Brisbane boss Bruno Cullen insists missing out on Petero Civoniceva does not mean the cashed up NRL club will bulk up their offer to homesick Ben Hannant or splash huge money around the open player market.

Brisbane had been quietly confident of luring former Brisbane crowd favourite Civoniceva back to the club but his new three-year deal to stay with Penrith put paid to that on Wednesday.

The Broncos have close to $1 million freed up under the salary cap through pending player movements and it's no secret they would be "very" interested in Billy Slater or Greg Inglis should either be forced to leave Melbourne.

Missing Civoniceva makes Hannant, keen to get a release from the Bulldogs to be closer to his family on the Gold Coast, a priority target for the Broncos.

But Cullen said the club was also determined to ensure it shores up its grip on its current crop of promising youngsters and had to budget accordingly.

"We've been in discussions with Ben (Hannant) and his manager so watch this space is all I can say," offered Cullen on Wednesday.

"(Civoniceva's decision) won't make any difference to the negotiations we're currently having with Ben."

Brisbane have more room to move under the salary cap than most NRL clubs having released Joel Clinton and pensioned off hooker PJ Marsh, with Lagi Setu and Ashton Sims also set to move on in 2011.

And if boom centre Israel Folau jumps ship to rugby union as expected, the war chest will be even bigger.

"We do have some money," said Cullen.

"But what people are forgetting is the squad we've got, and the squad we will end up with next year is still a very, very good squad.

"If we could erase the injury problems and put the best 17 players on the field week after week, we'd have a very competitive team.

"We don't think we have to go out there and wholesale spend because these young kids are going to come good in the next 12 or 18 months.

"If we've used all our money getting players from outside the club, then we're going to have to let them go and that doesn't make much sense."

Gold Coast boss Michael Searle virtually ruled the Titans out of any tug of war for Hannant's signature.

"We've been pretty open about our interest in Ben but it was always going to be pretty hard for us," said Searle.

"We've got a good lot of local juniors coming through.

"It would be great to fit Ben in 2011 but I can't see that happening."

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