The Wests Tigers appear to have failed in their bid to capture Gold Coast winger Phillip Sami, with the Titans flyer expected to formalise a contract extension later this week.

Foxsports.com.au understands that Sami, who was one of the shining lights in the Titans’ dismal 2019 campaign, is likely to ink a fresh two-year deal in the coming days.

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The Tigers had been hopeful of snaring the off-contract Sami, in the wake of the departure of Esan Marsters after the Kiwi international headed to North Queensland.

Round 20

Instead, it is believed the 22-year-old has rejected the overtures from Michael Maguire’s side to stay loyal to the Titans in a deal which will see him remain there until the end of 2022.

It would represent a significant boost for the beleaguered club, who are aiming to turn around their fortunes under new coach Justin Holbrook.

New Gold Coast Titans head coach Justin Holbrook Source: News Corp Australia

Sami has scored 21 tries in 43 games for the Gold Coast and also represented the Queensland U20’s in 2018.

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Comfortable anywhere across the backline, Sami can fill in at centre, but has spent most of his NRL career on the wing.

In the 2019 season Sami returned for an average of 112m per game, and notched the fastest speed of a player in Titans’ history.

That came when he gunned down Melbourne’s Josh Addo-Carr in a try-saving tackle.

Sami hit a top speed of 35.9kmh in the valiant 24-8 loss at the back end of the year, with his Titans teammates nicknaming him “the Hound”, given he had chased down “the Foxx”.