Warrington Wolves emerge favourites to land out-of-contract NRL forward on ‘multi-season deal’ 

Warrington Wolves are believed to be the front-runners to land off-contract Newcastle Knights forward Lachlan Fitzgibbon.

That’s according to reports in Australia, with the Newcastle Herald linking the 29-year-old with the Halliwell Jones Stadium on a ‘multi-year deal’ from next year.

Rugby League Live had previously reported that both Warrington and Leeds were in interested in the regular NRL starter, who made his debut in 2015.

Fitzgibbon would add much needed depth to Warrington’s back-row options in 2024, which includes Ben Currie and Matty Nicholson as well as rising prospects Tom Whitehead and Adam Holroyd.

He has made 111 appearances for Newcastle Knights, including 13 in the regular season, crossing for a total 30 tries.

Lachlan Fitzgibbon linked with Warrington

The back-rower is currently sidelined due to a Category 1 head knock suffered in Round 16, meaning he missed the club’s recent 20-12 defeat to reigning champions Penrith Panthers.

Warrington currently have two quota spots available following the departures of Thomas Mikaele and Josh McGuire in 2023, leaving plenty of room in the club’s salary cap.

Ellis Longstaff is also expected to depart the Wire at the end of the season, currently on a season-long loan at Salford Red Devils under Paul Rowley, making six appearances to date.

Paul Vaughan, Matt Dufty, Sam Kasiano and Josh Drinkwater are currently contracted through until at least 2024, while Peter Mata’utia remains without a deal beyond 2023.

Powell has previously insisted that negotiations with off-contract players remain ongoing.

He told Love Rugby League: “We’ve been talking to players for a fair while now.

“Those sorts of things will come out in due course.

“At the moment, we’ve created some real stability this year with the re-signing of high quality players and we’ll keep working towards making our squad a really stable one.

“I think that’s really important moving forward.”

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