Cronulla Sharks general manager of rugby league Darren Mooney has revealed it was never the club's plan to sign Addin Fonua-Blake for the 2025 NRL season.

Fonua-Blake - one of the game's best props - requested a release from the New Zealand Warriors at the end of the 2024 campaign on compassionate grounds and was eventually granted it, with the Auckland-based outfit snagging the signing of James Fisher-Harris as his direct replacement.

The move back to Australia for Fonua-Blake almost saw him link up with his first club in the St George Illawarra Dragons. However, he eventually signed with the Sharks, believed to be on less money than what the Dragons were offering.

Mooney, speaking on SEN Radio, revealed it was Fonua-Blake's management who made initial contact with the club, and that the releases of Matt Moylan to the Leigh Leopards in the English Super League, as well as Connor Tracey to the Canterbury Bulldogs, freed up enough cash for the Shire-based outfit to make a play for Fonua-Blake.

"I guess with Addin, we never planned to sign Addin. He was contracted to the Warriors for a few extra years, so obviously there was a complication there with working through with the Warriors on how he would be released," Mooney said on SEN's The Run Home with Joel and Fletch.

"We also didn't have the money, we didn't have the plan to go after a marquee front rower, but if you look back at that time, I think we had released Matty Moylan to Leigh, and Connor Tracey to the Bulldogs, we had a little bit of salary cap space to play with and to be honest, his manager called us wanting to see if we could accomodate it.

"So we had plenty of meetings and shuffling of numbers, and we didn't think we'd be able to get in the ballpark, but we thought we'd have a crack anyway and meet him and see if he liked what he was going to be walking into, what sort of environment and I guess in the end we got him.

"It was a credit to everyone who was involved, it was a credit to Addin wanting to be part of our organisation, and we can't wait to get him on board."

There has been a common view that the Sharks were a strong forward pack leader short of being able to compete for the premiership, and with the breakout season for five-eighth Braydon Trindall now in the books, things could be coming together at the right time for the Shire-based outfit.

Craig Fitzgibbon's side, who have a host of young forwards coming through their system as well, wound up with a preliminary final exit in 2024.