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A final transfer fee looms as the last hurdle to Canterbury bringing gun English prop Luke Thompson to Belmore for the rest of 2020.
NRL.com understands that reigning Super League champions St Helens are resigned to releasing Thompson over the weekend.
The final cost of Thompson's early arrival at the Bulldogs is still to be determined as the two clubs negotiate St Helens' financial compensation.
Under NRL rules, any transfer fee would not count towards Canterbury's salary cap, while the club has enough room to accommodate Thompson for the rest of the year.
The 25-year-old is already NRL-bound for 2021 after inking a lucrative three-year deal in February.
The Bulldogs are yet to make any official comment on the matter.
If Thompson is able to travel to Australia next week, he will be required to spend two weeks in quarantine before joining the Bulldogs' 50-man NRL bubble.
It's a timeline that would have Thompson – regarded as the best front-rower in England – available for selection in Dean Pay's side by the end of the month.
With Thompson potentially available for as much as three months of the regular season, any reasonable transfer fee would be money well spent to secure the Test prop.
Thompson would also arrive well before the NRL's new mid-season transfer cut-off date, which has been pushed back from June 30 to August 3 in the COVID-19-affected season.
St Helens, coached by Tongan mentor Kristian Woolf, were loath to lose Thompson having tabled the largest contract in the club's history to try and keep him.
They had hoped to have Thompson on deck for the final year of his current deal when the Super League looks to resume its season after August.
But with Thompson keen to fast-track his NRL move St Helens will reluctantly send him to Belmore early.
Canterbury beat several NRL rivals, including the Warriors and Titans, to land Thompson earlier this year, with CEO Andrew Hill and chairwoman Lynne Anderson flew to England to secure Thompson's signature in person.
NRL.com understands that reigning Super League champions St Helens are resigned to releasing Thompson over the weekend.
The final cost of Thompson's early arrival at the Bulldogs is still to be determined as the two clubs negotiate St Helens' financial compensation.
Under NRL rules, any transfer fee would not count towards Canterbury's salary cap, while the club has enough room to accommodate Thompson for the rest of the year.
The 25-year-old is already NRL-bound for 2021 after inking a lucrative three-year deal in February.
The Bulldogs are yet to make any official comment on the matter.
If Thompson is able to travel to Australia next week, he will be required to spend two weeks in quarantine before joining the Bulldogs' 50-man NRL bubble.
It's a timeline that would have Thompson – regarded as the best front-rower in England – available for selection in Dean Pay's side by the end of the month.
With Thompson potentially available for as much as three months of the regular season, any reasonable transfer fee would be money well spent to secure the Test prop.
Thompson would also arrive well before the NRL's new mid-season transfer cut-off date, which has been pushed back from June 30 to August 3 in the COVID-19-affected season.
St Helens, coached by Tongan mentor Kristian Woolf, were loath to lose Thompson having tabled the largest contract in the club's history to try and keep him.
They had hoped to have Thompson on deck for the final year of his current deal when the Super League looks to resume its season after August.
But with Thompson keen to fast-track his NRL move St Helens will reluctantly send him to Belmore early.
Canterbury beat several NRL rivals, including the Warriors and Titans, to land Thompson earlier this year, with CEO Andrew Hill and chairwoman Lynne Anderson flew to England to secure Thompson's signature in person.
