Cronulla Sharks prop Braden Hamlin-Uele has reportedly become the target of a major bid from he New Zealand Warriors.
Hamlin-Uele, who is off-contract at the end of the 2024 campaign and has been able to negotiate with rival clubs since November 1 last year, but has not previously been rumoured to have rival contract offers on the table.
The 29-year-old has played a Test for New Zealand in 2019, and another for Samoa in 2022 before having his Rugby League World Cup campaign with the Island nation cut short.
Debuting in 2017 with the North Queensland Cowboys, Hamlin-Uele has gone on to play 98 of his 99 NRL games with the Sharks, where he has become part of the furniture in Craig Fitzgibbon's forward pack.
There are very few top-tier props left on the market for 2024 though, and while the Warriors making a bid for the Auckland-born forward is unsurprising, the dollar value attached to it is, with The Sydney Morning Herald suggesting it's in the realms of $700,000 per season over three years.
It's believed the Sharks also have a deal on the table, but that it doesn't go close to matching what the Warriors have put in front of the prop, who could now return to his birthplace and be almost guaranteed a starting spot.
The same can't be said if he remains at the Sharks, who have signed Addin Fonua-Blake from the Warriors for the 2025 season after the Dally M team of the year player elected to return to Australia, being granted a release from the Warriors on compassionate grounds.
With Toby Rudolf also locked in at the Sharks, it means minutes and roles are a head-scratcher moving forward for Craig Fitzgibbon, and it appears unlikely the Sharks would find the need to be dragged into a bidding war for Hamlin-Uele's services, who failed to average triple figures for metres per game in 2023.
It's believed the Warriors will use Hamlin-Uele as the leader of their forward pack from the start of 2025 if he does decide to make the jump to Auckland.