The St George Illawarra Dragons are quickly slipping into a significant finals drought having not made the top eight since 2018.

It was also in 2018 when the Dragons last made a marquee signing with Ben Hunt joining the club on a multi-million dollar deal.

Hunt’s monstrous deal will be coming to an end at the end of 2023 and it seems the Dragons may look to reinvest their newly available funds into another area of the team as The Sydney Morning Herald’s Adam Pengilly is reporting that the Red V are looking to signing Gold Coast Titans second-rower David Fifita from 2024 onwards.

“The Dragons are preparing to make one of their most significant transfer splashes in recent history in a bid to bring David Fifita to the club,” said Pengilly.

“Given his hefty price tag and struggles to ignite the Gold Coast as they narrowly avoided the wooden spoon, it is unsurprising the Titans are yet to expedite negotiations with their highest earner before he potentially heads to the World Cup.

“But according to sources familiar with the situation, the Dragons are positioning themselves to make a huge play to lure Fifita to the Red V for 2024 to help rejuvenate an ageing forward pack.”

Whichever way the preliminary finals are carved up, a main course storyline to salivate over awaits with this weekend’s match-ups just as enticing.https://t.co/3VbFktJQ8g

— SMH Sport (@SMHsport) September 18, 2022

Fifita joined the Titans in 2021 from their arch rivals the Brisbane Broncos on a three-year deal believed to be worth around $1 million per season.

During his time on the Gold Coast Fifita’s form has dropped significantly and his future at the Titans is quite uncertain as the club may look to free up funds by letting the 22-year-old leave and sign other players.

The Dragons potential pursuit of Fifita comes as no surprise with the club’s current forward pack largely playing poor over the past couple of years.

In 2022 Blake Lawrie was the standout in St George Illawarra’s forward pack with Jaydn Su’a, Jack De Berlin and Jack Bird having patches of strong form throughout the year but other than that there has not been much to cheer about.

Signing Fifita on a reduced deal would be a good bit of business for the Dragons but the amount they possibly sign him for will largely depend on his form next season.