The Canberra Raiders and St George Illawarra Dragons are reportedly set to be among the clubs who will make a big money-play for Brisbane Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam from November 1.
Mam is off-contract at Red Hill at the end of 2024 and can negotiate with rival clubs from November 1 this year, as teammate and New South Wales State of Origin representative Payne Haas has already committed to doing.
Mam is rated as a future State of Origin player for Queensland, and is earmarked as the future of the Broncos, but the club are in the midst of a salary cap squeeze and no guarantee of being able to keep him.
Some of that has been eased in recent times with the twin departures of Herbie Farnworth and Thomas Flegler to the Dolphins for 2024 and beyond, but the fact that they will need a million dollars per season or more for Haas makes a significant dent in the money freed up by those departures, as does the contract of Selwyn Cobbo and the need to re-sign and upgrade Reece Walsh when he comes off contract at the end of 2025.
As it stands, News Corp are reporting the St George Illawarra Dragons' incoming head coach Shane Flanagan has already met with Mam's agent Nash Dawson, while the Canberra Raiders will also have a crack at Mam.
Dawson confirmed to the publication that clubs have already expressed interest, and didn't rule out testing the market.
The clubs already named as interested both need to make plays in the halves in a field of skinny availabilities and options.
The Dragons, who will reportedly lose Jayden Sullivan to the Wests Tigers at the end of this season, and have Ben Hunt asking for a release, are skinny on depth in the halves, while the Raiders are yet to replace Jack Wighton, who moves to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2024 on a mega deal.
The club don't have a first-choice number six, and may play through the 2024 season that way as they search for a way to partner Jamal Fogarty in the halves.
Other clubs will also likely make a play for Mam, and it's feasible that half the competition could become interested given his enormous upside.
The Broncos currently have Mam on $240,000 per season, and there is a school of thought that suggests he would be worth $800,000 or more when he hits the open market in November.