LACHLAN Fitzgibbon will be joining Warrington Wolves in 2024 – but could he give the side a more immediate boost?

Head coach Daryl Powell confirmed the club are working on a way to bring the second rower over early but that the ball was in the court of his current club Newcastle Knights.

On Thursday, The Wire confirmed Fitzgibbon’s signing on a three-year deal from next season to boost their stocks in the back row, with Matty Nicholson earmarked for a move to loose forward.

With Thomas Mikaele and Josh McGuire having left the club mid-season, however, no secret has been made about their desire to restock their forward pack for what remains of 2023.

Newcastle currently sit 14th on the NRL ladder, five points shy of a play-off place with eight games of their season remaining.

Fitzgibbon remains a first-team regular at the Knights and as such, an early release appears to be unlikely but Powell says there is dialogue going on.

“We have asked the question,” he said.

“They’re still in the fight for the play-offs and I think they’ve got a bye week this week, so it pushes it back a little.

“In an ideal world, we’d try and do it but it’s whether Newcastle are going to let it happen.

“Maybe later in the season, it could be an option but we’ll keep looking into it.

“We haven’t replaced the two guys that have left and it’s clearly having an impact, but we’ll keep looking.”