The Dolphins are set to add yet more experience to their squad for the 2023 season, with Dunamis Lui reportedly the next player on Wayne Bennett's radar.
The struggles for the NRL's newest club to sign players for their inaugural season in 2023 have been made abundantly clear over the past few months.
They have already missed out on the likes of Brandon Smith, Reed Mahoney, Apisai Koroisau, Isaiah Papali'i, Clint Gutherson and Junior Paulo, all of whom the club were heavily linked with.
Instead, they have managed five signings with NRL experience in Mark Nicholls, Jesse Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi, Ray Stone and Jamayne Isaako, while the little-known Valynce Te Whare has also signed a top 30 deal for 2023.
That has left genuine concerns over the average age of the starting forward pack, with Bromwich set to be 33, Nicholls 33 and Kaufusi 31 when the first ball is kicked in 2023. Stone and Isaako bring the average age of the squad back, but fans of the Dolphins expressed concern last week when the club was linked with another ageing player in Kenneath Bromwich, brother of Jesse.
Now Wide World of Sports are reporting that a deal is virtually done between Dunamis Lui and the club.
Lui is currently 31, but will be 33 by the time the 2023 season kicks off, giving the Dolphins four players on the wrong side of 30 in their first seven signings, and all in the engine room.
The prop, best known for his 89 games at the Raiders between 2017 and 2021, also spent time with the Brisbane Broncos, Manly Sea Eagles and St George Illawarra Dragons. He was let go by the Raiders at the end of last season and ended up with 169 games, as well as six Tests for Samoa and a single State of Origin for Queensland in 2020.
It's understood the plan would be for Lui to play in the Queensland Cup team at Redcliffe in 2022 before becoming part of Wayne Bennett's top squad in 2023.
