SAINTS are remaining tight-lipped on speculation linking Joe Greenwood with a swap deal with Gold Coast Titans’ back-rower Zeb Taia.

The Daily Telegraph's Barry Toohey tweeted overnight that the England squad player was heading Down Under, with the powerful former Catalans Dragons second row coming in the opposite direction.

If the rumour needed any further corroboration Taia has began following the official Saints Twitter account.

Toohey tweeted:“Am hearing the swap deal involving @StHelensRLFC forward Joe Greenwood and Zeb Taia from @GCTitans is done.”

A former Parramatta and Newcastle Knight, Taia, 32, has made a successful return to the NRL with Titans after an impressive three-year stint in the south of France.

A strong, tackle-busting runner, Taia scored 33 tries in 77 appearances for the Catalans Dragons between 2013-15.

Saints fans will have seen his destructive running.

Others may recall that during a Dragons v Saints game in 2013, Taia's challenge took on-loan half back Gareth O'Brien out of the game - an incident for which he was banned for three matches.

The rumours suggest that any deal would be with immediate effect – and given that Greenwood is off contract at the end of the season, it could be that Saints see this as a way of getting something back in return rather than simply start from scratch at the end of the year.

When asked about the speculation the club re-stated their policy of not commenting on rumour and speculation.

Last week when coach Keiron Cunningham was asked about the earlier reports about Greenwood’s possible departure, he replied: “Joe has got this year left on contract and we are currently speaking with him. If that is the case (NRL interest) it doesn’t surprise me – he’s an up and coming England international.

“If I was in the NRL and had pots of money I’d be looking at best English talent as well.

“Joe is a good player who we have developed since he was 12, 13 years old.

“We have worked with Joe, as we did with James Graham to some extent from a young age, and brought them through the system.

“You can’t blame the player. It’s a short career – if you get promised the gold at the end of the rainbow.

“If you look at the earnings in the NRL and potential earnings in four or five years you can’t blame them wanting to leave.

“As a coach I don’t want them to leave because it devalues our competition, but you can’t blame your players.

“Joe is a free man to do whatever he wants but a lot of it will come down to finance I would imagine and if their cap is going to $10m we can’t compete.”