Super League clubs have had the opportunity to sign Patrick Kaufusi taken away from that after the forward suffered a serious injury.
TotalRL can reveal the former Melbourne Storm prop had been keen on a move to Super League after being released by St George Illawarra Dragons at the end of the season.
But the 26-year-old has ruptured his Achilles tendon while training with Townsville Blackhawks, an injury that is set to rule him out for the vast majority of the season.
That has shelved hopes of a move to Super League for Kaufusi, who has made 31 NRL appearances.
Kaufusi, the younger brother of former Huddersfield prop Antonio and current Storm prop Felise, is likely to struggle to make the move over after recovering from his injury due to visa issues relating to the number of games he has played in recent years.
Several clubs, including Leeds, Hull KR and Catalans, are all understood to be pursuing forwards, but there are only a limited number of players on the market.
Sam Lisone is a name that keeps emerging but neither the Rhinos or the Robins are interested.
Albert Vete’s name was also brought up recently but he has now re-signed with Storm.