Wests Tigers’ cult hero Alex Twal may be on the move from Concord, with one Sydney side sitting clear as favourites for the Lebanese international’s signature.
Twal has played his entire NRL career at the Wests Tigers since being pinched from Parramatta’s lower-grades midway through 2017, however after recently being given permission to look elsewhere, a number of suitors have emerged for the prop.
Canterbury appeared as favourites after Twal was spotted having coffee with Bulldogs’ coach Cameron Ciraldo, however the potential for a player swap has launched a new club to the top of the heap.
The Manly Sea Eagles are quietly going through a rebuild of sorts, reshaping their roster with a number of comings and goings in the squad, and Twal could well be next.
The club recently announced the retention of Ethan Bullemor and Jake Arthur after previously announcing the signings of Luke Brooks, Aitasi James, Tommy Talau, and Jaxson Paulo for 2024.
While others are getting ready to leave the Northern Beaches club, some are signing their names on the dotted line.
Kelma Tuilagi is already destined for Parramatta, but the Sea Eagles will need to arrange a trade for talented middle forward Sean Keppie if they want to sign Twal.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a swap deal has been proposed because the salaries of the two players are quite comparable.
Despite being bound to Manly for the following three seasons, Keppie has already been notified by the club that he is free to look elsewhere.
Phil Gould confirmed that Canterbury were interested on Wide World of Sports, as well as confirming the touted swap between Wests and Manly.
“Our coach spoke to him this week,” Gould said on the network.
“There’s very, very little out there on the market, so I guess when a player like that comes on the market you’ve got to do your due diligence and have a chat, so the coach went and had a chat this week.
“In a world with mobile phones and cameras someone had to take a photo of it and send it to the media.
“I think Manly and the Tigers are discussing perhaps a trade, or a swap, with Alex. We’ll know more next week what his intentions are, and we’ve got to decide whether that’s right for us as well.
“Alex has to decide whether that’s right for him.”
A decision will be made in the coming months with just under seven weeks under November 1st rolls around, and players begin officially relocating ahead of pre-season