Warrington are increasingly confident they can lure Kyle Eastmond back to rugby league after a seven-year absence from the game.
The 28-year-old is a free agent having left Wasps at the end of the season. He has attracted interest from clubs in both codes since his departure from the Premiership club but Warrington are in pole position, having beaten off competition from another Super League side.
The dual-code international is open to returning to the sport he has not played since leaving St Helens in 2011 and Warrington have been able to take advantage of a loosening of salary cap rules to strike a deal.
In April, clubs unanimously backed proposals to raise not only the salary cap in Super League but allow exemptions to the cap for new or returning talent – a category into which Eastmond falls having been out of the sport for more than five years.
A deal to take him to Warrington would benefit the Wolves’ salary cap spend – only half of his wage would count in 2019, before that figure rises to 75% the following year. Eastmond would also be likely to count as one of Warrington’s two marquee players – irrespective of his salary with the Wolves, his cap value would be no higher than £175,000.
Eastmond’s arrival would likely mean a departure, though it is unclear which position he would occupy. Tyrone Roberts is one of Warrington’s marquee players after joining from the National Rugby League side Gold Coast on a three-year deal at the start of this year. The Australian insists he is settling in but rumours persist regarding homesickness and he has yet to discover his best form. Roberts’s half-back partner, Kevin Brown, is out of contract at the end of this season.
Dom Crosby is set to leave Warrington and join Super League rivals Salford next season.
