It is The Sharks in particular who have been singled out by The Lions and there is a strong likelihood that The Sharks will have their significant depth ransacked.

Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira has been approached in a move that caused disbelief in Durban as the thought of losing the much loved prop proved to be too difficult to believe. After all  it was The Sharks who were prepared to nurture the talented Zimbabwean in his formative years as a player and nobody would have thought he would want to play anywhere else but the Shark Tank.  However there is no formal offer yet, we are led to believe, which could simply mean the contract has not yet been signed.

President of the Golden Lions, Kevin de Klerk said “there has been nothing formal; we are just investigating if he is available. But there is no formal offer on the table.”

Rory Kockott who struggled to get much time with The Sharks has already been lured to join The Lions having decided not to renew his contract with The Sharks. It is debatable whether there is any merit in signing up Kockott who looked way past his best this year and it is a move that might be counterproductive for The Lions.

The infatuation that The Lions have for Sharks players is understandable as recent years a horde of Lions have learnt to swim like sharks. Willem Alberts, Gerhard Mostert, Louis Ludik , Charl Mcleod and Andre Pretorius all hail from the reef and would no doubt have strengthened the Lions this year had The Sharks not poached them.

Whether The Lions efforts to produce a competitive team will create the needed momentum for the long term is yet to be seen but it is certain that they are desperate to recapture the glory of former years and will go into 2011 with renewed confidence.

It all makes for some interesting pre-season speculation as The Lions try to prove that money talks and everyone has a price.