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NRL Market Watch: Latest free agency and player movement news and whispers
Parramatta’s grand-final side is in danger of being gutted at the end of next season, but where star halves Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown end up playing in 2024 is anyone’s guess.
Peter Badel and Brent Read
The Dolphins are targeting Parramatta’s grand-final halves
Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown as pressure builds on super coach
Wayne Bennett to land a marquee signing for the NRL’s 17th team.
News Corp can reveal Dolphins bosses have earmarked Moses or Brown as Plan B marquee recruits for 2024 in the wake of
Cameron Munster’s decision to stay loyal to the Storm.
But the Dolphins are facing a battle for Moses, with the Bulldogs — armed with a $7 million recruitment war chest — launching a multimillion-dollar poaching bid for the Parramatta playmaker.
Moses is contracted to the Eels until the end of next season but has indicated he will join around
200 players to head to free agency from November 1 – opening the door for a raft of suitors, including the Dolphins and Bulldogs, to strike.
The Dolphins have
$1.4 million to spend on a marquee player after Munster rejected their NRL record offer and Bennett is prepared to redirect those funds to lure Moses or Brown to Redcliffe.
Moses is on $900,000 at Parramatta, while his scrumbase partner Brown is on $850,000, and the Eels will come under enormous pressure to upgrade and extend their star halves under the salary cap.
The Bulldogs have just eight contracted players on their books at this stage for the 2024 season, giving them several millions of dollars in salary-cap space to blow the Eels out of the water for Moses, having already poached Parramatta hooker Reed Mahoney.
Of the 25 playmakers off-contract for 2024, Moses and Brown are two of the most attractive options and Dolphins boss Terry Reader confirmed the NRL’s expansion newcomers have drawn up a hit list of priority signings.
“I’ve had discussions with Wayne and Peter (O’Sullivan, recruitment boss) about what our targets look like for 2024 and Cameron wasn’t the only one,” Reader said.
“We have a number of guys we have been on the lookout for and we have the salary cap room to table competitive offers.”
Asked if Moses and Brown are on the Dolphins’ radar, Reader said: “We are certainly in the market and nothing changes in that regard. We will continue what we are doing and making sure we sign players that we believe will be a good fit for our team.
“Now that we have clarity on Cameron Munster, we will continue negotiations with other players and their managers.
“We’re comfortable with our progress and we’ll fill our roster with more spots before kick off in 2023.”
Having missed out on Munster, Dolphins hierarchy have discussed the relative merits of Moses and Brown.
Just turned 28, Moses has played 198 NRL games and is in the prime of his career at halfback, while Brown, 22, is six years younger than his Eels teammate and could be an NRL second receiver for the next decade.
Moses insists he is content at the Eels but he is sure to be tested by lucrative offers from the Dolphins and Bulldogs, who have maligned halfback Kyle Flanagan off-contract next year.
“I would love something to get sorted but I have left it up to my management,” Moses said.
“I love this place. They have been so good to me and to experience something like the grand final, it makes you want to come back.
“I am not really worried at all (about his contract). In the past I have handled it probably the wrong way. I have learnt from those mistakes, I am pretty cruisy.
“I have full trust that something will get sorted. It’s only a matter of time.”
Brown will test his value on the open market after the World Cup and his manager Chris Orr said it would take a $1 million-plus offer from the Dolphins to prise the Kiwi Test playmaker out of the Eels.
“There’s no doubt he is happy at Parra,” said Orr of PSM.
“He has a great relationship with everyone at the club and it would take a massive deal to pull him out of the club.
“The reality is Dylan is a different individual. He walks to the beat of his own drum.
“Dylan is a free spirit and if I went to the open market, he would have a stack of clubs chasing him. I’ve had calls from a few clubs but I’ve respected Dylan’s request not to worry about contracts until the World Cup is out of the way.”
Just a month out from their first pre-season, the Dolphins have yet to fill their 30-man roster, but Reader dismissed concerns about their recruitment following the Munster setback.
“We need to sign another six players but under NRL rules, you need to have 24 players by November 1 and we have met that,” Reader said.
“There is still plenty of time before we officially run out in March next year.
“Wayne (Bennett) has spoken about the need for patience and we still have some firepower to add to our squad.
“While we have missed out on Cam, there will be other quality players on the market and guys will get squeezed out because of the salary cap.
“The Dolphins still have funds in the cap to add quality for 2023 before we start worrying about our second season in 2024.
