Cashed-up St George Illawarra still have four spots to fill on their 30-man roster for next year and are hoping to pounce in an end-of-season fire sale waged by clubs that will need to shed players after over-shooting the indicative salary cap.
Adding to Newcastle coach Nathan Brown's calls for the NRL to resist lobbying from clubs that have spent more than the forecast $9.2 million player payment pool to implement a "soft cap" or grandfather rule for 2018, the Dragons are another with wiggle room at the end of the year.
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The gulf between clubs that have stringently toed the projected salary cap line and others who have flirted with a higher figure is only widening as a player market in a state of flux for months looks to take centre stage again during the NRL finals.
The result of drawn-out collective bargaining agreement negotiations could lead to a number of players being told they need to find new clubs at short notice – and the Dragons have emerged as potential suitors, along with Brown's Knights.
Much of St George Illawarra's cap space remains from its ultimately futile bid to keep Australian and NSW representative Josh Dugan from heading to the Sharks, but Dragons recruitment chief Ian Millward has confirmed they still have four spots to fill on their expanded 30-man roster for next year.
The Red V's search for a front-row replacement for Tigers-bound Russell Packer is no secret – Brisbane's Adam Blair has emerged as one target – and now the Dragons want their NRL rivals to toe the same fine line they've been walking all year.
The Bulldogs and Raiders are said to be among those most likely to shift players to squeeze under the cap.
Seventy-five per cent of clubs need to tick off on the terms of a new CBA, which the Rugby League Players Association says is far from having a $9.2 million salary cap set in stone.
"We're under specific instructions from the NRL about what the salary cap is and all clubs are communicated that on a regular basis," Millward told the Dragons' website. "So we're complying with that.
"And obviously not all the other clubs are complying with that and that's the reason they've got to unload some players.
"We want to make sure that is the situation because we've planned all along that's the amount of money we have. For us, we're in a really good position and we've got four spots to go.
"Because we have money and spots available we may be able to get some bargains that other clubs have to release. I know some people say they're a little bit hard done by because they have to get rid of players, but the reason they have to get rid of players is because we all need to comply with the NRL directive with the figure we need to be under.
"We're in a position where we are and the others aren't. That's why they've got to make some movement. The bottom line is sticking to the figure we've been given, comply with that and work all your business around it."
The Dragons have dedicated a spot on their full-time roster to Tristan Sailor, who has been a shining light for the club's National Youth Competition side this season.
The son of dual international Wendell Sailor has penned a two-year deal to remain in Wollongong until the end of 2019.
"He's got some really good instincts, shows some really good vision and we're really excited about having him with us because we still think there's so much upside in him physically," Millward said. "He's a great addition to our top 30."
In a week where they must beat the struggling Titans to keep alive their top eight hopes, the Dragons have responded to the NRL's breach notice imposed on coach Paul McGregor for a press conference in which he labelled match officials "embarrassing and incompetent" in last month's loss to Newcastle.
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