NRL Transfer Watch: Corey Norman eyes Super League switch, Tariq Sims to leave Dragons?
The Dragons have given an Origin star permission to negotiate with rival clubs, while Corey Norman’s hopes of extending his NRL career appear to be dashed.
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St George Illawarra have given NSW star Tariq Sims permission to negotiate with rival clubs for 2023.
Sims, who is the club’s acting captain, has another 12 months remaining on his deal. However it is understood the club has indicated they will not re-sign the 31-year-old and would be open for him to leave early. Sims played for the Blues earlier this year.
Sims’ Dragons teammate Corey Norman’s NRL career could end on Saturday after the $850,000 a year playmaker failed to attract a single offer to play next season.
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In a snub that could see a career that started with a man-of-the-match performance in front of 50,000 fans end with a glorified reserve grade match against a second-string South Sydney, Norman failed to even attract an expression of interest from an NRL club.
Norman was shopped to all 15 clubs after he was told his $2.5 million three-year deal with St George Illawarra would not be extended.
News Corp can reveal Norman, a marquee player at both the Dragons and his former club the Eels, did not even receive a minimum wage offer. Norman, 30, is hopeful of landing a Super League deal.
“There is certainly interest from a few Super League clubs,” Norman’s manager Paul Sutton said. “He will have a few options over there.”
Norman will almost certainly play his last NRL game on Saturday when the Dragons take on the Rabbitohs at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
With an expected crowd of 2000, the suburban Queensland ground will be a far cry from Suncorp Stadium where Norman made his debut for the Broncos in 2010.
A crowd of 48,156 watched as the then 19-year-old steered Brisbane to a season-starting win over the Cowboys in a man-of-the-match performance. A one-time State of Origin player for the Maroons, Norman was told he was not wanted by the Dragons earlier this year.
“The club and Hook (Anthony Griffin) have gone with that direction and I can totally understand that it’s football,” Norman said after being told of the decision.
“They’ve got two young kids coming through and it’s good to see, and that’s the direction they want to go in, I cop it on the chin.
“That’s the best thing about Hook, he’s straight up and down and, as a player, that’s what you want. I wouldn’t have liked it if he beat around the bush, to be honest. That’s what you respect about him.
“I was speaking to a few of the boys and I kind of felt like they were going to go that way. We’ve got two young kids here who are pretty special. I was getting that feeling anyway. That’s footy.
“I would have preferred to stay here but I’m a realist and I can see what they’re trying to do.
“At the end of the day, it is what it is. I’m getting on now, I’m not going to be a hater and sit here and say things like that. It is what it is and I look forward to a couple of years’ time sitting back and watching them boys play really good football in the NRL.”
BUNNIES EYE RAIDERS INTERNATIONAL
—David Riccio
Redfern has emerged as a potential home for Raiders utility Siliva Havili.
The Rabbitohs are in the final stages of negotiations to sign the former Kiwi and Tongan international who can play hooker and lock-forward.
The 28-year-old has spent the past four seasons with the Raiders after previous stints with St George-Illawarra and the Warriors.
Off-contract with the Raiders this season, Havili is viewed by South Sydney as an ideal utility player who can bolster their 2022 roster.
The Rabbitohs have remained relatively quiet on the open market with Anthony Milford their highest-profile signing to date.
BULLDOGS OUTLINE PLANS FOR ELLIOTT
—Dean Ritchie
Canterbury has started to shop around troubled forward Adam Elliott.
The Daily Telegraph has been told the Bulldogs have a preference to offload Elliott rather than sack him.
Elliott has been issued a breach notice and fined $10,000 for his toilet tryst with NRLW player, Millie Boyle, at a Gold Coast restaurant on August 22.
He was stood down immediately from playing.
Shifting rather than terminating Elliott would seem a softer PR option for Canterbury.
Privately, Canterbury has spoken to rival clubs to gauge any interest in Elliott.
After showing curiosity in Elliott last year, Canberra has no desire to sign the backrower for next year.
