NRL Market Watch: Pat Carrigan’s camp to ask Brisbane Broncos for a raise
The Broncos reaped the rewards of Pat Carrigan’s progression in 2022 - and now they’ll have to pay up for it. NRL MARKET WATCH
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Pat Carrigan will hold urgent contract talks with the Broncos seeking a $100,000-plus pay rise following his meteoric rise to stardom with the Queensland Origin and Australian World Cup sides.
News Corp can reveal Carrigan’s management contacted Broncos football boss Ben Ikin on Thursday to kick-off negotiations on a contract upgrade to reward Brisbane’s ironman for his breakout NRL season.
Carrigan will play his second Test match for Australia against Scotland at the World Cup on Saturday morning and his stunning form burst has salary-cap implications for the Broncos.
Rated a Broncos captain-in-waiting, Carrigan signed an extension with Brisbane last November, rejecting overtures from Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins to ink a deal worth $1 million over two seasons.
Since signing that deal, Carrigan has developed into an Origin and Test star this season. He clinched a maiden Queensland jumper, won the Wally Lewis Medal as Origin’s player of the series and has rocketed into Australia’s World Cup squad as the Broncos’ only green-and-gold representative.
It is understood Carrigan is on around $500,000 for 2023 and 2024, but his management will request a salary increase from the Broncos that rewards his achievements during the best season of his 60-game NRL career.
“We’ll talk to the Broncos about an upgrade for Pat,” said his manager Jeff Jurotte.
“Pat is happy at the Broncos, he is very loyal to the club, but we’d like a slight increase on his current deal.
“He is the only Broncos player in the Australian World Cup team and he was the Wally Lewis Medallist this year in his first State of Origin series.
“I think Pat is one of the most influential players in the Broncos squad and we’re being very sensible in our approach on this.
“We’re not asking for $1 million, we understand the Broncos have a salary-cap to work through but we feel Pat warrants an increase given his rise to the representative ranks this season with Queensland and Australia.”
Carrigan, who turns 25 in January, is regarded as the glue that holds Brisbane’s pack together.
The former Queensland under-20s captain was groomed to be the club’s next Corey Parker and he produced a fine 2022 campaign, running for 2100 metres averaging 150m and 32 tackles per game.
The Broncos already have props Payne Haas ($848,000) and Tom Flegler ($650,000) on big-money deals next season and must find room in the salary cap to upgrade Carrigan.
Carrigan is relishing his Australian stint in England and says his World Cup campaign can only make him a better player for the Broncos next season.
“I’m really grateful to be in camp here with a lot of great players and some pretty good forwards,” Carrigan said.
“The best players keep finding things to get better at. I want to watch and learn and not get complacent.
“We haven’t accomplished anything at the Broncos yet, to be honest. There are a lot of driving factors that have got me hungry for next year.
“I want to keep getting better and help us play finals football next year.”
BRONCOS REPEL RIVALS TO SIGN ORIGIN HOPEFUL
Peter Badel
The Broncos have pulled off a retention coup with Brisbane staving off poaching threats from five NRL rivals to secure Queensland Origin hopeful Kobe Hetherington to a new deal.
News Corp can reveal Hetherington – the son of Queensland Origin great Jason – has agreed to terms on a two-year contract that will keep him at the Broncos until the end of 2025.
And in a further boost for the Hetherington family, Kobe’s twin brother Zac, who plays for the Bulldogs, has inked a 12-month extension to remain at Belmore until the end of 2023.
Brisbane’s rookie of the year in 2021, Kobe Hetherington was originally off-contract next season and had attracted interest from a number of NRL suitors, including his father’s club Canterbury and Broncos derby rivals the Titans.
But the Broncos have acted swiftly to combat a bidding war by tabling an upgrade to Hetherington, who is turning up the heat on Pat Carrigan in the battle for Brisbane’s No.13 jumper next season.
“I’m really happy to do a new deal,” Hetherington told News Corp. “I didn’t want to leave.
“It’s good to have that extra security. I was coming off-contract so to have another two years, it gives me that drive to keep bettering myself.
“Growing up as a kid, I went for the Bulldogs because of my dad. The Dogs showed some interest, but I was always hoping to get a deal done with the Broncos and we’ve done that.
“No other club interested me at all.
“It’s a club I want to be with for a long time. I don’t want to go anywhere else.”
Since his debut for Brisbane last year, the 23-year-old Hetherington has amassed 36 NRL games and become a consistent member of the Broncos’ top 17 with his work-rate, fearless running and no-nonsense style in defence.
While World Cup debutant Carrigan has emerged as Brisbane’s No.1 lock after breaking into the Origin and Test arena this season, Hetherington believes he can also develop into a Queensland star at the Broncos.
“I know Patty Carrigan is there but it’s good having competition in a position,” Kobe said.
“Patty teaches me stuff and I feel we have a healthy competition.
“Obviously I want to be the starting No.13, so I will try and have a good pre-season and keep pushing each other.
