Less than 72 hours after reports emerged that the Brisbane Broncos were willing to let go of one of their playmakers, he has already been linked to other teams, including a Sydney NRL club.
Over the weekend, the rumour mill went into overdrive surrounding the future of Jock Madden as it seems that his time at Red Hill could potentially come to a premature end after he was granted permission to speak with rival teams.
Told that he is free to leave if he finds a new home elsewhere, Madden's imminent departure comes as the Broncos look to free up some space in their salary cap after offering big-money contracts to the likes of Ben Hunt, Brendan Piakura, Ezra Mam and Reece Walsh.
This comes as multiple stars such as Blake Mozer, Kotoni Staggs, and Selwyn Cobbo will be off-contract at the end of next season, and they look to keep as many stars on their roster as possible.
According to Wide World of Sports, Madden has been linked with a move to the South Sydney Rabbitohs and his management intends to approach Wayne Bennet later this week about a potential move.
This follows a report from Love Rugby League, that Madden could soon find himself playing overseas in the near future after he has been offered to several Super League teams as a potential recruitment option for the 2025 season.
The interesting revelation comes as he remains contracted with the Broncos to the end of the 2026 NRL season but has found himself down the pecking order due to the arrival of Origin and international representative Ben Hunt.
One could argue that teenage sensation Coby Black and reserve-grade veteran Josh Rogers may also be above him in the pecking order.
Beginning his career with the Wests Tigers in 2021 under Michael Maguire, Madden was once considered one of the most talented young halves in the game but has failed to find consistent game-time on the NRL field.
Over the past four seasons, he has only managed 32 first-grade appearances but showed glimpses in 2024 when he was brought in as coverage for Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam.
However, an unfortunate hamstring injury against the Penrith Panthers in Round 18 saw him ruled out for the remainder of the year, just as it looked like he was slowly progressing as a better player.
Still developing his game, Madden scored 18 points, provided five try assists and four line-break assists and forced two drop-outs with 331.7 kicking metres per game.
According to Love Rugby League, four days ago, there are only two Super League quota spots remaining for 2025 (one with Huddersfield and one with Leigh), so the chances of him picking up an SL gig for next season should be considered remote.
Just to make that clean – the “quota spots” are the number of “foreign” players who can play in SL. Each team has seven quota spots.