Darren Mooney is yet to start his new job as Cronulla’s head of football but the problems are already mounting. Mooney will walk into a delicate situation involving an unbalanced salary cap, several star players who have entered the final year of their deals, and a coach who is coming off contract at the end of 2021.
The issues are all intertwined. Mooney will be armed with money to spend and a desire to spend it, but his hands will be tied to an extent, unless the Sharks make a decision on the future of coach John Morris.
Morris has led the Sharks to successive finals series in his first two years in charge but there is a feeling that the jury is still out, at least where club powerbrokers are concerned.
Barely a week goes by without murmurs over his future and potential replacements. The latest whisper is that Roosters assistant Craig Fitzgibbon is on the Sharks’ radar. Previously, it was former Cowboys coach and Sharks player Paul Green.
If Cronulla is making contingency plans, Fitzgibbon would be at the top of its hit-list. He is at most clubs. Green will no doubt come into consideration as well.
The speculation isn’t going away and it won’t until Cronulla makes a decision about its coach beyond 2021. The ripple effect could yet affect Mooney’s ability to rebuild the roster.
Mooney’s sales pitch to potential recruits becomes all the more difficult while the uncertainty remains around who will be in charge. The same applies to players currently at the club who are in the final year of their deals — and there are plenty of them.
Halfback Shaun Johnson heads the list and it is believed the Sharks will bide their time with their talisman, who is recovering from a torn achilles tendon. His manager has reached out to chief executive Dino Mezzatesta but the sense is that Cronulla is in no rush, happy to see how Johnson returns from an injury that ended his season.
Josh Dugan, Matt Moylan, Toby Rudolf, Siosifa Talakai, Connor Tracey and Aaron Woods are all off contract at the end of the season. Halfback Chad Townsend has an option in his favour, meaning he can hit the open market if he so chooses.
All told, they represent more than 40 per cent of the club’s salary cap. There will be an appetite to extend Talakai, Tracey and Rudolf given the seasons they have had and the fact they aren’t on huge contracts. Any decisions on Woods and Dugan are likely to depend on the asking price. They aren’t the players they once were, but they can still get the job done.
Moylan is a different story. The Sharks are unlikely to make a decision on him any time soon. Moylan has barely played in recent seasons and when he has, he has struggled to make the sort of impact his contract demands.
Earlier this year, Wests Tigers wanted to sign Moylan on a big-money deal. He opted to stay at Cronulla. He may come to regret that decision given there is no urgency at the Sharks to get his signature on a new deal.
Mooney has plenty on his plate. He will need to hit the ground running when he does start. The club could make his job easier by making a call on Morris sooner rather than later.
Clifford staying, Benji going
North Queensland half J ake Clifford was flanked by his father and his manager Paul Sutton when he met Cowboys officials on Thursday.
The message from coach Todd Payten was pretty clear. They don’t want Clifford to go and are willing to hold on to him for another 12 months, even if he commits to join Newcastle in 2022.
Clifford had his nose put out of joint when he worked under former Cowboys coach Paul Green and it is understood those close to him believe he would benefit from a move elsewhere.
At the same time, Payten believes he can be a valuable asset, particularly with lingering concern over the future of Michael Morgan.
Morgan is recovering from serious shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the State of Origin series. There were fears that it could be career-threatening. He isn’t out of the woods yet, but sources close to Morgan suggest he is confident he will be ready for the upcoming season.
Newcastle, meanwhile, will console itself with the signature of Blake Green for next season, although he will miss the start of the year as he recovers from knee surgery. Green has been released from his one-year deal at Canterbury to stay at the Knights, where he will eventually join the coaching staff.
The Cowboys’ decision on Clifford is, however, bad news for Benji Marshall given they were one of the few clubs interested in the veteran. Marshall and his management spoke to North Queensland when it looked like Clifford may go but they couldn’t agree on price.
The talks collapsed and Marshall has been left without a home. Retirement and a career in the media now loom large.
Penrith moves to lock up big guns
Penrith will allow J osh Mansour to leave over the off-season but it has ramped up efforts to keep Jarome Luai and Isaac Yeo at the club beyond 2021.
Luai and Yeo have entered the final year of their deals and the Panthers are expected to step up talks with the duo as early as next week.
Both are likely to command significant increases in their salaries given their elevation to Origin, their plight emblematic of why Penrith has given Mansour permission to leave.
Success on the field inevitably leads to strain off it where the salary cap is concerned. The Panthers also have Stephen Crichton, Matt Burton and Brent Naden to think about, not to mention Queensland Origin hero Kurt Capewel l. They have a challenge on their hands.
Matterson ready for Broncos return
Brisbane finally confirmed its coaching structure for 2021 on Friday and it heralds a homecoming of sorts for Terry Matterson.
Matterson will be one of Kevin Walters’ assistant coaches, the pair continuing a relationship that began when they played together.
In more recent times, Matterson has been head of football for Brisbane Easts. His last year as an assistant was in 2017 with the Gold Coast Titans. He is a member of the Broncos’ Hall of Fame and despite his travels since, never lost his affection for the joint.
“I love the place, never stopped,” he said. “I was there from day one. We went through some tough times there. People forget about the first few years. It took us three years to make the semis. Then to win a couple of grand finals was unreal.”
He was last at the club in a full-time capacity in 1995 — his final year as a player.
readb@newsltd.com.au
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