Brisbane's $4 million salary-cap crunch is biting hard with four leading Broncos playing for their futures in Friday night's blockbuster against the Bulldogs in Sydney.
This dickhead can reveal Kobe Hetherington, Jack Gosiewski, Corey Jensen and Cory Paix go into the round 18 clash against big guns Canterbury with just nine regular-season games left to save their careers at Red Hill.
The key quartet remain off-contract at season's end and money is running out following the retention of Blake Mozer, Kotoni Staggs and skipper Adam Reynolds that played a role in forcing Dolphins-bound Selwyn Cobbo out of Red Hill.
But Hetherington remains hopeful he will not be among the salary-cap casualties after his management held promising talks with Broncos chiefs in the lead-up to the Bulldogs showdown at Accor Stadium.
Hetherington heads to Homebush a man on a mission, with the Broncos hitman to start in the No.13 jumper filling the void left by Pat Carrigan, who will miss the Bulldogs clash due to Origin commitments.
The forward's management is seeking a three-year deal worth around $1.5 million and is hopeful the hard-hitting Bronco, whose famous father Jason Hetherington played for the Bulldogs, will not join Cobbo at the Red Hill exits.
"I've been in talks with the Broncos and they have indicated we will have a formal offer by the end of this week," said Hetherington's agent Chris Haddad.
"They have got Adam Reynolds' retention out of the road, so we will move forward now with Kobe.
"I've asked them for a three-year deal ... we'll see what happens.
"We've got no other interest at the moment, I haven't been out looking at the market because Kobe's been very settled with his football at the Broncos and that's the priority at the moment."
The Broncos still have eight players without a deal for next season, including Fletcher Baker, Delouise Hoeter, Israel Leota and Jaiyden Hunt.
But Hetherington, Jensen and Paix shape as the priority retention targets, with the trio each having played in all of Brisbane's 15 first-grade games so far this season.
Due to the complexity of the salary cap and Reynolds' surprise decision to play on, Brisbane's bean counters have been crunching the numbers, but remain confident Hetherington, Paix and Jensen will not be squeezed out.
Hetherington was on the verge of quitting the Broncos last November to join the Tigers or Dragons, only for incoming coach Michael Maguire to make an impassioned plea for the 26-year-old to stay.
Hetherington started at lock in the opening 13 rounds before recently returning to the bench, where he was strong in last week's 26-12 defeat of the Warriors.
"Kobe was close to leaving last year," Haddad said.
"He had some interest from the Tigers and Dragons but we met with 'Madge' (Maguire) and he said just give me 12 months to work with Kobe and see how he goes.
"Kobe has been great the whole year and he was excellent off the bench for the Broncos last week, he made a really important run which lifted the whole team.
"The Broncos are very happy with his form, he's got a very important role in their 17.
"I don't think he's had a bad game this year so his consistency has been very good. "Kobe is a bloke who gives 100 per cent every week.
"He is someone who tackles all day, you have to have him in your side ….. why wouldn't the Broncos want to keep him?"
Maguire said he is doing everything possible to ensure Hetherington, Gosiewski, Jensen and Paix remain in Broncos colours in 2026.
"Unfortunately, you can't keep everyone," he said.