Shane Flanagan is adamant he wants experienced forward Jack de Belin to remain at the Dragons, despite increased interest from rival NRL clubs.
The 33-year-old remains unsigned for next year and beyond, despite producing some of the best football of his career over the opening three months of the season.
De Belin has expressed his desire to remain a one-club player, but reports surfaced over the weekend that South Sydney were interested in signing him for 2025.
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However, Flanagan is hopeful that de Belin will put pen to paper on a new deal soon.
“We’re in negotiations with Jack and we want to keep him at the club,” the coach told SEN Radio on Wednesday.
“The ball is in his court at the moment – but I would like to think that he does stay.
“We’ve put an offer towards Jack and I’d like to think in the next week or two, we will get something resolved.”
De Belin has averaged 129 run metres and 31 tackles per game this year for the Saints, while also crossing for two tries as the side battle for a finals spot.
The likes of Francis Molo, Jaydn Su’A, Moses Suli and Tyrell Sloan have all inked long-term contract extensions in recent months, but the club has been reluctant to offer de Belin more than a one-year extension to remain in Wollongong.
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Instead, the Dragons are pursuing a “big bopper” as Flanagan hopes to continue turning the club’s roster around and transforming them into a genuine title threat after missing out on marquee enforcer Addin Fonua-Blake.
“That’s exactly what we need – unfortunately we missed out on him [Fonua-Blake] and he went to the Sharks and that hurt, losing one to them,” Flanagan said.
“We’ll be out in the market, we definitely need one more big bopper. I think our forward pack has done a really good job this year, but we’re probably one short.
“It’s a tricky one – we are out there at the moment and there’s not a lot of good players that will come off-contract. Sometimes it’s the players who are on contract but clubs might be looking to move him, that’s the way the market works these days.
“We’ve got to keep our ears to the ground and we’ll be working hard to make sure that we improve our roster again next year.”
Flanagan has helped lead the Red V to seven wins already this year, with a crucial clash against Manly on Sunday afternoon potentially pushing them into the top-eight.