An historic rule change by the Australian Rugby Union could pave the way for something long thought impossible: Dan Carter in a Waratahs jersey.
In a desperate bid to prevent the game's cream chasing the cash to Europe, the ARU has - in principle - adjusted its rules to allow non-Australian players to sign with Australian Super 14 teams.
Current rules prevent any player ineligible to play for the Wallabies from playing with NSW, Queensland, the ACT or Western Force.
But this could all change as soon as 2010 with the ARU board expected to ratify the proposed 'marquee system' which would allow two foreign players per team.
The move could open the door for the code's elite, such as New Zealand's Dan Carter or England's Jonny Wilkinson, to don Australian Super 14 jerseys while falling outside the team's salary cap.
When the notion was flagged with Carter, the All Blacks playmaker refused to close the door.
"It is not something I have thought much about but I guess so," Carter told News Limited while in Sydney last week.
"Obviously you are born and bred in certain areas and have real connections between your home teams. It is always tough to leave that.
"But in the professional game these things can happen. It is something you'd have to look at, the positives and negatives, if that was the case."
