The Jamal Fogarty ball is in the Gold Coast's court, with the Canberra Raiders offering the halfback a three-year deal to move to the capital.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fogarty's management met with the Titans on Thursday in a bid to finalise his release so he could join Jack Wighton in the Raiders halves next season.
The news comes as Tom Starling looks set to remain with the Green Machine until the end of at least the 2023 NRL season, with a mutual option for 2024.
The Canberra Times believes the contract is basically finalised.
Starling was already contracted to the Raiders for next season, but he's received an upgrade and an extension after emerging as a long-term option in the No.9 jersey.
The 23-year-old played 19 games this season before it was cut short due to a broken jaw.
He formed a damaging combination with Josh Hodgson when he came off the bench to take up the hooking duties, with Hodgson switching to a ball-playing-lock role.
The way a mutual option works is the player can decide to take it up for X-amount, but if they choose not to then the club can take it up for a greater amount Y.
MORE RAIDERS NEWS
Canberra have also come to an agreement with Fogarty on a three-year deal to bring the Titans co-captain to the ACT.
Now he just needs to gain a release from the Gold Coast.
The NRL club initially ruled out letting the 27-year-old go, but have softened their stance.
Fogarty played 21 games this season, including the Titans' semi-final appearance, but looked set to fall behind young halfback Toby Sexton next year.
That opened the door for the Raiders to solve their halfback dilemma following George Williams' return to England due to homesickness halfway through the season.
The Raiders want to bring Fogarty to Canberra as the organising halfback to complement Wighton's devastating running game - allowing the latter to get back to the form he showed on the way to winning the Dally M Medal in 2020 and the Clive Churchill Medal the year before.
Tyrone Peachey's looking unlikely to come to Canberra, with the former Titans utility looking set to join the Wests Tigers.
Peachey faced a choice between the Tigers' money and an opportunity at the Raiders, with it increasingly likely he'll choose the former.
Gold Coast told the 30-year-old they wouldn't re-sign him after his three-year deal with ended this year, with the Tigers reportedly set to use some of their war chest to lure him to Concord.
The Raiders have signed South Sydney prospect Brock Gardner on a training contract for next season.
He's passed a medical after overcoming a ruptured Achilles in January.
The 21-year-old second-rower's yet to make his NRL debut.