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The Queensland Reds are trying to sign Daniel Braid as their marquee player in a deal that would also allow the All Black flanker to head to Europe or Japan after next year's Super 14.
A relaxation of the eligibility laws last month has allowed the Australian sides to contract one overseas marquee player and the Reds are in need of an established openside following the retirement of the long-serving David Croft earlier this year.
With Australia's two best flankers, George Smith and Richard Brown, signed to long terms contracts at the Brumbies and Force, the Reds felt they had to look offshore to find a No 7.
Reds rugby performance manager Ben Whitaker, said: "We have a definite need at openside flanker. After Crofty [Croft] retired in May we knew pretty quickly that there was no one in Australia who could take on the starting position.
"Our option would have been to graduate one of the young kids which would have been fine.
"But now we can look offshore and bring someone in. Some of our guys in Australia are very well looked after and are well paid. Then there is the lifestyle opportunity to consider."
Braid is off contract at the end of this year and after eight seasons of hard toil with Auckland and the Blues, he is ready for a new challenge.
The Reds are prepared to offer him a deal where he will be paid top dollars as a marquee player to be available between the end of this year's provincial championship until June next year.
He would then be free to join either a European or Japanese club, allowing him to earn a serious amount of money in 12 months.
Whitaker said: "We are prepared to be flexible in certain cases. This has created great opportunity for the players and there are absolutely no worries about the numbers of good young players coming through the Australian system."
The Reds, then, are looking to use the marquee option to bring in a player such as Braid as a stopgap. It's likely that by 2010, one of the younger opensides in the Reds academy programme will be ready for Super 14.
Or it might be that some openside flankers at other Australian provinces mature quickly over the next 12 months and come off contract.
The really intriguing move could be at the Blues if Braid does agree to join the Reds. That would leave the Blues with the hugely promising Onosai Auva'a who has impressed this season, but no back-up.
Now that Tanerau Latimer has extended his contract at the Bay of Plenty, Braid's younger brother Luke, who has been nominated for the IRB's junior player of the year award, could be thinking about leaving the Steamers.
His game time at the Bay will be limited with Latimer around and the Blues might well replace Daniel with Luke.
