The experienced Storm halves pairing of Blake Green and Cooper Cronk are both currently out of contract come the end of this season, and Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said on Thursday it may be tough to retain both players.
It's no surprise that Cronk is the Storm's number one priority when it comes to contract negotiations, however should Cronk extend his stay in Melbourne, it could mean the end for Green.
Rumours suggests Green has been offered a two-year deal by a Sydney club and while it's quite clear Bellamy would love to have both players stay around, there might not be enough money to entice Green to stay.
"At the moment we're still waiting for Cooper, and that'll solve a bit of the jigsaw puzzle when that's done," Bellamy said.
"Obviously we'd love to keep both of them, but I'm not quite sure exactly where it all is at the moment, that's up to our administration to be going through those types of things. Hopefully things can be sorted out soon for both the club and the players.
"[Fitting Green in the salary cap] would be our issue I'd imagine, I'm not quite sure where we're up to money wise or where negotiations are at the moment, but hopefully soon something will be sorted.
"We'd love to keep him [Green] but whether that's possible or not, I'm not quite sure. If it comes down to it and we don't keep him, then we'll just have to plan something and then stick with that. Hopefully we might be able to hang on to both of them, but time will tell."
Green joins Cameron Munster in a race against time to be fit for Sunday's clash against the Tigers, as both players missed last weekend's loss to the Dragons through injury.
The two sat out Thursday's main session but will be given up until Saturday to prove their fitness.
Saturday is also decision day for Origin stars Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, although both players made it through Queensland's win unscathed.
"It's still just an early report that we got straight after the game but they pulled up OK, although sometimes the next day something comes up, but we haven't heard anything so I imagine they've pulled up pretty good," Bellamy said.
"They'll come in tomorrow and we'll have a look at them, and then get a bit of idea from then. Hopefully they can do a bit on Saturday during the captain's run, and we'll decide on Saturday."
The Storm face the Tigers at AAMI Park on Sunday, as Wests set out for revenge after a 19-18 golden point loss at Leichhardt Oval in Round 7.
Bellamy is wary of the Tigers who have won three of their past four matches, and said his side needs to be on their game if they're to come away with the two points.
"They've been in good form, which is probably what we've expected from them all year, they're a very talented team. They've got some really big forwards that run real hard and some really talented backs led by Tedesco," Bellamy said.
"The halves also get a lot of attention because of their ability and they are very talented. They're pretty strong right across the field, so hopefully we can put most of our best team out there on Sunday, and I think it'll be a real tough game for us."
