Canterbury Bulldogs young gun Sam Hughes is understood to have agreed to a new two-year deal with the club.
Hughes played a handful of first-grade games last year, but is expected to take himself to the next level this year with the Bulldogs down on depth in their forwards.
The club have lost Andrew Davey, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Tevita Pangai Junior, Franklin Pele, Luke Thompson and Corey Waddell from their forward pack since the end of 2023, with the only additions to the forward pack being Josh Curran, Poasa Faamausili and Kurt Mann, who is a utility but has spent most of the last two years at either lock or hooker for the Knights, while Liam Knight also joined in the middle of last year from South Sydney.
Gould, speaking on the Six Tackles with Gus Podcast through Wide World of Sports, said Hughes though has re-signed for two years which comes as a positive for the club in the lead-up to the start of the season.
"Sammy Hughes is a prospect and I think we've just agreed to terms to extend him for another couple of years," Gould said on the podcast.
"Sammy's a good kid, I've always liked Sammy from the first time he walked in the door, but he's just had injuries. The pre-season before this, Sammy was at a rock concert and fell over a railing and did something to his back.
"He came to us late in the season in 2022 and I thought who is this? He moved really well, big tall kid and aggressive ... I thought geez, he's a hope.
"He was spinning his wheels all year and we left him - but he's trained brilliantly during the off-season and hopefully he stands up.
"He trialled well the other night, but it was virtually only a reserve grade trial."
Hughes, who has played five first-grade games, has already been picked by Gould as the player most likely at Canterbury to have a breakout year in 2024.
On top of his NRL games, Hughes, who weighs in at 111 kilograms and stands at 193 centimetres, has also been impressive at NSW Cup level.