There are now suggestions Canterbury may look to the New Zealand Warriors as a possible home for Elliott.
The Bulldogs coaching staff is acutely aware the club requires an additional hooker moving forward.
Elliott, 26, has an annual contract worth around $450,000 and is fighting to remain at Belmore.
That money could be directed toward a game managing dummy half.
Elliott’s chances of being retained are rated 50/50 but Canterbury’s ultra-tight salary cap for 2022 won’t help his chances.
He will be given a chance to state his case for retention by fronting club officials.
Canterbury is waiting on the NRL integrity unit to complete their inquiry into the Elliott drama before handing over the findings to Bulldogs management.
Once the club has secured the NRL’s conclusion, Bulldogs management will launch their own investigation into the incident.
Those close to Canterbury suggest the club’s director football, Phil Gould, has started rebuilding the club from the ground-up by scouting Sydney for the elite Harold Matthews and Jersey Flegg players.
The development comes in the same week Canterbury cleaned out 12 players for next season.
They are: Dylan Napa, Will Hopoate, Lachlan Lewis, Nick Meaney, Renouf Atoni, Sione Katoa, Dean Britt, Chris Smith, James Roumanos, Brad Deitz, Watson Heleta and Kiko Manu.
Canterbury has enjoyed a highly productive recruitment drive, signing star players Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton, Matt Dufty, Tevita Pangai Junior, Brent Naden and Paul Vaughan.
IT’S A NO TO NAPA FROM THE BRONCOS
—Peter Badel, Travis Meyn
The Broncos have closed the door on former Queensland Origin hit man Dylan Napa as coach Kevin Walters urged judiciary magnet Tom Flegler to control his aggression if he wants to be Brisbane’s new enforcer.
The Courier-Mail can reveal Brisbane’s interest in signing Napa has waned and the unwanted Bulldogs prop will have to pursue an NRL lifeline elsewhere.
Canterbury this week confirmed Napa would not be re-signed, prompting speculation he was bound for Red Hill in 2022.
But that will not be the case, with Brisbane’s recruitment and retention committee deciding to keep their powder dry and monitor the player market over the coming months.
The Broncos are still eyeing out-of-favour Canberra prop Ryan James but their interest in Napa and ex-NSW front rower Aaron Woods has cooled.
Walters recently said Brisbane’s 2022 squad was mostly settled and he was comfortable with his front row stocks.
“We still have a couple of spots left on our roster, but a lot of hard work has been done,” he said. “We do have some other positions still available but whether we sign another prop I’m not sure, we are pretty happy with the talent we have coming through.
“Part of the reason we let Matt Lodge go (to New Zealand) is because we have Payne Haas and you can’t have two props on high-end money. Haas and Flegler are still only young, they are coming through and gaining valuable experience.
“I believe they can be our starting front-rowers for a long time and we have guys like Patty Carrigan and Keenan Palasia who are still learning, so I’m pretty happy with our forward stocks.”
Napa, 28, was one of the NRL’s most promising props when he made his Origin debut in 2017 while playing for the high-flying Roosters.
But his form plummeted after joining Canterbury in 2019, this year’s wooden spooners, and he is now without a club beyond this season.
The Broncos have an aggressive prop like Napa in Flegler, the 22-year-old firebrand who debuted for Queensland in this year’s Origin dead-rubber.
But Flegler has also toed the line with the NRL judiciary and been suspended for a total of nine matches in his 56-game career, including six games worth of bans this year.
Flegler copped a four-game ban for a high tackle in Brisbane’s loss to Cronulla last weekend and will miss the opening rounds of the 2022 NRL season.
The strawberry blond forward could be a front row enforcer for Brisbane but Walters said he had to find the right balance to ensure he stayed out of trouble.
“Finding the balance is the key with Tom,” Walters said.
“His contact was just a little bit high, although the idea was right because we needed something.
“He is that sort of player, he does like to play aggressively so he will just need to make sure he has got the discipline side right as well.
“He will have to find a way otherwise he will be sitting on the sideline a lot.”
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