SACKED Canberra fullback Josh Dugan is set to sign a $2 million three-year deal with the Broncos this week and could be plunged directly into Friday night's derby against the Titans. With the Broncos facing an enormous injury crisis, Dugan's arrival at Red Hill can't come soon enough for Brisbane who are 1-3 for the year and headed into back-to-back Queensland derbys against Gold Coast and then North Queensland.
The only sticking point could be new NRL chief executive Dave Smith, who has warned Dugan's new deal will be subject to approval from salary cap auditor Ian Schubert and is intent on taking a hardline stance against off-field indiscretions.
Dugan will meet with Schubert at the NRL's League Central headquarters in Sydney on Tuesday to discuss the registration of his Broncos contract.
"In assessing any future application to register a contract the salary cap auditor will need to be assured that the rules are not likely to be broken in the future and that the player has had time to address the issues properly," Smith said.
"We cannot put a fixed timeframe on that at the moment but no contract can be registered before this point."
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Since the Raiders board opted to tear up Dugan's $650,000-a-season contract on March 14, Dugan has missed the last three rounds of action as the NRL has been examining the list of indiscretions from his time at Canberra.
By electing to sign with the Broncos, Dugan has effectively chosen a stable environment with strong senior leadership and an opportunity to work towards some sort of redemption.
Ideally Dugan would be available this week as coach Anthony Griffin confronts an unprecedented injury toll, particularly among his outside backs.
