young met with coach Trent Robinson, while all of the Melbourne Storm, Gold Coast Titans, North Queensland Cowboys, Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Raiders have shown interest at one stage or another.
The Knights' chances of retaining Young may have increased however, with new reports suggesting two of the clubs Young has met with - the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs - dropping out of the race.
Intriguingly, Young was believed to be a high-priority target for the Rabbitohs in particular after they used another Englishman in current assistant coach Sam Burgess to meet with Young.
But it's now believed both of the Sydney clubs have dropped out of the running.
It's understood the Rabbitohs have had their hands tied by salary cap constraints after the recent triple re-signing of Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker and Damien Cook, while the club have plenty of options in the outside backs, including youngsters who will push for first grade minutes either this year or next.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, recently added Stephen Crichton to their roster for 2024 and beyond, and while he will line up at fullback, the club also have Josh Addo-Carr on the backs. Add that to a plethora of young talent looking to breakthrough under the watchful eye of both Phil Gould and Cameron Ciraldo at Belmore, and it's not difficult to see why the blue and white have dropped out of the race alongside their Redfern rivals.
Young has officially been able to sign with another club since November 1 last year, but it has previously been suggested he won't rush the decision as he negotiates what may not only be a long-term deal, but his first major pay day in the NRL following his switch from England.
The Knights had originally taken something of a gamble on Young to move him from England, and it wasn't until 2022 that he became a consistent NRL-standard winger - one who would ultimately be picked for the Rugby League World Cup with the home side at the back-end of the year, despite playing with a badly-beaten Knigths' side for the majority of the campaign.
His height and abilities both and on and off the ball make him a valuable commodity though, with NRL official numbers showing that he is the equal-tallest player in the game alongside Melbourne Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
