Todd Carney quits North Queensland Cowboys to return to Sydney
TODD Carney’s dreams of an NRL resurrection with the Cowboys are over after the controversial playmaker sensationally quit North Queensland.
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TODD Carney’s dreams of an NRL resurrection with the Cowboys are over after the controversial playmaker sensationally quit North Queensland on Tuesday night.
Carney informed Cowboys powerbrokers he was reneging on a contract with the club for family reasons.
The NRL was yet to green-light Carney’s return, however he was edging closer to resurrecting his career with the Cowboys following nearly four years out of the league.
The Cowboys threw Carney an NRL lifeline, offering the wild child an opportunity to return to the game after being sacked by three clubs for off-field incidents.
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Cowboys coach Paul Green and football boss Peter Parr pushed hard to convince North Queensland’s board that Carney was worthy of a contract.
The NRL was still assessing Carney’s application to return to the game before he shocked the Cowboys on Tuesday by quitting.
“He rang me and told me that due to family reasons he wanted to head back to Sydney,” Parr said.
“He wanted to be closer to his mother and sisters and as a result of that he was going to leave North Queensland and no longer play for the Northern Pride.
“We are disappointed with the circumstances, but if someone is telling you they have made up their mind and are going then there is not a lot we can do about it.
“Todd told me at the moment football is the furthest thing from his mind.”
The Cowboys lodged Carney’s one-year contract with the NRL on March 9.
Nearly two months on, the 2010 Dally M Medal winner was still waiting for a verdict from NRL chief Todd Greenberg on whether the contract would be registered.
Carney, 31, had a chequered past in the NRL which saw him sacked by the Raiders, Roosters and Sharks for alcohol-related incidents.
He was punted from the NRL in 2014 after being photographed urinating in his mouth.
After three years in the Super League, Carney signed with Intrust Super Cup club Northern Pride this season in the hope of working his way back into the NRL.
Green was impressed by Carney’s work ethic at the Cowboys’ feeder club and offered him a one-year deal to join the 2015 premiership winners.
The NRL hesitated in registering Carney’s deal because of concerns over a lack of rehabilitation programs completed.
For the past month the Cowboys were paying for Carney to fly from Cairns and stay in Townsville and train with the team for the early part of the week.
But he never got the chance to pull on a Cowboys jersey after deciding to quit on Tuesday.
Northern Pride CEO Greg Dowling last night claimed he was blindsided by the news of Carney’s departure.
“I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
“I was only talking to him after the game on Saturday night (and he didn’t say anything).”
It remains to be seen whether Carney will attempt to seek registration at another NRL club.
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