NRL market watch: Dragons expect Addin Fonua-Blake to make call on $4.5 million deal before Christmas

St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan is hoping Addin Fonua-Blake’s signature at the club will convince their unsettled skipper to stay put.

Shane Flanagan is hoping Addin Fonua-Blake will give St George Illawarra fans plenty to celebrate in the countdown to Christmas.

And the Dragons coach is confident it could also end up being the lure to keep unsettled skipper Ben Hunt at the Dragons for the rest of his career.

In the wake of Jarome Luai’s decision to tell the Panthers that he will be on the move in 2025, the Warriors wrecking ball is expected to create the next seismic shift in the NRL player market by dropping his own bombshell in the coming days.

The other off-contract player creating huge interest is North Queensland’s Tom Dearden, although the Cowboys five-eighth is not expected to make a call on his career until well into the new year.

But with Wests Tigers and the Bulldogs now in a shootout for Luai’s services, the speculation in recent days is that the Tigers and Bulldogs have both pulled out of the fight for the rampaging prop.

In demand Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake is close to making a call on his future. Picture: Dave Rowland/Getty Images.

That leaves the Dragons in the box seat to land Fonua-Blake, with the Sharks their biggest threat.

The Dragons have reportedly offered Fonua-Blake $4.5 million over four years.

And Flanagan confirmed he was expecting a decision imminently.

“We are hoping for a decision before Christmas,” Flanagan said.

“We have had a fair bit of dialogue the last couple of days so we are hoping this week.”

Asked what it would mean to land the man rated in the top-three props in the game, Flanagan added: “He would be enormous.

“It could be the start of the turnaround.

“We need some elite representative type players and in my opinion he is one of the best front rowers in the game.

“That is the start of the process we want to take. To get some real quality players to the club and he would be the start of it.”

Flanagan also said it could end up keeping the 33-year-old Hunt at the club until the end of his career.

Ben Hunt’s desire for success has led to ongoing debate over his future at the Dragons.

“That is the start of the process we want to take. To get some real quality players to the club and he would be the start of it.”

Flanagan also said it could end up keeping the 33-year-old Hunt at the club until the end of his career.

While Hunt has already indicated he would at least stay until the end of 2024, Flanagan was confident signing Fonua-Blake would all-but extinguish Hunt’s desire to leave the club.

The Dragons are also chasing a top-shelf backrower with the Cowboys duo of Heilum Luki and young tearaway Kulikefu Finefeuiaki at the top of their hit list.

“I am sure Ben won’t want to go anywhere (else),” Flanagan said.

“It is just (about knowing) where we are heading.

“His frustration has been about the club not winning.

“He wants to win.

“He wants to win a comp before he retires, and I understand all that.

“We all have the same ambitions and hopes.

“We want to change the narrative. We want to be a winning club and we are starting that process.”

While Dearden is also in high demand, his agent Sam Ayoub said recently Dearden was in no rush to get the deal done.

It is understood up to six clubs have shown an interest in Dearden.

Cowboys five-eighth Tom Dearden is not expected to call on his future until the near year. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

But the feeling around the game is that if the Cowboys make a competitive offer, Dearden will end up staying at North Queensland.

“Tom is in a good position whether it be now, in January, or March, April,” Ayoub told this masthead last month.

“I don’t want to heap any pressure on him so I won’t be talking about it publicly.

“He is on the market but there is no urgency for either he or I or the Cowboys to jump into it.

“They know my position and we will assess it in due course.”