Storm forward Brandon Smith has revealed superstar winger Josh Addo-Carr is already looking to tempt his Melbourne teammates to join him at Canterbury next season.
Despite their poor start to the year, the Bulldogs will be licking their lips as they await the arrival of 'The Foxx', who scored six tries on Thursday night in his side's 50-0 blowout of the Rabbitohs.
Addo-Carr's record night was a rugby league first since 1951 and shows just why several Sydney clubs were desperate to land his signature for 2022.
Luckily for Canterbury, they were the successive suitors for the NSW star and will welcome him and Penrith duo Matt Burton and Brent Naden at season's end.
The trio of arrivals will add to the impressive recruitment drive the Bulldogs have enjoyed under Trent Barrett since his arrival late last year.
The Bulldogs remain keen on luring more players to Belmore, with Smith well in their sights.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Smith revealed he had coincidentally bumped into Barrett and Addo-Carr when the pair met in Melbourne and would be tempted to continue his career alongside the Blues winger.
“It’s tempting when he scores six tries like that,” Smith said.
“We haven’t sorted anything out like that [moving to Belmore]. The Storm are pretty stubborn with keeping me. I don’t mind.
Embed from Getty Images “I was going to brekkie at a place we usually go to brekkie in Richmond. Josh was there with him.
“We’d spoken before. He gave me a call a while ago, but that was during the off-season when the Storm had allowed me to talk to other clubs.
“But Joshy has been in everyone’s ear, he wants a lot of these players [here] to follow him and knows what they’re building at the club. There must be something special going on. That Matt Burton will attract a lot of players, and they’ve signed Brent Naden."
The Bulldogs are likely to continue their push for Smith at the end of this season despite the New Zealand international remaining contracted until the end of 2022.
Melbourne granted Smith the option to assess his options for the future and would potentially be given the green light to move via an early release from his current deal should a suited club offer a player of a similar skill level in return.
Canterbury have also been linked to Storm forward and New South Wales representative Dale Finucane, who remains unsigned past 2021.
Another off-contract star on the books in Victoria is Nicho Hynes, who is sure to be courted from several rival clubs given his place behind superstar fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen in the pecking order.
Smith would be looking at rival clubs for a similar reason as coach Craig Bellamy favours Queenslander Harry Grant in the No.9 jumper, with starting hooker options on offer elsewhere.