An NRL club has reportedly tabled an offer for Melbourne Storm playmaker Jonah Pezet as he looks set to become one of the top halfbacks on the open market in less than a month's time.
Sustaining an ACL injury in April this year that saw him ruled out for the remainder of the season, Pezet has emerged as one of the best young playmakers in the competition and has materialised as the long-term successor of both Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes in the halves.
Born in 2003, the 21-year-old has only appeared in ten first-grade matches but has shown that he has the potential to become the number-one attack option in the future as he continues to enhance his skills and further his development.
Despite catching the interest of the Newcastle Knights, Pezet is set to remain in Melbourne. The club is offering him a three-year contract extension because they expect him to be the long-term replacement of Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes.
He is currently off-contract at the end of the 2025 NRL season, meaning he will be able to test the open market and negotiate with rival teams from November 1.
“He's got an offer on the table, and apparently, it is really close to getting done,” Brent Read said on Triple M's Monday Scrum.
"I don't think he particularly wants to go...I reckon he'll have an agreement that if Jahrome [Hughes] extends beyond 26, they'll look at letting him go.
“I think the offer they've made to him is a three-year extension."
Admitting in the past that they were "very interested" in acquiring his services, the Newcastle Knights and their Head of Recruitment, Peter O'Sullivan, are likely to go all-in from November 1 to try and lure him back to his junior club.
The Knights have struggled in their halves-recruitment in recent seasons, which has seen Jackson Hastings axed to the NSW Cup in another position, Jack Cogger demoted mainly to the interchange bench, and them running with Phoenix Crossland at halfback, despite him primarily being a hooker.
Englishman Will Pryce has also struggled to cement continuous game-time at the top level, while Tyson Gamble is better as a number-six and struggles when seen as the number-one attacking option.
"He's someone we're very interested in, yeah. But we can't talk to him yet," O'Sullivan told News Corp previously.