There is little doubt around the improvement Canterbury Bulldogs' centre Jake Averillo has shown over the first nine rounds of the 2023 NRL season.
After being bumped around from position to position during the early part of his career, the now 22-year-old was moved away from fullback for the start of this season to find a permanent home in the centres under Cameron Ciraldo.
The ex-Panthers' assistant said before a ball was kicked this season that he believed Averillo could become one of the game's best centres, and so far, it's hard to fault the comment.
In nine games, the centre has scored 4 tries, added another 4 try assists, made 22 tackle breaks, 7 line breaks, 114 metres per game and has defended very healthily, his game improving week on week.
His two-try effort in Wollongong for an undermanned Bulldogs against the St George Illawarra Dragons saw more praise heaped on Averillo, with the Bankstown Sports and Moorebank Rams junior running for 241 metres in a blistering performance.
That saw Ciraldo heap more praise on him, but media reports suggest it's also seen other clubs take a substantial interest in his future, with Averillo off-contract at the end of the year.
It's understood the Bulldogs would like to keep him, as well as fellow off-contract centre Paul Alamoti, but with the arrivals of Bronson Xerri and Stephen Crichton next year, both money and the fight for places in Canterbury's back five will be tight.
Contracted for 2024 alongside Xerri and Crichton are Josh Addo-Carr, Jacob Kiraz, Hayze Perham and boom NSW Cup talent Jeral Skelton.
Taking that Crichton, Addo-Carr and Kiraz lock up spots in the back five, that leaves Xerri, Perham, Skelton and potentially Averillo and Alamoti fighting for two spots in the centres.
The interest in Averillo is hardly a surprise, but here are the five clubs who should be immediately getting on the phone to try and snare the Bulldogs' centre.
Keep in mind this is purely hypothetical and the Bulldogs could yet retain his signature - and as mentioned, the rumour mill suggests they are keen too.
The Eels are in a spot at the moment where they have a number of outside backs, but none have cemented their way into the first-grade side.
This is arguably the worst of the options from a personal point of view for Averillo given the competition he would encounter, and the recent re-signing of Sean Russell may put paid to any such argument at Eels' headquarters.
Despite that, all signs point towards the out of favour Waqa Blake being let go at the end of the year, while another pair of youngsters in Samuel Loizou and Josh Tuipulotu have failed to kick on at this point and could well be destined to depart at the end of the season.
That removes some of the competition, and with a backline which was apparently already looking for an X-Factor, they could do a lot worse than the versatile Averillo.
In the outside backs, all of Haze Dunster, Will Penisini, Sean Russell and Maika Sivo are contracted into next year, while Bailey Simonsson has a player option - but none of Simonsson, Dunster or Russell have set the world on fire, so you could very easily argue two spots are up for grabs in Brad Arthur's side next year.
The Knights have a locked in centre pairing in Bradman Best and Dane Gagai... But what if it wasn't?
Best is going nowhere, but Gagai continues to get to the back-end of his career, and is equally as adept on the wing as he is in the centres.
With the Knights in general struggling for depth in the outside backs, there is an easy school of thought to be made that if the Knights could make a signing of Averillo's quality, then they'd be better off with he and Gagai in the team - and that would mean Gagai shifting to the wing.
Keep in mind here that by the time 2024 rolls around, the Knights need a new winger. I've stated before they should be banging the door down for Daniel Tupou to replace Dominic Young in what would effectively be a like-for-like swap between the Hunter-based club and the Roosters, but there is no reason Averillo wouldn't work just as well.
On the Northern Beaches, the Sea Eagles have been rotating through three centres over the first nine rounds of the new campaign, with Brad Parker, Tolutau Koula and Morgan Harper all used.
Harper is off-contract at the end of the year and has never been recovered after being smashed on a night in the Shire by Siosifa Talakai at about this time last year.
It's tipped he will make his departure from Manly during the upcoming off-season.
Maybe more surprisingly, Brad Parker is also off-contract for 2024, and while the Sea Eagles could yet re-sign him, Averillo would be an excellent addition to the side in the centres.
Parker's defence is sound, however, he lacks in attack, and Averillo has more than proven in recent times at the Bulldogs that his form with the ball in hand could well and truly make a difference to Anthony Seibold's side.
Despite the lengthy recruitment surge the Tigers went on ahead of the 2023 campaign, they are still linked to just about every free agent who hits the market, particularly in the backs.
Averillo has found a home in the centres, but his versatility may appeal to coach Tim Sheens and the management at Concord, who could have multiple backline positions to fill in 2024.
All reports are that Tommy Talau won't be at the club next year, while the remainder of the backline are all struggling to cement themselves - players like Charlie Staines, David Nofoaluma, Junior Tupou, Starford To'a, Asu Kepaoa and Brent Naden, while Daine Laurie is off-contract at the back and seemingly unlikely to be re-signed.
There will be competition for spots at Concord in 2024, but I daresay Averillo would walk straight into Tim Sheens' starting side if we made the jump to the joint venture based on the form he has shown over the first nine weeks of the 2023 season.
Without a doubt the number one option is the Cowboys.
During the week, Zero Tackle dissected the issues with the Cowboys' right-hand side defence, with the quartet of Jeremiah Nanai, Chad Townsend, Peta Hiku and Kyle Feldt struggling enormously defensively in 2023.
Hiku, who has had a major role to play in plenty of the shortcomings on that edge, is off-contract at the end of the year, and given his decline in attacking output, it's time for Todd Payten's side to look in a different direction.
Averillo would be the perfect pick up for the Cowboys, who are desperate for a young centre with speed, agility and better movement than what they currently have.
In the last nine weeks, Averillo has proven himself as a solid defender, a good competitor and an excellent attacking option, and replacing Hiku not only suits the club, but would likely suit Averillo's game style as well, particularly in the coming years as Chad Townsend retires and is replaced by young gun Jake Bourke.