Neil Henry in contract talks to stay at Cowboys

NEIL Henry will start contract talks after club bosses yesterday shot down claims the Cowboys coach might not survive a review.

NEIL Henry will start contract negotiations after club management yesterday scuppered claims the Cowboys coach might not survive a post-season review of North Queensland's operations.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Henry wants a new term at the Cowboys and is eager to avert mid-season disruption. He will start talks in the New Year on a deal that could make him North Queensland's longest-serving coach.

Henry is off contract at the end of next season but his future came under the spotlight during the NRL finals in September when rumours surfaced that the Cowboys might baulk at a contract renewal.

The Cowboys have finished a sweeping assessment of their operations and chief executive Peter Jourdain said the two-day planning process, involving 40 fulltime staff, did not focus exclusively on Henry.

Henry enters his fifth season at the helm next year and could surpass predecessor Graham Murray (seven seasons) as the Cowboys' longest-serving coach if he brokers a multi-year upgrade next month.

"There were no discussions about my future at the club (during the Cowboys' end-of-year review) and there was no talk at board level at all," Henry said.

"I'm on contract next year and I would imagine we will start some talks early in January about looking at a contract extension.

"Our squad is stronger this year than last year, depth-wise we are in a good place and we have a lot to look forward to (next year).

"This club is going in the right direction and I want to be a part of building on that in the future."

Controversially handed a five-year deal by the Cowboys, Henry was under pressure to retain his job in 2010 when the club won five games and were only spared the wooden spoon by Melbourne's salary-cap rort.

Henry successfully presided over a major cleanout of his roster, bringing 16 new faces to the club and transforming the Cowboys into a premiership force last season.

The retention of Henry would give the Cowboys further stability as the club attempts to re-sign a host of off-contract stars, including in-demand playmaker Johnathan Thurston.

"I love it up here," Henry said. "Including my time as an assistant to Graham Murray, I've been here nine out of 11 years in a fulltime capacity at the club.

"I'd like to think in my time here we've developed players well and I have good assistants Terry Matterson, Paul Bowman and Peter Ryan.

"I accept the coaching world is volatile but I want to stay on."

Jourdain said the club's planning session for next season did not target Henry.

"We are on the rise, Neil took us to the finals last year and we believe we can do better next year, it's onwards and upwards for us."