The Perth Bears’ three primary marquee targets will be champion Queenslanders Cameron Munster and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and in-form Cronulla Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey.

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While the Bears can’t officially table offers to players until November 1 it’s well-known around the game the two representative stars and Brailey are at the top of their hit list.

It’s a smart play from Bears coach Mal Meninga to have players of the standing and ilk of Munster and Tino as primary targets.

Not only are they among the best on-field talents in their positions but they’re also leaders in terms of setting the Bears up with a strong culture.

Munster is under contract with the Melbourne Storm until the end of 2027 but there’s a view the Storm would be prepared to release him a year early to link with Perth.

Tino has a get-out clause in his 10-year deal with the Titans meaning he is a free agent as of November 1 this year.

The Queensland Origin enforcer has also spoken openly about how he wants to see a blueprint from the Gold Coast about the direction the club is headed.

Cronulla local junior Brailey is one of the form running dummy-halves of the NRL right now and has been instrumental in the Sharks turning their season around over the course of the past fortnight.

The Sharks have been a little tardy out of the gates in terms of trying to get the Brailey extension done.

Signed until the end of next year it would be a huge gamble to be yet to strike a deal before November 1.

A salary cap squeeze means Cronulla are struggling to find more than $300,000 to offer fullback Will Kennedy for next season.

The Sharks are also probably slightly top heavy in terms of middle forwards with Addin Fonua-Blake, Oregon Kaufusi, Toby Rudolf, Tom Hazleton, Cam McInnes, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Tuku Hau-Tapuha all currently on the books.

The Sharks won’t want to let Brailey leave. Widely-regarded as a future NSW State of Origin hooker, he’s also a local junior out of the Aquinas Colts club and has a strong connection with the Shire.

If Brailey went to the open market you’d have to think he could command up to $1 million-a-season.

To land the signatures of Munster and Tino you’d probably have to be looking around the $1.5 million-a-season mark.

RAIDERS’ SMART PLAY TO LOCK UP FAST-RISING FULLBACK

Emerging Raiders star Kaeo Weekes has been lighting it up for the Green Machine all season and has rightfully been rewarded with a $1.8 million upgrade for 2028 and 2029.

Weekes has carved out several highlight reel moments this season with the Raiders currently riding the wave of an eight-game winning streak.

Fast feet and the ability to change direction at full tilt have seen Weekes score some of the more high voltage tries of the season to win games against the Melbourne Storm in Magic Round and St George Illawarra in round 18.

Aware rival clubs may soon begin circling, Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and CEO Don Furner have quickly moved to ensure the 23-year-old remains in the national capital long-term.

Weekes was already signed until the end of 2027 but the new two-year extension means he’s at the Raiders for the next four seasons until the end of 2029.

The deal is believed to be worth around the $900,000-a-season mark for the final two seasons.

With the Green Machine prising an unexpected premiership window open this season it’s a smart play by the club to retain the gun fullback.

It’s also an example of quality coaching by Stuart who showed faith and backed Weekes in earlier in the season when opposition sides were targeting him under the high ball.

Weekes is loving life at the Raiders and the Raiders have unearthed one of the NRL’s best emerging talents.

BUNNIES HOPING LATRELL CAN HELP THEM AVOID SPOON

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are holding out for gun fullback Latrell Mitchell to return later this season as supercoach Wayne Bennett tries to steer the Bunnies away from wooden spoon territory.

Mitchell injured his quad at Souths training last week in the latest injury blow for the Bunnies with the club now soldiering on despite $6 million worth of playing talent sidelined.

If Latrell can get back for the last couple of games then the Bunnies might just be able to manufacture another couple of all-important wins.

And you can guarantee if he’s back newly-minted Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters will want Latrell on the plane to England for the all-important Ashes Tour at the end of the season.

NRL TO CRACK DOWN ON TWO MORE PLAYER AGENTS

The NRL’s much-hyped crackdown on player agents looks set to claim two more scalps with Chris Orr and Nash Dawson both being investigated over a fight at a Port Macquarie national schoolboys carnival last year.

Orr is the agent who negotiated Dylan Brown’s $13 million deal with Newcastle while Dawson oversees negotiations for a host of stars including Broncos pair Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam.

The two agents are alleged to have been involved in a stink outside a Port Macquarie pub with the word around the game being both are staring down the barrel of six-month suspensions.

The way we’ve heard it Orr was allegedly heckling a colleague of Dawson to the point where Dawson said enough was enough.

The pair then went outside the pub where Dawson recorded a cruise control victory.