The Canberra Raiders are closing in on their biggest recruitment target in years, with Sydney Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves spotted in Canberra on the weekend and weighing up a multi-year deal in the nation's capital.
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Waerea-Hargreaves was seen at a restaurant on the Kingston Foreshore with his partner on Saturday night and it's understood the 25-year-old has been offered a significant deal from the Raiders that could be too good to refuse.
The New Zealand international still has a season to run on his contract at the Roosters, but an answer on the Raiders offer could come before Christmas.
Waerea-Hargreaves is in strong demand from NRL rivals, but the Raiders are leading the charge of clubs trying to pry him away from Bondi.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart would not confirm he met with Warea-Hargreaves in Canberra or that the premiership-winning enforcer was in his sights.
The Raiders have been spooked by media coverage of recent recruitment collapses, given Melbourne's Kevin Proctor and Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco reneged on agreements to join the club.
The Raiders have started to turn that fortune around, recently snaring Wests Tigers five-eighth Blake Austin and another Roosters premiership-winning forward Frank-Paul Nu'uausala.
"I've made it quite clear that I won't be discussing individual names when it comes to our recruitment," Stuart said.
"As I've said on a number of occasions, the Raiders will be aggressive in our recruitment and we have a handful of high-quality players we're looking at.
"Jared Warea-Hargreaves is a fantastic young player, but that means half the competition are throwing their hats in the ring to try and have him in their squad.
"A lot has been made of the players we've missed out on, but every one of those players has remained loyal to their current clubs. That shows we're going after the right calibre of players."
Waerea-Hargreaves has played 118 NRL games, since his debut with the Manly Sea Eagles in 2009, and 17 Tests for New Zealand.
The Raiders have freed up some money on their salary cap by releasing Terry Campese to the UK Super League, although a portion of his wage will remain on Canberra's books for 2015.
The Raiders are also looking to further bolster their props, given Tom Learoyd-Lahrs has left for Melbourne and Brett White has retired.
They have already added Nu'uausala to their pack, the 27-year-old arriving in Canberra on Sunday to commence pre-season training with the club.
