NRL Market Watch: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck responds to Roosters return rumours, Eels star Dylan Brown weighs up future
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has responded to rumours of a rugby league comeback while Eels star Dylan Brown will head to free agency after the grand final. Check out all the latest signing news!
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Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has shut down speculation he is set for an NRL return after “whispers” emerged last week of the side-stepping superstar going back to the Sydney Roosters.
Tuivasa-Sheck took to his Instagram story to put an end to talk of him quitting rugby to go back to league.
“Hey team, hearing a return to NRL and Sydney Roosters. As much as I enjoyed it there, I won’t be heading back. Signed sealed delivered till the end of 2023,” he said.
The response came after All Blacks great John Kirwan dropped a bombshell on New Zealand TV when he said there was a “little whisper” the Roosters had a contract on the table for Tuivasa-Sheck, who won a competition with the club in 2013.
EELS FACE SIGNING STOUSH AS BROWN TESTS VALUE
By Peter Badel
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has declared Dylan Brown will stay loyal to the Eels as the star pivot prepares to test his value on the open market.
Brown will head to free agency after Sunday night’s grand final and next month’s World Cup and Arthur concedes the Eels may not be able to keep every player in a grand-final team just one win from premiership glory.
Speaking on Sydney radio on Friday, NRL Immortal Andrew Johns urged the Warriors to make a big-money play for the Auckland-born Brown.
While Brown is in no rush to commit to an Eels extension, Arthur insists he is not hitting the panic button and is backing Parramatta’s football program to keep the classy Kiwi in the blue-and-gold No.6 jumper.
“Dylan Brown will stay in my opinion,” Arthur said.
“The good thing is he wants to stay, which is half the battle, and then you have to massage the situation in negotiations.
“We may not be able to compete with the money out there but if we can table a deal that is competitive, I’m sure Dylan will stay.
“I have a good relationship with Dylan and he loves the club.
“You can never guarantee anything in life but I’m pretty confident Dylan will stay at the Eels.”
Brown, off-contract next year, is a major target for NRL rivals, with the matchwinning five-eighth set to attract offers in excess of $800,000 after a barnstorming season that has propelled Parramatta to their first decider since 2009.
The 22-year-old has been a second-receiver sensation for the Eels this season, scoring 11 tries from 27 games, supplemented by 3377 running metres, 17 try assists and 16 line-break assists.
Brown, Cameron Munster and Cody Walker are the three most decorated pivots off-contract next year and the Eels five-eighth could ostensibly name his price with NRL suitors.
Brown’s manager Chris Orr says the Test playmaker’s reluctance to ink a new deal immediately should not be taken as a sign he is considering quitting the Eels.
“There’s no doubt he is happy at Parra,” said Orr of PSM. “He has a great relationship with everyone at the club and it would take a massive deal to pull him out of the club.
“The reality is Dylan is a different individual. He walks to the beat of his own drum.
“Dylan is a free spirit and if I went to the open market, he would have a stack of clubs chasing him. I’ve had calls from a few clubs but I’ve respected Dylan’s request not to worry about contracts until this season is out of the way.
“Dylan is a cool customer. He isn’t getting carried away with the media hype. He just wants to park the contract issue and then he will pick it up again when his football commitments end.”
Brown lauded the coaching of Arthur for extracting the best of his running and passing game.
“I am the player I am today because of ‘BA’,” he said.
“He has made me more professional around my weekly processes, while also encouraging me to play what I see and back my ability in games.”
Arthur admits the Eels could face some retention headaches in the next 12 months after developing into a premiership contender.
“You can’t keep them all, but when you are losing good players, it’s the reflection of a good club,” he said. “People see it a different way. I don’t.
“Look at the Storm, they can’t retain all their good players because they are so successful.
“Penrith have their battles now and we are now going down that path. It’s too hard with the salary cap. You buy players cheap or at value, then if they reach their potential you can’t keep them all under the salary cap.
“That’s the sign of a good club.”
Hunt poised to make huge call on NRL future
By Peter Badel
The Dragons are poised to stave off big-money bids from the Bulldogs and Titans by securing Queensland Origin star Ben Hunt to a $1.8 million contract extension.
News Corp can reveal the Red V is closing in on the signature of Hunt after Dragons bosses upped the ante with a revised two-year deal worth $900,000 a season.
Hunt dropped a bombshell on the Dragons just hours before the Dally M Awards on Wednesday night when it was revealed his management had rejected St George Illawarra’s initial offer.
But Dragons hierarchy remain confident Hunt’s preference is to finish his career at the club, despite strong overtures from a number of clubs headlined by Canterbury and the Gold Coast.
The Maroons maestro wants to finalise his future before heading to England for Australia’s World Cup campaign and St George Illawarra chiefs expect to seal Hunt’s retention, ending months of speculation.
Hunt’s existing $6 million deal expires at the end of next season and the former Broncos playmaker is tipped to ink a two-year deal to remain at the Dragons until the end of 2025.
That will see the Queensland Origin utility and 290-game playmaker continue his career beyond his 35th birthday with a Dragons extension that will see him play well in excess of 300 NRL matches.
Hunt has no desire to leave the Dragons and while he could earn more elsewhere, he wants to explore every avenue to ensure he remains in the Red V.
The 32-year-old and his management initially discussed a deal with Dragons officialdom worth $750,000 annually, plus a car, but with the Bulldogs and Titans circling, St George Illawarra have raised the stakes.
While the Dragons’ latest deal represents a downgrade on his $1.1 million salary this season, Hunt is prepared to accept a pay cut given he is entering the twilight stages of his 12-year NRL career.
As part of a proposed new deal, Hunt would have a clause inserted that could see his worth increase with any proportionate rise in the NRL’s salary cap.
Hunt has been heavily linked with the Bulldogs, but the veteran of 14 Origin matches for the Maroons is giving the Dragons every chance to retain him.
“We’re getting close. We are very close,” Hunt said at the Dally M Awards. “Both parties want to get it sorted out before the World Cup. I’m sure we’ll get it done this week.
“It’s just the way contracts go. Sometimes it’s the way it is. I understand that they’re trying to do the best by the club and I’m trying to do best by myself.
“I’m still sure we can work it out (before the World Cup).”
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