Only a day after Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins announced their newest addition to the expansion club, in the form of North Queensland Cowboys second-rower Tom Gilbert, the coaching guru has turned his sights back to the signature of marquee man Cameron Munster.
The ninth player to sign with the new club, Gilbert's youth and motor is a welcome addition to a Dolphin's outfit that is slowly gaining troops.
However, just as the news surfaced of Gilbert putting pen to paper, the focus of the club was apparently right back to Munster.
"A lot of that [contract talk] is speculation, but we're keen to have Cameron at Redcliffe, whether it's in 2023 or 2024," Bennett told 9news Queenland.
"We're working there with his management."
Munster, who's been in all-world form this season, has been at the top of Bennett's wish list for a while, however, it was the decision by Newcastle's Kalyn Ponga to re-sign with his current club that bolstered the contract talks between the Storm five-eighth and the Redcliffe based club.
"I'm not overly confident, but I'm not underly confident," Bennet said of the contract talks with Munster's management.
"There's a fair bit to be done, but we feel we're heading in the right direction in regards to our end of the bargain.
"Hopefully Cameron will want to come."
The Queensland Maroons State of Origin five-eighth has shown no indication about his allegiance past 2023 but is certainly weighing up his options after the Melbourne Storm decided to re-sign Jahrome Hughes, Xavier Coates and Harry Grant, significantly shrinking the pot of gold the heavyweights could throw at him.
Quietly confident, Bennet has continued to amass troops, with Gilbert the newest in a relatively small line of players who've agreed to join the club in 2023, its maiden season.
Along with Gilbert, the Dolphins have most notably agreed to deals with the Storm trio ofย Jesse Bromwich,ย Kenneath Bromwichย andย Felise Kaufusi, as well asย Mark Nichollsย andย Ray Stone.
