Currently involved in a five-way battle for the signature of New Zealand international Leo Thompson, another team has reportedly entered the race to secure his services.
One of Newcastle's best in 2024, Thompson has been a bright light for the club since making his club debut in 2022 and has shown in only 64 matches that he will be one of the competition's best forwards in the coming seasons.
His great form saw him called up to the New Zealand Kiwis for last year's end-of-year Pacific Championships, where they defeated Australia in the Final and he would regain that spot in the national team this year.
Over the past few months, the front-rower has been weighing up his options as he remains uncontracted beyond next season and is one of the best available players who is free to speak and negotiate with rival teams.
Having already met with the Canberra Raiders and Canterbury Bulldogs and being linked with The Dolphins and Parramatta Eels, Thompson has now caught the interest of the St George Illawarra Dragons, per The Newcastle Herald.
This comes after Thompson informed the Newcastle Knights that he will not be re-signing with the club ahead of the 2026 NRL season.
It is understood that the Raiders and Bulldogs are the frontrunners at the moment.
Only on a reported salary of $350,000 per season, the front-rower is set to be handed a massive payday with his next contract, but his destination beyond 2025 has yet to be confirmed.
Thompson's situation regarding his future at the Knights is even more complicated next season, as his brother Tyrone Thompson will join the club on a development contract for the 2025 NRL season.
Thompson isn't the only player at the Knights who is free to speak and negotiate with rival teams.
Other players off-contract at the end of the 2025 season include Adam Elliott, Brodie Jones, Jackson Hastings, Jayden Brailey, Kai Pearce-Paul, and Will Pryce.
"There's always clubs interested in quality players," Knights Director of Football Peter Parr said.
"That's the world we live in. That's just something to be expected when you're a high-quality player and you're an international."
“We will just continue to do our best, put together the best offer we can and hopefully we can keep him.”
Perhaps a better approach would be to try to find out _why_ he wants to leave the club, rather than assume the reason is simply money. He may well feel that the Knights have a hopeless team, and that they are more likely to take the spoon rather than a spot in the top four.
That would be an understandable reason for looking somewhere else for 2026.