Two weeks ago, the idea of Zak Hardaker making a return to Headingley in the blue and amber of Leeds Rhinos was sheer fantasy. But here we are. The Rhinos are on the verge of securing a return for their former hero in what will be the latest chapter of a career fuelled equally by brilliance and controversy.
Leeds' interest in the 30-year-old developed suddenly and was acted upon decisively. When talk of a move away from Wigan Warriors started to emerge last year, the Rhinos never gave a return to Headingley much consideration. It was not a move the Rhinos felt compelled to make.
How things have changed. The waters were tested on Tuesday of last week. The Rhinos, decimated by injuries and struggling significantly following the Easter period, were in desperate need of players. Hardaker had not played following issues at Wigan that had seen him dropped. Contact was made to see if a deal could be reached which would see the England international return to the club on a short-term basis. Such was the club's optimism, perhaps even confidence, that a deal could be reached, they only named a 20-man squad on the basis an agreement would be reached.
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However, once the club became aware of the events unfolding at the DW Stadium, which could well see Hardaker leave the club permanently, they backed out and let those formalities run their course. Wigan would ultimately end their association with him on Thursday evening and confirm the morning after.
By then, Leeds were already contemplating whether a longer-term deal was desirable. Jamie Jones-Buchanan was a vocal supporter there was enough support for the move to prompt the club to get the wheels in motion.
Elsewhere, other clubs were in a similar position. Featherstone Rovers are understood to have put the feelers out about a return to the place where Hardaker first made a name for himself and it's believed he even had a conversation with his former Leeds coach Brian McDermott. Another of his former clubs, Castleford Tigers, were keeping an eye on developments from afar, though they never truly pursued a deal. The Tigers would have had to create salary cap space to facilitate a deal and as such, their interest never extended further than curiosity. Leigh Centurions were also keen spectators, though there was an acceptance at LSV that it would be almost impossible to land a deal for a player keen to return to his West Yorkshire base. Hull FC, despite rumours, were not interested this time around.
Knowing all too well that other clubs were monitoring the situation, Leeds made their move. The ball was rolling in the hours following the Rhinos' win over Toulouse, which had seen Tom Briscoe and Liam Sutcliffe join the club's casualty list. If there was any doubt over their move, that sealed it.
By Saturday afternoon, Hardaker is understood to have held talks with the club and by Saturday evening there was an expectation within the inner sanctums that a deal would be reached. One issue has been that Hardaker's agent, Sam Ayoub, is in Australia, meaning there has been difficulty in doing business around contrasting time differences. It has resulted in progress being slightly slowed than some would have hoped.
But further progress was made on Sunday evening and a deal is expected to be concluded imminently. He is set to be available for Friday's game with Hull KR.
Finances are one of the final details to be sorted, as well as the length of the contract, though a deal until the end of the season appears most likely. The Rhinos do have salary cap space that was vacated when Luke Gale moved to Hull FC but a lot of that space has been reinvested in new contracts for Morgan Gannon, Mikolaj Oledzki and Harry Newman. As such, the Rhinos are on the tip of using all of their salary cap space and that could yet result in a player having to leave. This, again, is another reason why the deal has not been tied up just yet.
Though a deal is not yet signed and sealed, it is a matter of when, rather than if. It won't be long until the Rhinos unveil the return of the three-time Grand Final winner.
