Willie Mason's stint in NRL purgatory appears almost over after North Queensland and Newcastle both publicly confirmed their desire to sign the former Test forward.
Both clubs are working frantically behind the scenes to secure the 29-year-old's services, with both boards expected to decide whether or not to offer Mason a contract on Wednesday night.
Mason, who has a season to run on his current deal with the Roosters, has been linked with several clubs including Melbourne and Manly since the Tri Colours gave him permission to search for a new home late last year.
But the controversial veteran has been unable to secure a new deal amid concerns over his poor off-field record.
The Knights released a media statement confirming their interest in the unwanted Rooster on Wednesday, a matter of moments before Cowboys coach Neil Henry confirmed he met face-to-face with Mason in Sydney on Tuesday night.
"Willie and I had a discussion last night for a bit over an hour, we had a discussion about the possibility of him coming north," Henry revealed.
"I relayed the contents of that conversation to (Cowboys CEO) Peter Parr this morning and he's talking to the board today."
"It was a fairly positive conversation, I know Newcastle have weighed in fairly heavily for him too, and he's from that area and he's got family up that way as well so he'll have to make a decision."
"It's looking positive for us, we haven't made a formal offer at the moment, but I'm hoping that Peter Parr will talk to the board today and we might be able to finalise something by tomorrow."
Henry is confident negotiations won't degenerate into a bidding war, insisting Mason is not motivated by money.
"Willie's already indicated that he's keen to play football and he's not chasing the dollars. He just wants to get into training and get with a team as soon as possible and I'd imagine when he makes his decision he'll be training next week," he said.
"We're not in a position to get into a bidding war for his services and we're hoping that he's still positive about coming north, but again we haven't signed off on that yet because we've still got to get the board members to discuss it."
Asked what Mason would add to the Cowboys, Henry replied: "It's fairly obvious that at his best he's a very talented player and he adds another dimension to any team, so he'd be welcomed up there as a wide-running back-rower."