Zak Hardaker will not be a Leeds Rhinos player in 2023. Hardaker's short-term deal with the Rhinos expired at the end of the 2022 Super League season, but the player had made it clear his preference was to remain at Headingley into next year and potentially beyond.
However, Rugby League Live understands the 31-year-old has held extensive talks with other clubs and is now on the verge of agreeing terms with another top-flight side. It means that Rhinos supporters will not get their wish in seeing Hardaker extend his second spell with the club into next season.
The player himself admitted he was uncertain about his future in the wake of Leeds' Grand Final defeat to St Helens last month. However, his future now looks certain to be away from Headingley, with one of the Rhinos' most consistent performers this year heading for pastures new.
READ MORE: Leeds Rhinos send message to Zak Hardaker with supporters excited amid contract talks
Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith admitted after Leeds' exhibition with New Zealand that their chances of keeping Hardaker were increasingly slim due to salary cap restraints. They have already allowed senior players including Tom Briscoe and Brad Dwyer to move on, and Hardaker now looks set to be the latest member of the 2022 squad to be playing for another club next year.
Smith said: "There will be updates when there are updates but at the moment there's no salary cap room to do anything so until there is nothing can happen. We can't do anything until there is some salary cap room. Currently, Zak is uncontracted and there is no salary cap room to make a move."
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