WOLVES are already looking at several targets as they look to replace the departed Chris Sandow, boss Tony Smith says.

The 27-year-old scrum-half sensationally walked out on the club on Monday despite being contracted until the end of the 2017 season.

Sandow was due to report for pre-season training with the rest of his non-international teammates this week, but remains in Australia.

The departure of the former Parramatta man leaves Wolves with a hole to fill at a stage when most players are tied up to fill but Smith says the club are exploring options.

“We will get a replacement for him, don’t worry about that,” he said.

“There are clubs in Australia that won’t use up their full salary cap because they know there’s plenty of movement to be done in pre-season.

“We’ve had a lot of enquiries about players possibly coming to our club so we will be fine in that respect.

“We’ll take our time and make sure we get the right person in.”

Should a replacement not materialise, Sandow’s sudden departure has the potential to leave Wolves with a dilemma in the halves.

Academy product Dec Patton finished the 2016 campaign in possession of the scrum-half berth, starting and scoring in the Grand Final defeat to Wigan.

However, he had surgery on a wrist at the season’s end, while fellow half-back candidate Stefan Ratchford is not expected to return from a knee operation until March.

Karl Fitzpatrick, Wolves’ head of rugby operations, says they are looking at half-back options on both sides of the globe.

“We’re monitoring the market at the moment and seeing what’s available for us,” he said.

“It’s really important that we get someone in who is of the right personality as well as being an exciting player.

“If you look at the players we have brought in so far for next season, they are all great lads with fantastic personality traits.

“Whoever we bring in has to be of that mould and we’re looking at both the Super League and NRL markets.

“We’re not going to rush it. If the right person doesn’t come along we’ll be patient and wait until they do. It’s important we get this decision right.”

Sandow has since appeared on Australian television to explain his departure.

He told Fox Sports he is remaining Down Under for family reasons but admitted he went about telling his employers the wrong way.

“I’ve grown up to hold things in and I shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “It’s been building for a while. I should have been a man about it and told them what was happening.”