Pearce will be forced to take a pay cut to stay long-term at Knights

Newcastle are ready to open talks with Mitchell Pearce over his future with a view to extending his stay in the Hunter.

Mitchell Pearce views Newcastle as his home and is keen to stay at the Knights

Newcastle are ready to open talks with Mitchell Pearce over his future. Weekend Read understands that the club’s head of recruitment Clint Zammit reached out to Pearce this week and the club is keen to sit down with its captain to begin talking about his plans.

Pearce has one year remaining on a multimillion-dollar deal with the Knights and Newcastle want to extend that deal by at least one season, potentially two.

Pearce will need to sacrifice some money but it is understood he would be willing to do so to stay at the club. Pearce is settled in Newcastle and he sees his future at the Knights. He and his fiancee Kristin have opened an exercise studio in the area. They regard Newcastle as their home.

Pearce is 31 and his next deal will be done with a view to the ­future. He will have a clearer picture of what is in store next week when he begins talks with Zammit.

Pearce doesn’t have an agent. When he did his last deal with the Knights, he drafted in someone to help him out. There is every chance he will do this deal himself.

He has plenty to think about. Retirement is edging closer and Pearce needs to start planning for life after footy. Rugby league is all he has known. He started playing first grade as a 17 year old and he has spent more than a decade at the top. He is likely to stay involved in the game in some capacity.

The next week or two will decide whether it is in Newcastle or elsewhere.

Segeyaro decision close

James Segeyaro could receive a decision from the NRL early next month on his future.

Final submissions were provided on Friday and it is now a matter of the tribunal making a call on the length of his ban.

Segeyaro’s cause has been given a helping hand by the outcome in the Shayna Jack doping trial given he and the Australian swimmer returned a positive test for the same substance – Ligandrol.

Jack had her ban reduced from four to two years and Segeyaro is optimistic of a more positive outcome given he has provided a legitimate reason for his failed test.

Weekend Read revealed the statement from Segeyaro’s roommate that corroborated Segeyaro’s claims that he likely ingested Ligandrol from using a contaminated blender. It is understood the NRL has accepted that it may be a legitimate explanation given his clean record over a long career and the witnesses who attested to his character.

Among those who provided references in his defence were former Gold Coast coach Neil Henry and North Queensland captain Michael Morgan.

James Segeyaro and his wife Saryne. Picture: David Swift

There is circumstantial evidence that points to the blender being a legitimate explanation for his failed test. Broncos officials also sent a message to all players in July 2019 with an article outlining what had happened to Jack and advising the playing group to be careful about what they ingested.

In combination with his clean record, there was a view that it would be reasonable to expect that he would be unlikely to then go and take a banned substance.

Crucially, it is understood a world-renowned expert on doping provided evidence that a blender could be contaminated with LGD-4033 and the substance could be detected up to 14 days later if the blender wasn’t cleaned properly. This was also confirmed by doctor Mario Thevis – a director at the Institute of Biochemistry/Centre for Preventive Doping Research in Cologne – in the Jack case.

Segeyaro’s housemate suggested he would simply use the blender and then rinse it with warm water. Experts have confirmed that if the blender wasn’t given a thorough clean, it is likely that residue remained.

Ligandrol could be detected up to a fortnight later in a urine test. The expert evidence sounds compelling and it could be crucial for Segeyaro, providing a path back to the NRL for him as early as the upcoming season.

It is also worth noting that his housemate didn’t need to give evidence for Segeyaro. He wasn’t bound by the anti-doping code and could have rejected approaches to provide a statement on Segeyaro’s behalf.

Instead, he made it clear he wanted the truth to be known. Segeyaro was tested in early September last year, meaning he has already served nearly 15 months on the sidelines. A reduction to 18 months could see him available for the start of next season.

Smith flying

Cameron Smith’s tome on his career is clear evidence that any publicity is good publicity. Smith, who is keeping everyone guessing over his future, has been hammered from pillar to post since the book was released.

It hasn’t harmed sales. If anything, the book has exceeded expectations. Weekend Read can reveal the book sold almost 11,500 copies in the first five days.

It has sold double the number of books that North Queensland star Johnathan Thurston sold in the first five days of his release.

It was the No.2 book in the nation behind only Barack Obama’s.

Cameron Smith signs copies of his autobiography with a fan. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Hatcher’s warning

Queensland Rugby League chair Bruce Hatcher has never been a fan of expansion, something he has made clear more than once on these very pages.

Hatcher watches NRL clubs lose money hand over fist – remarkably, many clubs will make a profit this year thanks to extra funds from the NRL and the savage cuts that were made across the game in the wake of COVID-19 – and asks where the money will come from to fund a 17th franchise.

The concern for Hatcher and others at the coalface are that grassroots footy will suffer financially to prop up a new team in southeast Queensland.

“What I can’t come to grips with – in my role you have to be objective not emotional – tell me when 12 clubs … can still lose $36m and more,” Hatcher said.

“I don’t believe grassroots can continuously be attacked to fund that elite level of the game. I would be asking the question of the nine Sydney clubs in that catchment area to justify their existence.

“If it was my money, I would be going and trying to acquire an existing club and if necessary, relocate it.

“If you brush that aside and say they are too strong, I am saying a commercial solution is to look at a club that is struggling financially and give them an opportunity to survive long term.”

Hatcher has plenty on his plate at the moment, not least the appointment of the next State of Origin coach. Former Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan is among those making a call on the next Queensland coach.

Tedesco deal close

Joseph Suaalii will have to wait if he wants to play fullback at the Sydney Roosters.

The 17-year-old has been earmarked for a place on the wing initially, but there were suggestions he was also an insurance policy if the Roosters were unable to reach an agreement with James Tedesco on a long-term extension.

Those fears seem misplaced. Weekend Read was told that the Roosters were close to reaching a new deal with Tedesco that would keep him at the club until at least the end of 2023 and possibly 2024.

The contract will be measured in the millions and mean the 27-year-old plays with the Roosters into his 30s.

Suaalii’s time will come.

Roosters fullback James Tedesco will be offered a new deal to keep him at the club