Parramatta face siff competition from three teams trying to poach young gun Blaize Talagi but the club is confident he will stay in blue and gold.
St George Illawarra, Newcastle and the Dolphins are throwing big dollars at the rising star to lure him away from the Eels as the off-contract 19-year-old weighs up his playing future.
Parra have the added bonus of Talagi staying at the club where he made his NRL debut and the offer of playing in his preferred position of fullback with captain Clint Gutherson set to switch to centre next year under new coach Jason Ryles.
The Dragons have re-signed Tyrell Sloan to be their long-term fullback while Kalyn Ponga has a stranglehold on the position at the Knights and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is locked into the No.1 jersey at the Dolphins.
Eels CEO Jim Sarantinos told the Sydney Morning Herald that they hope to have Talagi’s signature on a new deal in the near future.
“Being able to clear a path for the head coach and Blaize to sort out where he fits in the team longer term is really important,” he told the SMH.
“There’s no secret about how much everyone at the club cares for Blaize and sees him as our long-term future.
“He’s been able to play a number of different positions and been able to handle those really well. It just talks to the character and talent that he has.”
Blaize Talagi. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Dolphins set to make late play for Stefano
Wests Tigers are expecting a decision from one-time NSW representative Stefano Utoikamanu imminently on whether he will stay at the club or switch to Melbourne.
The Storm have emerged as the frontrunners for his signature after St George Illawarra withdrew their lucrative offer while Canberra have also thrown their hat in the ring for the talented prop.
With Jesse Bromwich retiring at the end of the season, the Dolphins are set to make a late play for the front-rower with new recruit Tevita Pangai jnr potentially following Wayne Bennett to South Sydney next year.
Utoikamanu has a Tigers contract for next season that would have been activated if he played two State of Origin matches by the end of the year or the club made the finals.
He was not selected by the Blues and Wests are again running last with no hope of qualifying for the playoffs.
The Tigers attempted to bring his playing future to a head last month when they gave their star prop permission to negotiate with NRL rivals.
But the speculation has swirled in the ensuing weeks and with Isaiah Papali’i already leaving to join Penrith next year, Utoikamanu’s possible departure would be a hammer blow to Benji Marshall’s hopes of rebuilding the struggling club.
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/tRHSMaT News: Three teams throw big bucks at Blaize but Eels confident of keeping rising star, three-horse race for Tiger
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