Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has reportedly flown to Melbourne to talk with Justin Olam over a potential move to Concord.
The Tigers, who will enter life under Marshall for the first time in 2024 after he took over from Tim Sheens at the end of 2023 a year ahead of schedule, will be out to turn things around after a disastrous 2023 campaign which continued their long run of seasons without a finals appearance.
Change does appear to be arriving at the joint-venture though, with more games at their spiritual home games, the departure of Luke Brooks and positive signs amongst young talent at the club.
But there is a clear need to bring in more talent from outside the club despite the internal noise that they want to position themselves as a development club.
One of the players the Tigers have been heavily linked to is out of favour Melbourne Storm centre Justin Olam, and now News Corp is reporting the pursuit of the centre has gone up a gear with Marshall meeting Olam.
Olam has permission to explore the market from the Storm, who will not stand in his way if he wants to leave the club.
He had been linked with a move away from the Storm, either to another NRL club or the English Super League, on multiple occasions during 2023 as the Papua New Guinean powerhouse found himself dropped to the QLD Cup.
It has also previously been reported that the Storm and Tigers even weighed up a player swap deal that also would have involved Shawn Blore. The Tigers' second-rower is currently able to negotiate with rival clubs, being off-contract at the end of 2024.
While Olam has made comments to the tune of wanting to recapture his place at the Storm, it's unclear just how realistic that goal is with the Storm having plenty in the way of outside backs.
Olam would be a walk-up starter at the Tigers, something that is far from a guarantee under Craig Bellamy in the Victorian capital.
The centre is on contract with the Storm until the end of 2026.