St George Illawarra could be set for a full shake up of their pack after recent reports that James Graham is set to depart the Dragons imminently.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Warriors looking set to table an offer to Jack de Belin in the hopes of him being clear of rape charges and prop Josh Kerr.
The Dragons have made it known that once they are able to find a replacement for Graham, 34, they will release him to the Super League where he looks set to join St Helens, the club where his career began and it appears all parties won't stand in each others ways.
St Helens are looking for a splash signing after allowing Luke Thompson to leave and join Canterbury, and Graham is exactly what the club are looking for.
Graham is still contracted at the Dragons and has been named to face Gold Coast despite the recent reports of an imminent leave. With the Dragons suffering a poor start to the season, the English international has been in the negative limelight as a result of the poor start and it hasn't been easy.
The Dragons could soon have a very different looking pack as a result. de Belin's rape trial is scheduled for a motion hearing in Wollongong Local Court starting on Monday and if an outcome isn't reached, he won't be on the teams list to face off against the Roosters in round seven, but a positive result could see a return to action sooner rather than later.
The Warriors are keen on de Belin and have been in constant contact with the players management over a potential contract. Should de Belin be cleared of his charges, he could certainly be a Warriors player next season. Should de Belin not be cleared though, the Warriors contract to him will be removed.
The Wests Tigers have also been labelled as another team that would be interested in acquiring de Belin's services.
Forward Josh Kerr is uncertain on his future at the Dragons also. He is contracted at the Dragons through to 2021, but won't take up his option if his wishes of an upgrade to represent his value as a starting prop don't come to fruition. The Warriors and Sharks are the two teams reportedly interested in acquiring Kerr should things change at the Dragons.
With the Dragons not in a good way as of late, losing Graham, de Belin and Kerr in one hit would be a massive blow to an already struggling team.
After the Titans the draw is horrendous for the dragons, they won’t win many more games this season and look set for a long losing streak: their next games are
roosters
raiders
sea eagles
bulldogs
sharks
rabbits
roosters
eels
Looks to be at best 1-2 wins out of that lot.
I wouldn’t be surprised if JDB left the Dragons for a change of environment and scenery, assuming he is cleared of the charges he is facing. It’s amazing how some people’s imaginations come up with these stories when nothing is happening in JDB’s world in regards to playing NRL again. Have some people forgotten how serious these charges are?
Josh Kerr is developing into a good prop, and if the Dragons want to keep him they need to move quickly and resign him. If you take the headline of this story seriously you would think he’s about to walk out of the club any time now, when in actual fact he’s under contract until the end of this season.
It goes to show you that the headline doesn’t always make the story.