The Perth Bears’ three primary marquee targets will be champion Queenslanders Cameron Munster and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and in-form Cronulla Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey.
While the Bears can’t officially table offers to players until November 1 it’s well-known around the game the two representative stars and Brailey are at the top of their hit list.
It’s a smart play from Bears coach Mal Meninga to have players of the standing and ilk of Munster and Tino as primary targets.
Not only are they among the best on-field talents in their positions but they’re also leaders in terms of setting the Bears up with a strong culture.
Munster is under contract with the Melbourne Storm until the end of 2027 but there’s a view the Storm would be prepared to release him a year early to link with Perth.
Tino has a get-out clause in his 10-year deal with the Titans meaning he is a free agent as of November 1 this year.
The Queensland Origin enforcer has also spoken openly about how he wants to see a blueprint from the Gold Coast about the direction the club is headed.
Cronulla local junior Brailey is one of the form running dummy-halves of the NRL right now and has been instrumental in the Sharks turning their season around over the course of the past fortnight.
The Sharks have been a little tardy out of the gates in terms of trying to get the Brailey extension done.
Signed until the end of next year it would be a huge gamble to be yet to strike a deal before November 1.
A salary cap squeeze means Cronulla are struggling to find more than $300,000 to offer fullback Will Kennedy for next season.
The Sharks are also probably slightly top heavy in terms of middle forwards with Addin Fonua-Blake, Oregon Kaufusi, Toby Rudolf, Tom Hazleton, Cam McInnes, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Tuku Hau-Tapuha all currently on the books.
The Sharks won’t want to let Brailey leave. Widely-regarded as a future NSW State of Origin hooker, he’s also a local junior out of the Aquinas Colts club and has a strong connection with the Shire.
If Brailey went to the open market you’d have to think he could command up to $1 million-a-season.
To land the signatures of Munster and Tino you’d probably have to be looking around the $1.5 million-a-season mark.
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