Penrith Panthers outside back Charlie Staines has been linked with a move to either the Wests Tigers or Canterbury Bulldogs for the 2023 season and beyond.
Staines spent most of the 2021 season in Penrith's first grade side, but has fallen out of favour with coach Ivan Cleary in 2022.
The emergence of Taylan May, as well as the return from an early-season injury to Brian To'o, has seen Staines play just one game since he was originally dropped for Round 9 against the Parramatta Eels.
While he has served as 18th man on three occasions, his failure to add to a career tally of 32 games - which has brought 22 tries - in recent times, as well as strong form in the NSW Cup, has brought about the potential for him to abandon Penrith at the end of the season.
However, he is currently on contract with the Panthers until the end of 2023 and would require a release to switch clubs.
It was previously reported that Staines' management reached out to the Tigers personally to see if there were prospects of him signing on for 2023, however, the club were targeting re-signing Daine Laurie as their number one priority.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, are unwilling to re-sign Matt Dufty, and with limited fullback options on the open market, could well chase Staines for the 2023 season.
The Dolphins are also yet to sign a first-choice fullback.
The Sydney Morning Herald's Adrian Proszenko said that the Tigers and Bulldogs are both interested when speaking on SEN Radio.
“A couple of clubs that are having a sniff around are the Wests Tigers and the Bulldogs,” Proszenko said.
“The interesting thing there is that they both don’t have a coach at the moment, there’s no use having a player if the (new) coach doesn’t want said player.”
Both teams are also reportedly chasing Cameron Ciraldo as their next head coach and Proszenko believes Staines could end up wherever Ciraldo does.
“But the interesting thing is that they’re both sniffing around Cameron Ciraldo who obviously knows what Charlie Staines, 'the Forbes Ferrari', is capable of,” Proszenko said.
“That will be one to keep an eye on.
“It’s an important weekend for him as he’s been picked in a very strong Samoan team. He can show his worth this weekend.”
Staines, playing fullback, was a standout for the Panthers' NSW Cup side on the weekend, running for 245 metres in a demolition job of the Newtown Jets, and will play fullback for Samoa this weekend against the Cook Islands.
