Canterbury coach Jim Dymock believes it's a case of when - not if - star Manly five-eighth Kieran Foran follows Des Hasler to Belmore, but doesn't expect the move to be immediate even if the Sea Eagles boss is sacked on Wednesday night.
The Manly board will meet to decide whether Hasler should be removed instantly following weeks of controversy and mass defections in the wake of his decision to join the Bulldogs in 2013.
Officials are fed up with the in-fighting and bickering since the club's grand final win and are leaning towards installing Geoff Toovey as coach a year earlier than planned.
If Hasler's contract was to be terminated, it would free him to join Canterbury a year ahead of schedule, possibly as a consultant before taking complete charge in 2013.
It also means the brilliant Foran will become a free agent as he has a get-out clause in his contract allowing him to leave the club should Hasler not be coach.
Dymock, who will return to an assistant's role when Hasler takes over next year or the year after, is confident Foran will eventually follow the two-time premiership winner to the Dogs.
"Des coming here will definitely have a big influence on Kieran," Dymock told Sportal.
"He's a quality player and would definitely be a great acquisition."
"Those quality players in the halves are very hard to find at the moment so to get a player like Kieran Foran would be a bonus."
"But that will be more one for 2013."
Dymock has not heard from Hasler for several weeks and was unaware of any move to oust the Manly mentor from Brookvale a year ahead of plan.
"I've had one call from Des to wish me good luck and all the best and I congratulated him on his grand final win," he said.
"That's been it."
"As I have said all along, all I can do is control is what's going on at Canterbury."
"I don't have any say or control over what they are doing at Manly."