The Perth Bears and Storm have confirmed their interest in superstar prop Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, who is set to be one of the hottest targets on the free agency market.
The Storm are eyeing a reunion with Fa’asuamaleaui in the wake of the stunning Ryan Papenhuyzen development.
Papenhuyzen was granted an early release from his contract, which frees up $925,000 from the salary cap and gives the Storm the ammo to chase a player like Fa’asuamaleaui.
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The Bears, meanwhile, have expressed a formal interest in the Queensland and Kangaroos gun, according to Code Sports.
Despite signing a deal until the end of 2029 with the Gold Coast, Fa’asuamaleaui has expressed he will test the open market from November 1.
That is due to a get-out clause in his contract which allows him to leave the club at the end of next season.
It doesn’t necessarily mean Fa’asuamaleaui will depart the Titans, but it should worry club brass, with the threat of the Bears and their $12 million budget looming large.
The 18th franchise will reportedly have to table a seven-year deal worth around $10.5 million to be on contention to land the gun prop.
That is reportedly due to the fact Fa’asuamaleaui is earning $1.2 million next season, and any offer could also have to match the current duration of his Gold Coast deal.
Another factor at play is that Fa’asuamaleaui’s good friend David Fifita has departed the club in recent days, granted an early release to join Souths.
The Storm were rumoured to be one club interested in Fa’asuamaleaui. Their CEO removed the speculation by confirming they will “explore” the possibility of adding the prop.
“I think every club would love to have Tino on their list and playing in their pack,” Storm CEO Justin Rodski said on SEN radio.
“I reckon Tino might come with a hefty price tag on him but we’d love to have him at our club again but we’ll work through all that. We’ll explore every option.”
“This is a competitive market, the landscape’s only going to get more difficult with expansion teams coming in, obviously Perth Bears can start to sign players from November 1 so it’s going to be a really interesting period.”
Papenhuyzen released from Storm contract | 00:35
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Fa’asuamleaui started his NRL career with the Storm, debuting for the club in 2019 and playing 27 games over two seasons before departing for the Gold Coast in 2021.
His agent Simon Mammino, confirmed Perth powerbrokers had reached out to begin discussions.
“The Bears have expressed interest, yes,” Mammino said.
“From November 1, we will start having proper negotiations and talk about offers.
“I spoke to Mal and he expressed interest and wanted to see if we are keen to talk at November 1.
“I said we will get to it once the Kangaroo tour is over, then I will sit down with Tino and work out which direction we go.
“Perth’s interest is genuine and the money will be there, I’m sure they will match the Titans’ offer. Mal will have significant pull with Tino given their history.”
While his preference is to remain on the glitter strip, he has publicly stated that he needs to see improvement from the club to justify him staying put.
Veteran journalist Brent Read says any decision from Fa’asuamaleaui won’t be rushed, revealing the forward has until September of next year to trigger the clause.
“He doesn’t need to tell the Gold Coast, as I understand it, until September next year, whether he is going to take up the option for 2027. So there’s no rush here with Tino,” Read said on Triple M.
“Melbourne love Tino. They almost got him back a couple of years ago and they’ve got a bit of money as they’ve lost Papenhuyzen, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Jonah Pezet.
“They’ve got a bit of money. He won’t come cheap and I think he’s their priority.”
Another player that has been linked to the Storm is Cowboys rising star Jaxon Purdue.”
The 20-year-old burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2024 and then was one of the team’s best players this year in his first full season in the NRL.
With Ryan Papenhuyzen sensationally being granted an early release from his deal, the Storm may be looking at Purdue as a potential fullback replacement.
With that said, the Cowboys are set to pull out all the stops to keep the exciting talent which will drive the price tag up.
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