Shock Broncos target emerges: ‘He doesn’t have strong ties to Sydney’

Cronulla playmaker Shaun Johnson is in Brisbane’s sights after confirmation halfback Tom Dearden is off to the Cowboys.

Brisbane are reportedly eyeing Shaun Johnson. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

With Tom Dearden off to the Cowboys, Brisbane’s halves search is underway and they have landed on an interesting new target.

Channel 7’s Chris Garry reports that Cronulla’s Shaun Johnson is the most likely to land at Red Hill with Adam Reynolds unlikely to move up north.

“Shaun Johnson now in Brisbane’s crosshairs, the enigmatic halfback is off-contract but unlike Adam Reynolds and Mitchell Moses, he doesn’t have strong ties to Sydney,” he reported on Monday night.

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“It is understood Shaun Johnson is most likely to land at Red Hill.”

Brisbane would have to stump up a fair amount of money to land Johnson though, with the Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield revealing on Monday he is part of Cronulla’s dream halves pairing for 2022.

“If Adam Reynolds decides to leave South Sydney, I am very, very confident he will be playing for the Cronulla Sharks,” he said on the Big Sports Breakfast on Monday.

“He does not want to take his young family out of Sydney, it is a long way to Cronulla, he spends a lot of his time in the Shire in summer. I think it is a really good fit for the remainder of his career. He will get a three-year contract.

“I’m told Craig Fitzgibbon, although he’s not publicly commenting on recruitment at the moment, his dream halves combination is Reynolds at half and Shaun Johnson at five-eighth.”

Barrett to pounce on out-of-favour Panther

Another Panthers star is reportedly set to join former assistant coach Trent Barrett at the Bulldogs in a move that would only intensify the war of words between the clubs.

WWOS reports the Bulldogs are set to snare centre Brent Naden on a “rich, three-year deal” which will see him join former Panthers Jack Hetherington and Matt Burton at Belmore.

Barrett confirmed the club may look at Naden earlier in the week.

“He’s a good mate of mine,” he told reporters.

“Possibly [we could sign him]. The club is always on the lookout for good players and Brent is off-contract and he is one our recruitment team could possibly look at.”

Naden has scored 30 tries from 20 games for the Panthers in the NRL and averaged 114 running metres during that time.

He appears to be on the outer at Penrith having played in NSW Cup even while Paul Momirovski was suspended, with Burton instead running out in the centres.

Burton reaffirmed his commitment to the Bulldogs during the week amid reports the Panthers could try convince him to backflip on his deal with Barrett.

STAGGS A ‘BIG CHANCE’ OF SYDNEY SWITCH

Meanwhile, Dearden may not be the only high-profile Bronco to leave Red Hill.

Kevin Walters told media last week Dearden was a big part of the club’s future plans but now reports have emerged he was not even offered a contract before his Cowboys switch.

Walters also said he expects negotiations with Kotoni Staggs to be finalised as early as this week but Fox League’s James Hooper is not so sure.

“I think he [Staggs] is a big chance of going to the Parramatta Eels,” Fox League’s James Hooper told the ‘Big League Wrap’.

Michael Ennis questioned whether Staggs would have the patience to stick solid with Brisbane given they are entering a rebuilding phase.

“Whether he wants to stay there and see if the Broncos can turn it around, I don’t know if he’ll have the patience to do that given he could probably attract near enough the same money somewhere else and get success in the near future,” he said.

“Brisbane are a long way off.”

Staggs had previously been linked to the Bulldogs and Parramatta.

The Eels have Ryan Matterson, Nathan Brown, Mitchell Moses and Blake Ferguson off-contract at the end of 2021 with the latter most likely to leave at this point.

PARRA’S BIG MOSES ‘CONCERN’ REVEALED

Moses has been linked to the Broncos but the Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster told Channel 9’s ‘100% Footy’ Parramatta have a key concern about Brisbane’s pursuit of their halfback.

“There is a lot of expectation that the Broncos are going to be quite active in the halfback market after letting Tom Dearden go,” Webster said.

“One of those men [Moses or Johnson] they’re going to make a big play for because they’ve cleared up some money.

“Mitchell Moses is talking to the Eels at the moment… but their concern is that they’re going to get blown out of the water money-wise by the Broncos.”

Hooper though questions whether money will be enough to ease potential headaches Moses may have over Brisbane’s on-field form, highlighted by their 46-6 loss to the Eels.

“Mitchell Moses has been continually linked to the Broncos,” he said on the ‘Big League Wrap’.

“What is he thinking after that performance? How is that a good sales pitch? It wouldn’t matter how much money they offer you.”

TIGERS SNARE ANOTHER ‘JIMMY THE JET’

It has been a tough few weeks for Tigers fans but there is some positive news to report.

WWOS claims the Tigers have signed try-scoring freak Jimmy Ngutlik.

He initially impressed as a rugby union winger with a lethal combination of speed and slick finishing but then switched codes to join the Redcliffe Dolphins.

He had previously been playing for ACT Premier Division side Wests Lions.

Ngutlik had been on the radar of a number of NRL clubs according to WWOS and is expected to start in the Tigers’ Jersey Flegg team shortly.

He has the nickname of ‘Jimmy the Jet’.

Originally published as Shock Broncos target emerges: ‘He doesn’t have strong ties to Sydney’