Canberra prop Michael Weyman appears set to move to St George-Illawarra next season after the Dragons offered him a two-year deal worth a reported $200,000 a season.
After another week of frenetic player and coaching movements, The Canberra Times can reveal that:
The Raiders are making a play at Sydney Roosters prop David Shillington, which if successful will leave Weyman on the outer.
Weyman's manager Steve Stone will meet with Raiders officials during the week in a bid to convince the club to up its offer.
Furner met with player manager David Riolo at last night's City v Country game in Wollongong as he continued attempts to re-sign centre Adrian Purtell and secure North Queensland Cowboys assistant Ian Millward to the Raiders coaching staff for 2009.
The Raiders have also expressed interest in off-contract Wests Tigers and Country Origin back-rower Chris Heighington.
Furner met with Heighington's manager Wayne Beavis on Thursday, when the pair also discussed the future of former Dragons five-eighth Trent Barrett.
Weyman yesterday confirmed he had fielded offers from both the Raiders and Dragons, but declined to comment further.
The Canberra Times understands the Dragons' offer was considerably higher than the Raiders'.
Furner said he would discuss upping Weyman's offer with incoming coach David Furner this week, but the club was unlikely to match the Dragons deal.
Stone said his client's preference was to remain in Canberra, where he had spent his entire playing career.
He said he would meet with Furner next week to determine whether the Raiders were committed to his injury-prone client's future.
Weyman is currently serving a seven-match suspension for striking and won't be back in action until round 13.
He has played just 43 NRL games since debuting in 2003 thanks to a string of injuries and suspensions.
Stone said Weyman was eager to prove he was a long-term NRL prospect.
"He is really motivated to show himself, any athlete would, but the injuries and the suspension haven't helped things. But the [Dragons] feel that he's got his best football in front of him. Now we need to find out where he sits with the Raiders."
Furner confirmed the Raiders were eager to lure Shillington to Canberra, with the Roosters hardman likely to be a victim of his Bondi-based club's front-row riches.
The Raiders were also keen to sign Heighington, who made his representative debut off the bench for Country last night. Heighington would make a perfect replacement for Queensland State of Origin enforcer Neville Costigan, who appears set to leave the club to join the Gold Coast Titans.
The Raiders also remain in the race to secure Barrett, who is reported to be close to winning a release from English Super League club Wigan to return to Australia.
Cronulla and the Dragons are also eager to secure Barrett, whose mother lives in Canberra.
Furner's meeting with Riolo last night could also clear up two contentious issues for the club.
The Raiders are desperate to re-sign Purtell, who has also received an offer from the Melbourne Storm.
Millward is also high on the Raiders wish list to serve a mentor-type role under incoming coach David Furner next season.
Millward, who has also reportedly received an offer to be head coach of Super League team Catalans, was yesterday uncertain of where he stood at the Raiders.
"They have a great set-up down there and I've spoken to a few of the guys down there to get a feel of it," Millward said.
"It's a good place and it would be good to work down there."
Hard to believe we won't match offer for Weyman of $200K per season. I don't see what is so good about Shillington.
