Melbourne prop Christian Welch could be on his way to back to his home state with the Broncos keen to add the veteran to bolster their forward pack.
Welch faces an uncertain future after a season of down form and injuries led to him being on the fringe of the first-grade squad.
The 30-year-old former Maroons forward is contracted to the Storm until the end of next year with the player and club having a mutual option on his services for 2026.
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Brisbane coach Kevin Walters was adamant after their loss to Melbourne on Thursday night that they have the talent to be title contenders on their roster but they might need a few changes to freshen up their team.
Kobe Hetherington has been told he can head elsewhere while Samoan international Martin Taupau is likely to retire after not being offered a contract for next season.
Welch is behind Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Tui Kamikamica, Josh King, Trent Loiero and Alec MacDonald in the Storm’s middle forward rotation and is likely to get more game time at Brisbane as a third option behind Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas.
Hunt’s Dragons future up in the air again
The ongoing saga over Ben Hunt’s future at the Dragons is again under scrutiny with the veteran half and coach Shane Flanagan clashing twice in the past couple of weeks.
Vision has emerged of the coach and captain in a terse exchange from their last two losses to the Eels and Raiders which torpedoed their season.
Hunt twice requested a release from his St George Illawarra contract last year to return to Queensland but the club refused to budge.
He is on a deal which expires at the end of next year and is hoping to play on into 2026.
Former Blues coach Brad Fittler suggested Flanagan and Hunt appear to be on different pages.
“Just watching the coach and him react in the changerooms … maybe they both need a breather,” he said.
Maroons coach Billy Slater responded on The Sunday Footy Show by saying the team had no alternative as a chief playmaker if they let Hunt walk.
“I don’t think they can afford to lose Ben Hunt right now,” he said.
“If they had another half ready to step up, maybe they would look at releasing some salary cap pressure and releasing Ben Hunt. I don’t think they would right now.”
The Dragons are set to add Eels prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard to go along with Cowboys centre Valentine Holmes and Souths hooker Damien Cook as their main recruits for next season and they have also been linked to Raiders forward Corey Horsburgh.
Bromwich banned into retirement
Dolphins captain Jesse Bromwich retired after Sunday’s loss to Newcastle but if he ever does want to play again, he will have to serve a one-match ban.
He was charged with dangerous contact for his cheap shot on Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga which carries a two-game suspension, or one with an early guilty plea.
Bromwich spent 10 of the last 12 minutes of his 338-game career in the sin bin for sliding over to hit Ponga high while he was on the ground.
“The overwhelming feeling is that I let the team and the club down,” Bromwich said after the loss. “Once that goes away, I’ll deal with the whole retirement thing. But it sucks to go out that way.”