Perth Bears prepare to make $7.5 million offer to lure Tino Fa'asuamaleaui west

This masthead can reveal the Titans face a huge battle to retain Fa’asuamaleaui with the Queensland Origin enforcer deciding to test his value on the open market when he becomes a free agent on November 1.

It is a bombshell development for the Titans as they fight to avoid the wooden spoon in Sunday’s must-win clash against equal last-placed Souths at Cbus Super Stadium.

New Perth coach Mal Meninga needs a marquee signing for 2027 and the Bears will be going hard for the Origin and Test prop.

Meninga and his new recruitment boss Ezra Howe were the two key men who convinced Fa’asuamaleaui to quit the premiership-winning Storm side to join the Titans in 2021.

At the time, Meninga was Gold Coast’s head of performance and culture, while Howe was the Titans’ recruitment manager.

Now the pair have reunited at the Bears and the Meninga-Howe alliance shapes as a potent one-two punch in their bid to floor the Titans and poach Fa’asuamaleaui to be the NRL’s poster boy in Perth.

It is understood the Bears are armed with a five-year contract worth $1.5 million-a-season - a deal that would see Fa’asuamaleaui trump Kalyn Ponga, Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster as the No.1 earner in rugby league.

In 2023, Fa’asuamaleaui signed a 10-year Titans deal until the end of 2033, but the contract contains two get-out clauses, the first of which can be activated for the 2027 season.

That technically makes Fa’asuamaleaui a free agent from November, and the Maroons prop will explore his options on the open market amid the Titans’ woeful performances and uncertainty over coach Des Hasler’s position.

Fa’asuamaleaui’s manager Simon Mammino stressed the prop is happy at the Titans, but confirmed the Gold Coast captain wants to assess all options with NRL rivals, including Meninga’s Bears.

“We will be testing the market,” said Mammino, who inserted the get-out clauses in Fa’asuamaleaui’s deal with the imprimatur of Titans management.

“At this stage, he wants to stay at the Titans, but it’s a business and we’ll be having a chat to interested parties, including the Perth Bears.

“I am aware that there’s alleged interest from Perth, but until we speak to someone from the Bears, it’s all pie-in-the-sky speculation.

“From November 1, we’re allowed to talk to people and I will definitely be having a chat with the Perth Bears.

“In a perfect world, Tino’s preference is to stay at the Titans but whether he does remains to be seen.”

While the revelation will pique the interest of a slew of NRL rivals, the Bears have a blank, $12.1 million chequebook for 2027 to win any bidding war.

Fa’asuamaleaui is on $1.2 million this season at the Titans, but the Bears are prepared to go to $1.5m, beefed-up by the prospect of a ratchet clause should the NRL salary cap increase, as expected, for the NRL’s next TV rights deal from 2028.

The NRL’s last salary cap increase in 2023 was 22 per cent.

An estimated salary-cap increase of 15 per cent for the 2028 season could see Fa’asuamaleaui earn in excess of $1.7 million in Perth and inch towards becoming the code’s first $2 million player.

Known for his loyalty, Fa’asuamaleaui’s dream is to win the Titans’ first premiership.

But on the eve of Origin III last month, the 25-year-old raised concerns about the direction of the Titans, who could suffer further ructions if Hasler is sacked in the coming weeks.

Since joining the Titans from Melbourne, Fa’asuamaleaui has only won 31 per cent of the Gold Coast games he’s played and admits the club’s position is “upsetting”.

“The club doesn’t owe me anything. I just would like to see some direction, how we’re getting out of this as a group and not just as a playing group,” he told this masthead.

“As a club we need to sit down and road map and direct where things need to be headed and have clarity around that.

“Obviously there’s a lot of things up in the air at the moment and that’s probably what’s weighing me down the most.

“It’s hard to talk about, I get a bit emotional.

“We’re not performing and I know what it’s like, it’s a full-on business and it’s a ruthless business.

“When things aren’t going right there’s a lot of questions.

“As a club we are not in a good situation and we need to get clarity and have a direction where we want to head and plan how to execute that.”

The danger for the Titans is the Meninga-Howe threat.

When Fa’asuamaleaui decided to quit the Storm, he only did so after a meeting with Meninga and Howe, who drove to his family’s property in Gympie to successfully pitch their vision for the Titans.

Now a similar pitch to be the NRL’s golden boy in the wild west and leave a famous Bears legacy could prove irresistible for Fa’asuamaleaui.

“Mal and Ezra are huge factors,” Mammino said.

“There is no grey area - Tino went to the Titans because of Mal Meninga. He has huge respect for him.

“That doesn’t mean Tino will definitely sign with them (Perth), but Mal and Ezra are huge fans of Tino.

“Those two aren’t there anymore and Tino has developed a real affection for the Gold Coast, but we don’t know where the Titans are heading.

“I know Tino likes Des, so we need to sit back and see what unfolds with the club and make a decision from there.

“Tino wants to win a comp at the Titans and he has a fair bit of belief in his playing group and the roster that is with him.

“There’s a lot of talent in that team, but a lot depends on what happens with the coach and where the Titans are going for 2027 and beyond.

“That will be a relevant part of his decision making, I’m not telling them which way to go, but Tino is happy with Des, so we need to work with the club and see which way they want to go.

“In the meantime, Tino will get interest from clubs, but I do know it will take a lot to get him out of the Titans.

“He does want to win. Steve Mitchell (Titans CEO) and Dennis Watt (chairman) are good operators, but the reason we put the clause in there was to give Tino a chance to reassess where the Titans were at after a three-year period.

“We will have a few months to sit back and decide which way he goes.”

Fa’asuamaleaui’s family ties in Queensland could be a trump card in staving off the Bears.

“It won’t be money alone that lures him out because he is already one of the highest paid players in the game,” Mammino said.

“Family is a huge factor.

“His in-laws live on the Gold Coast, his mum and dad are in Gympie and his brother is at the Titans.

“His family and support network is all around the Gold Coast area.

“If he goes to Perth, there’s no family support, so Perth will face the same challenges as Melbourne.

“Perth is a long way away and it will be tough to get players across there, that’s a realistic thing.”

Originally published as Perth Bears prepare to make $7.5 million offer to lure Tino Fa'asuamaleaui west