The Canberra Raiders have locked in a young gun to take them into the future and they hope a star trio will be the next to commit to new contracts in the coming weeks.
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The Raiders have thrown their support behind rising playmaker Lachlan Croker by signing him on an extended deal which will keep the 18-year-old in the capital until at least 2017.
It's understood the Raiders could finalise new deals for Jack Wighton, Josh Papalii and Josh Hodgson as early as next week, with all three keen to rebuild the Green Machine.
Wighton's manager will meet with Raiders officials on Thursday and it is hoped the parties can agree to terms to keep the fullback in Canberra.
The squad pieces are falling into place as coach Ricky Stuart pushes ahead with 28 players at pre-season training and chief executive Don Furner indicating a handful of spots are still up for grabs.
Croker has been elevated from the under-20s program to the NRL top-25 squad and has been earmarked as a future first-grade star.
It's likely Croker will spend most of his time in the under-20s competition next year as Aidan Sezer, Blake Austin and Sam Williams battle for the NRL halves spots.
But his upgraded contract will allow him to train full-time and fast-track his development as he aims to follow in the footsteps of Wighton, Papalii and skipper Jarrod Croker.
Wighton, Papalii and Croker were all part of the NRL squad when they were still eligible for junior duties.
"The Raiders do a good job with their juniors, I've been around since under-16s and they've shown faith in me through those years. That gives me a lot of confidence," Croker said.
"I'm living with Jack Wighton now. He's been a great help for me and helped me along the last couple of months. It's exciting to see what they've done and hopefully I can go down that path."
Croker, the nephew of Raiders legend Jason Croker, will use his time to learn from Sezer, Austin and Williams with a view to making his mark in the NRL in the coming seasons.
The Goulburn junior was catapulted from school to the top grade when he joined the Raiders squad at the Auckland Nines tournament this year.
It was an indication of how highly the Raiders thought of the young star, who will continue juggling his university degree study with his NRL prospects.
"It's a good feeling to know the club has a lot of faith in you and fingers crossed I can repay that," Croker said.
"Whether I play under-20s or in [NSW Cup] with Mounties, I'm just happy to be around. It's going to be interesting over the next few years to see where I'm at.
"I'm only young, I've got a lot of time. It's more about learning. I'll keep plugging away at uni to keep mum and dad happy. With under-20s you have to study or work to play, now I can put all my eggs in [the NRL] basket."
The Raiders are still waiting for the NRL to decide whether the under-20s competition will exist beyond the end of 2016.
It is expected the competition will be scrapped because of high costs and replaced with a shorter version.
The Raiders invest heavily in junior development, but Furner reiterated the NRL needed to reward clubs who bring through young players.
"Second-tier players will get an opportunity with us ... we've got up until June to sign players and certainly I think there will be some more signings and more movement on players," Furner said.
"We've got a few spots, but we're not going to rush into anything. There's no doubt the under-20s is a good pathway.
"In the new CBA there has to be some concession for clubs doing the heavy lifting [with junior development], otherwise in a pure business model it doesn't make sense to put money into junior development. We'd love a system where there's some incentives to put some money into the next Lachlan Croker."
