North Queensland Cowboys have ruled out signing Ben Barba

THE Cowboys have ruled out signing Ben Barba after rebuffing plans for the former Dally M Medallist to finish his NRL career at North Queensland.

Barba won’t get a dream return to north Queensland. Photo: Peter Wallis

THE Cowboys have ruled out signing Ben Barba after rebuffing plans for the former Dally M Medallist to finish his NRL career at North Queensland.

The Sunday Mail can reveal five clubs — three based in the NRL and two from the English Super League — have contacted Barba’s management in the past 24 hours to inquire about his price tag.

Barba is expected to formally sever ties with French rugby outfit Toulon next week and his preference was to resurrect his NRL career at his hometown club the Cowboys.

Born in Mackay, Barba has family ties to the north Queensland region, prompting his management to contact the Cowboys to explore the prospect of an NRL lifeline.

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Barba won’t get a dream return to north Queensland. Photo: Peter Wallis

Cowboys champion Johnathan Thurston is expected to retire at the end of next year. Barba was offered to the Cowboys as a fullback option in a scenario that would see Lachlan Coote possibly partner Michael Morgan at the scrumbase in the post-Thurston era.

Cowboys coach Paul Green was informed of Barba’s interest in joining the club, but North Queensland powerbrokers insist they cannot afford the 27-year-old.

“I’ve had an approach asking if we would be interested in signing Ben Barba,” Cowboys recruitment chief Peter Parr said.

“Respectfully, we don’t have room in our salary cap.

“Ben is clearly a talented player of NRL quality, but we’ve got Lachlan Coote under contract and we can’t be happier with his form and the way he has fitted into our club.

“The Cowboys won’t be signing Ben Barba.”

Despite suggestions Barba has been wholly black-listed by NRL clubs, some are privately crunching their salary cap numbers.

Barba’s agent, Chris Orr, received calls from three NRL outfits on Friday asking how much they would have to pay to secure him for the next two seasons.

Two Super League clubs have also expressed interest including French outfit Catalans Dragons, who are renowned for recruiting talented players who leave the NRL, signing former Titans forward Greg Bird last October.

Barba’s management was attempting to seek answers from Toulon.

Barba insists no Toulon official has told him he is unwanted, but after missing selection for the past month, his French rugby cameo is almost certainly over.

Orr says Barba is determined to reignite his rugby league career and never would have left the code if not for his off-field financial woes.

Barba dis searching for a way back into the NRL. Photo: Gregg Porteous

If Barba returns to the NRL, he must still serve a 12-match ban for testing positive to cocaine after Cronulla’s grand-final win last year.

“Ben would love to play back in the NRL and the Cowboys. In an ideal world, he would be back in north Queensland where he grew up,” Orr said.

“I don’t know what Paul Green is looking for, but I will be reaching out to clubs across all codes. Ben is a professional athlete and he wants to be playing. It’s not fun just being a professional trainer.

“If Darius Boyd and James Tedesco are worth around $1 million on the open market, Barba would be a good buy at around half that price. He’s a Dally M winner, a premiership winner and had 19 tries and 18 try assists last year ... there’s not many fullbacks in the game who could do that.”

An NRL spokesman said Barba would have to prove to the NRL integrity unit he was fit and proper to return to the game before any contract would be registered.

“That would include demonstrating that he has received assistance to deal with the issues which saw him leave the NRL,” the spokesman said.

Originally published as North Queensland Cowboys have ruled out signing Ben Barba