Six months after Mitchell Moses was shown the door, the Parramatta Eels have tabled the halfback a three-year extension.
NRL.com can reveal the Eels this week put forward a contract to extend his tenure until the end of 2022, the same year Clint Gutherson's extension offer expires.
Moses's manager, Isaac Moses, hasn't accepted the deal - however he's been caught up dealing with the fallout from Israel Folau's controversial social media post last week.
It's an extraordinary turn of events considering the Eels were willing to release Moses last year following a horror campaign that culminated in the club collecting the wooden spoon.
Faced with the reality of having to find a new home, Moses returned to training with a renewed attitude and has recaptured the form that lifted him into contention for a State of Origin debut before last season.
Moses and Corey Norman, who has made a successful switch to St George Illawarra, have benefited from their break-up over the off-season - with the former enjoying the added responsibility of being Parramatta's chief playmaker.
Meanwhile, the Eels will meet Gutherson’s manager Sam Ayoub before the Easter Monday clash against the Wests Tigers to discuss the future of their skipper.
Gutherson tight-lipped on Eels future
The club doesn’t want to lose him, but a game of chicken is playing out between Parramatta and Gutherson’s manager.
The Eels, who before Christmas offered the fullback a three-year deal worth $1.5 million, last week revised that offer and tabled an upgraded three-year $1.9 million contract.
But Ayoub rejected that offer and is still holding out hope of securing a four-year deal worth close to $2.8 million, despite originally asking for a four-year $3.3 million deal.
Perhaps under previous administrations the club would have folded, but chairman Sean McElduff is a renowned negotiator having overseen multimillion-dollar deals during his time at Westpac.
Under the club’s new recruitment and retention policy, all members of the committee - which includes McElduff, CEO Bernie Gurr, coach Brad Arthur, general manager Mark O’Neill and recruitment manager Peter Sharp - must agree.
The Eels realise they run the risk of losing Gutherson to rival clubs and it’s something they don’t want to occur, but won’t be railroaded into paying what they deem to be overs.
The danger for Gutherson is he is a fan favourite. He is by far the most popular player with Blue & Gold supporters.
While his manager is entitled to act in his best interests and get him more money, there’s a fear the squabble over $60-70,000 a season could dent the skipper's reputation.
Inside the Bankwest coach's box with Brad Arthur
South Sydney have indicated they won't be in a position to chase Gutherson, while Manly have some salary cap limitations that could hamper any attempts to lure him back to the northern beaches.
The Cowboys are another team on the lookout for a fullback, but they are still holding out a glimmer of hope of New York Jets recruit Valentine Holmes returning to the NRL.
Plus, they would have to pay a lot more than the Eels are willing to offer to convince him to pack up and start fresh in a new city.
Kennedy in line for debut
There's strong word out of the Sutherland Shire that there could be a debutant take the field in Thursday night's match against Penrith.
Bathurst-born utility back William Kennedy has spent some time training at fullback this week as John Morris looks to cover the absence of injured No.1 Matt Moylan.
Cronulla are yet to announce their final squad but NRL.com understands Kennedy is in line to play his first Telstra Premiership match at fullback after being named in the No.19 jersey on the reserves list.
Sharks confident Fifita will play
The 22-year-old is the son of former Balmain centre William 'Bubba" Kennedy - who played 61 games for the Tigers between 1996 and 1998. His sister, Kandy, played for the Roosters in the NRLW last season.
It's hoped Kennedy will provide the Sharks with a similar ball-playing threat as Moylan, rather than just a running fullback.
That will likely result in Josh Dugan moving into the centres.
Sele pays price for sleeping in
Ivan Cleary cracked the whip after another disappointing performance against the Gold Coast Titans.
Hame Sele was left out of the club’s 21-man squad on Tuesday after sleeping through his alarm and missing the club's recovery session the morning after Friday night's loss to the Titans.
While it was out of character for Sele, who has impressed since joining the club from the Dragons in the off-season, Cleary felt the disciplinary measure was necessary.
Addo-Carr says farewell to his inspiration
Josh Addo-Carr is in Sydney for the funeral of his grandfather, the great Wally Carr.
The boxing legend passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning, not before his grandson - who had just come off the field in Townsville - called to promise him that he would always do the family proud.
Josh Addo-Carr's tribute to his late pop Wally Carr
It was a heart-felt phone call, with plenty of emotion expected on Thursday when Addo-Carr reads the eulogy at the funeral in Sydney. Our thoughts are with Addo-Carr and his family.
Graham's 2020 vision
St George Illawarra prop James Graham has told the club he will play on in 2020.
There's been talk Graham had an option in his favour for the final year of his deal, however it was more of an agreement he would tell the coach if he wasn't up to seeing out his three-year deal.
He's in the second year of that deal and has told the club he has every intention of playing in 2020.
The Dragons are also in the process of extending Blake Lawrie's deal after an impressive opening to the year in the absence of Jack de Belin and Tyson Frizell.
McGregor extends contract
Clubs closely watching GI deal
There are a number of clubs watching closely how the NRL deals with Greg Inglis’ retirement.
South Sydney are hopeful of a positive outcome in regards to salary cap relief, however rival clubs don’t believe they are entitled to such compensation.
NRL chief operating officer Nick Weeks emailed all 16 clubs on Wednesday to address a couple of issues.
He provided an update on the Jack de Belin hearing, but also provided information in relation to Inglis’s retirement.
Weeks told the clubs the NRL was not aware of arrangements the Rabbitohs reached with Inglis about his retirement, nor had they made a decision.
He insisted no decision would be made until the information and formal application was put forward by the Rabbitohs.
Why Inglis dominated every position he played
Roosters cast gaze west
The Roosters have recently opened preliminary discussions with Venues Live, the operators of Parramatta’s Bankwest Stadium, about the possibility of moving matches to Sydney's west next season.
While the Roosters have agreed to a long-term deal with the SCG Trust to play games at the new stadium being built at Moore Park, the club is currently exploring the option of hosting matches against the Eels, Tigers - and potentially Panthers and Bulldogs - at Bankwest in 2020.
It's possible the Roosters, Eels, Bulldogs, Tigers and Rabbitohs could all call Bankwest Stadium home next season.
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of the NRL, ARLC, NRL clubs or state associations.