BEN Barba’s career at the Broncos is over, with the fallen Dally M star expected to sign with Cronulla in the next 48 hours.

Following an afternoon of meetings with Broncos officials and coach Wayne Bennett, Barba was given permission to negotiate with other clubs.

He will be given an outright release from the remaining two years of his Broncos contract when he agrees to terms with a new club.

Tomorrow in the Saturday Courier-Mail, Bennett reveals he decided to cut Barba loose because he could not guarantee the former Bulldogs star would be in the Broncos’ top 17 next season.

“Look, I don’t want to lie to Ben and I don’t want to lie to the fans,” Bennett tells The Courier-Mail.

“I could have made out that it would be all rosy for Ben Barba next year but the reality is it might not be so rosy.”

Barba tells The Courier-Mail tomorrow that he wanted to stay in Brisbane, and was given the option of seeing out his contract and fighting for a position.

But he said he understood Bennett’s position, and expected to have a new club by “the end of this week”.

Get the full story on another tumultuous day at the Broncos, only in tomorrow’s edition of The Courier-Mail and couriermail.com.au

Originally published as Bennett cuts Barba loose from Broncos