The British contingent at NRL newcomers the Gold Coast Titans may soon double after the Titans joined the queue for rugby league bad boy Danny Ward.
After securing flying Irish winger Brian Carney for their 2007 debut season, Gold Coast coach John Cartwright has his sights set on props with sacked Leeds forward Ward high on the list.
Titans executive director Michael Searle confirmed English reports that they had expressed interest in the Great Britain frontrower who controversially had his contract torn up by Leeds last week.
The 25-year-old prop was dumped for "a series of breaches of club rules over the last 12 months".
But his sacking has not quashed demand for Ward - his agent Ron Hill said he had already spoken to four English and "several" Australian clubs.
"There are still a number of options on both sides of the water," Hill told The Guardian newspaper of Ward who played his last game in Leeds' Super League grand final loss to Bradford in October.
Searle said Cartwright's priority was finding a front row partner for Test prop Luke Bailey.
"The next marquee player we would be looking would be a frontrower," he said.
"Danny's name has come up with our head coach (Cartwright).
"Front rowers is something we will certainly be looking at on the market after the anti-tampering deadline lifts on July 1."
Ward - the son of former Leeds captain and coach David Ward - played 135 senior games for the Rhinos and earned his first Great Britain cap two years ago.
The "deeply embarrassed" prop issued a statement shortly after his sacking to apologise for his behaviour at Leeds.
Ward may look to sign with an English club for the new Super League season starting on February 10 before heading to the NRL.
Ward's former Leeds team-mate Richie Mathers is also in the Titans' sights.
"We have a strong interest in Richie. Negotiations are on-going with his management - we are not in a hurry," Searle said.
"Fullback is a position we need to fill and by all reports in the UK he is the next Great Britain fullback.
"We will monitor him closely over the next couple of months."
Searle said the Titans were already waiting nervously for the anti-tampering deadline to expire to approach the likes of Wests Tigers halfback Scott Prince.
"It's like waiting for Christmas," he said.
"Lots of clubs will be interested in Scott by then (July 1) so that will bump up his price and the Tigers may have re-signed him by then.
"But at the moment we already have four halfback options."
smh.com.au