“I’ve set myself a couple of goals and a big one for me is to eventually play for Queensland, whether it’s next year or in the future.
“I love being coached by ‘Kevvie’ (Broncos coach Kevin Walters). He saw something in me that no-one else did.
“It was a struggle for me in the early days to break into the NRL, but Kevvie was the coach who gave me an opportunity and I wanted to repay the faith.”
Hooker Zac Hetherington is hoping to emulate his brother by breaking into the NRL next season at the Bulldogs.
“I’m glad the Bulldogs have shown faith in me with another deal,” he said.
“I had a tough year with injuries, I did my MCL, but I’m staying at the Bulldogs and hopefully I can play NRL sometime next year, even if I get one or two games just to get a taste of first grade would be great.
“Kobe is doing well at the Broncos but I’m really happy here. I love being with the club my dad played for, he played a grand final at the Bulldogs, so I would love to follow in his footsteps.”
Kobe Hetherington’s manager Chris Haddad said there was major interest in the tough-tackling Broncos utility forward.
“Kobe is really happy at the Broncos, he wouldn’t be out of place in a representative side and Zac has the potential to do that as well,” Haddad said.
“With the Hetherington twins, you can put them anywhere on a footy field and they will play well.
“They are great competitors like their father.
“The Broncos tabled a good offer. Kobe developed well this season, he adapted to NRL very quickly and in the coming years Kobe can be a real contender for the Queensland Origin side.”
BENNETT’S LEFT-FIELD CHOICE FOR DOLPHINS ROLE
Wayne Bennett has finalised his Dolphins coaching dream team after hiring the one-time Queensland Origin star who was at the centre of rugby league’s infamous ‘Granny-gate’ scandal.
Nathan Fien is the final piece in Bennett’s premiership puzzle with the former Maroons and New Zealand Test hooker to join Kristian Woolf as the super coach’s two assistants for the Dolphins’ NRL debut next season.
Ex-Cowboys rake Fien was embroiled in the biggest drama in international rugby league history when he was booted out of the 2006 Tri-Nations tournament over an eligibility debacle involving New Zealand.
The Kiwis selected Fien after claiming his grandmother was a Kiwi, but it later emerged her birth certificate belonged instead to his great-grandmother, sparking an international eligibility furore.
Fien eventually qualified for the Kiwis on residency grounds after a five-year stint in New Zealand with the Warriors before he joined the Dragons in 2009 to work with then St George Illawarra coach Bennett.
Fien played off the bench in Bennett’s premiership-winning Dragons team of 2010 and after retiring in 2013, the 277-game NRL stalwart turned to coaching in the Illawarra region with Thirroul and Collegians.
Now 43, Fien steered Collegians to the premiership this season and Bennett believes he has the coaching arsenal to make the Dolphins a competitive force in their entry to the NRL in 2023.
“Yes, Nathan will be joining us,” Bennett confirmed.
“I identified him. I called him. I tried to get him to South Sydney 12 months ago but he felt it wasn’t the right time for him to come.
“Nathan has been coaching Thirroul and Collegians and has won four premierships in six years. He has won competitions with both clubs so he’s a promising coach.
“That completes my coaching team.
“We are all there, I have a head of performance in Jeremy Hickmans and we have our physios and medical staff, so everything is in place for us to compete in our first season ... ”
“I think Nathan has head-coaching qualities down the track,” he said.
“It won’t be at the Dolphins in the short term. Kristian is the next coach after me and that is set in stone, that won’t change, but Nathan will hopefully be a long-term assistant and an opportunity will be there for him in the future.”
SACKED MADGE’S ROLE WITH NRL RIVALS
– Dean Ritchie
Canberra has secured an off-season coup by signing former NRL premiership-winning coach, Michael Maguire.
Maguire, in England coaching New Zealand, will join Canberra as the club’s senior NRL consultant for the next two years.
Maguire will assist with Canberra’s defence for 2023 while a current assistant coach, Mick Crawley, will help with the club’s attack.
Canberra will not replace two other assistant coaches from this year - Andrew McFadden, who has joined the Warriors, and Brett White, who has linked with Gold Coast.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and Maguire were teammates at Canberra between 1992 and 1996.
Maguire will arrive in Canberra after the World Cup concludes next month.
Raider number 144, Maguire is a former Canberra assistant coach who was sacked by Wests Tigers earlier this year.
He had been linked with multiple coaching positions but has finally landed in Canberra.
Maguire famously coached Souths to the 2014 premiership and claimed the 2010 Super League grand final, and 2011 Challenge Cup final, coaching Wigan.
“Michael is a wonderful signing for our club and he brings valuable experience and knowledge to the role,” said Stuart.
“He has a wonderful record as a coach at all levels of the game and we’re very fortunate to be able to secure someone of his calibre.
“I can’t wait to work with him and have him working alongside our coaching staff and playing group.”
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Originally published as NRL Market Watch: Pat Carrigan’s camp to ask Brisbane Broncos for a raise
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