Having discussed the potential of a release from the Cowboys for family reasons to join the Raiders in 2016, Tamou has now declared he wants to see out his contract in North Queensland next year.

But the Knights have granted Leilua an early release from his deal and Canberra is close to securing the powerful Samoan centre.

Leilua's manager, Paul Sutton, confirmed Canberra was interested in the 23-year-old, but denied the deal was already done.

It's understood the Raiders are confident of announcing a deal soon and had been waiting on the Knights and Leilua to negotiate a release.

Leilua had an exit clause in his contract relating to the departure of former coach Wayne Bennett, but there was a discrepancy over the interpretation of the clause.

"Joey is a quality player and we are disappointed to lose him for next season however we certainly wanted to work with him to reach an amicable outcome for both parties," said Newcastle director of football Michael Hagan.

Leilua said he wanted to focus on completing the season for Newcastle.

"This is a personal decision for me and I want to thank the Knights for working through it with me," Leilua said.

The Tamou situation appears similar to Canberra's negotiations with St George Illawarra Dragons forward Joel Thompson last year.

Like Thompson, Tamou made informal inquiries to the Raiders given his partner, Brittney McGlone, wanted to be closer to family in Braidwood. Thompson made a similar approach to the Raiders last year because of family reasons, before deciding to stay at the Dragons.

Since making his comeback from a serious neck injury and returning to the Kangaroos Test squad, Tamou says his preference is now to remain at the Cowboys.