GOLD Coast Titans captain Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui could potentially become the highest-paid player in the NRL, according to Michael Carayannis.<\/p>\n
Fa\u2019asuamaleaui\u2019s contract situation has been one of constant speculation, with the Titans currently sitting at the bottom of the ladder.<\/p>\n
Despite having signed a 10-year deal back in 2023, he does have the option to leave after the 2026 season, which means he would be available to speak with rival clubs from November 1.<\/p>\n
One of the clubs that could be in contention for his signature is the Melbourne Storm, who Fa\u2019asuamaleaui played for during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.<\/p>\n
Storm coach Craig Bellamy was asked whether or not they would fit the Queensland and Australian representative into the Storm\u2019s salary cap, with the 65-year-old noting it would be unlikely.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can honestly say that\u2019s the first time I heard that this morning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I guess the recruitment guys are keeping it from me or who knows \u2026 we\u2019d certainly like to have him back, but I\u2019m not quite sure he\u2019d fit back into our cap at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Considering that they have just re-signed current Dally M Medallist Jahrome Hughes to a four-year extension, there is not a lot of cash spare for the Storm currently.<\/p>\n
But Carayannis thinks if Melbourne were to move on some of their current stars, then they may be able to come up with an attractive offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight at the moment, they couldn\u2019t afford him,\u201d Carayannis told SEN 1170\u2019s Breakfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in 2027, they could with potentially Ryan Papenhuyzen gone. Nelson (Asofa-Solomona) gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey went desperately close; they thought they were going to secure Tino last time he was off contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo yeah, the Storm are in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carayannis also believes that the Dragons and Perth Bears will be in the hunt to secure the 25-year-old lock, noting that the competition for his signature may create a bidding war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dragons will go in with a huge offer,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking $1.3-1.4 (million per year). The Bears will go $1.4-$1.5 (million per year) for Tino.<\/p>\n
\u201cTino could walk away as the highest-paid player in the competition if he really wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
BY NICHOLAS QUINLAN\/SEN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GOLD Coast Titans captain Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui could potentially become the highest-paid player in the NRL, according to Michael…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-102616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}