St George Illawarra is pursuing Sunia Turuva, a winger from Penrith Panthers, as they prepare to allow Zac Lomax access to negotiate with other teams for 2025 and beyond.
Shane Flanagan, the Dragons coach, has also visited with 24-year-old Wallabies star Jordan Petaia about a move to rugby league, opening the door to a potential agreement beginning next season with the off-contract Queensland Reds player.
It follows this masthead’s story on Thursday that negotiations between Penrith and Turuva’s management have stalled in the past week due to the Panthers’ unwillingness to award the 2023 rookie of the year a contract worth more than $350,000 each season.
Turuva’s preference is to stay with the Panthers after this season. However, the Dragons are set to complicate matters with an offer worth nearly $100,000 more per season.
Shane Flanagan, the Dragons’ coach, is a great fan of Turuva and plans to use him as a fullback-winger.
Tyrell Sloan was given the first crack at the number one jersey this year, but the Dragons lack depth at fullback.
Despite having spent his entire NRL career on the wing, Turuva would fight Sloan for the custodian post at the Dragons.
Although the 21-year-old was a revelation for Penrith on the wing the previous season, in recent weeks the Panthers have placed a higher priority on holding onto fellow outside backs Izack Tago and Taylan May. Paul Alamoti, the backup center, has also just obtained an extension.
Mark Stewart, Turuva’s representative, recently met with the team to let Penrith know that, instead of waiting to see whether the Panthers could match his perceived value on the open market, he would instead pursue expressions of interest and bids from other teams.
The Dragons are the first team to show interest in meeting with Turuva in order to determine whether or not he wants to leave the three-time defending champions.
Following his hat-trick on Thursday night, he declared, “I want to be a part of this team.”
We have a unique set of people here. regardless of the person wearing the jersey. All I want is to join this group. I’ve given Penrith and my boss the task of organizing everything. However, I’ve already mentioned Penrith’s house. This is my desired location.
Penrith’s spending power is restricted by the wage cap, but they are also considering Turuva’s worth in light of the quality coming through the lower grades.
The McLean brothers, Jesse (20) and Casey (18), are contracted to the team until the end of 2026 and are seen as future stars.
The Dragons are preparing for Lomax’s management to ask for authorization to negotiate with other teams this week.
The Parramatta Eels and Lomax’s management had earlier asked St George Illawarra to hold talks for a contract that would lead to an instant release from the Dragons, but the request was turned down.
When the Eels approached the Dragons to find out the status of Lomax’s contract, St George Illawarra responded that the 24-year-old did not have their approval to look into his options because he still had two years left on his contract.
After round four, they decided to have another talk, and Lomax’s management planned to ask for permission to speak with other teams.
If the Eels don’t want to work with the Dragons, they won’t consider releasing him right away unless they get a player of similar quality in a trade.
The Red V are preparing for the fact that Lomax, who would rather play in the centers than on the wings, will actually be leaving the team at the conclusion of the season.
A back line that has suffered over the last few years will get some spark from Petaia and Turuva’s separate endeavors.
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