The door has been left ajar for Kieran Foran at Brisbane despite Wayne Bennett dismissing speculation linking the playmaker to the NRL club in 2018.
Reports have claimed Foran has emerged as an option to replace Brisbane's Dragons-bound halfback Ben Hunt next year.
It is believed Foran saw master coach Bennett as the ideal man to get the troubled superstar's life back on track.
But it seems it is news to Bennett.
"That's a media story. No one at this club has spoken to Kieran Foran or his manager," the Brisbane coach said on Wednesday.
"Nor have we been approached by him or his management.
"I am not going to go on any more about Kieran."
But asked if he would be interested in Foran, Bennett said: "We are always interested in quality players".
Auckland-born Foran has already been linked to Brisbane before even playing a game for his new club New Zealand Warriors.
Foran - on a one-year contract in New Zealand - has been cleared by the NRL to make his comeback for the Warriors in round three.
The Kiwi playmaker quit Parramatta midway through 2016, less than a year into a four-season deal, before checking into rehabilitation.
The 26-year-old was hospitalised due to a prescription drug overdose following the breakdown of his relationship with his long-term partner and mother of his children.
He also came under fire for his friendly relationship with former brothel owner Eddie Hayson, who has been linked to an on-going police investigation into match fixing.
For the record, Foran's camp have been coy on the playmaker's future.
"He has not spoken to a single club about 2018," Foran's advisor, lawyer Don MacKinnon, told the New Zealand Herald.
"His priority is entirely on getting ready for the Warriors in 2017 and having a successful year."
