Wests Tigers' chances of stealing Canterbury forward Greg Eastwood have taken a hit after the Bulldogs forward declared his intention to fulfill the final year of his contract at Belmore.
Eastwood, 30, has been widely tipped to jump on the bus at Concord after being identified by new coach Ivan Cleary as a possible block in their rebuild.
However the Bulldogs prop denied being in negotiations with any rival NRL club and intends to stay on under coach Des Hasler next season.
"I haven't spoken to anyone. I want to play with the Bulldogs next year, so that's the way it is so far. You hear things about going somewhere, but nothing's been organised," Eastwood told AAP.
The New Zealand international is one of a number of players linked with a tap on the shoulder after the club splashed the cash for big-money recruits Aaron Woods and Kieran Foran.
Numerous reports have the Bulldogs needing to wipe almost $1 million off their books by 2018.
Morris brothers Brett and Josh have also been tossed up as players who could be asked to go a year early from their current deals, as have props Sam Kasiano and James Graham.
The club has already lost Josh Reynolds to the Tigers, and have first grade regulars Will Hopoate and Michael Lichaa also without contracts beyond this season.
Eastwood admitted to playing through a neck injury he picked up last week and then aggravated in the first half of Saturday's cliffhanging loss to Cronulla.
However the 30-year-old said he wanted to play on after the side lost skipper James Graham to a similar injury moments before Eastwood went down.
He said he needed pain-killing injections to take the field at Southern Cross Group Stadium, but was hopeful of being pain-free against Penrith next Sunday.
"Yeah, I had a few needles this week because we had a short turnaround. It didn't settle down in time but hopefully a longer turnaround this week will help," he said.
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