Cronulla add spice to local derby with Dugan bid

FRIDAY night’s blockbuster NRL derby just got tastier after details of Cronulla’s bid for the Dragons’ Josh Dugan emerged.

Josh Dugan.

JUST as the Cronulla Sharks prepare to meet their fierce local rivals the St George Illawarra Dragons on Friday night, the Shire club has added a tasty sub-plot to the rivalry.

Fox Sports NRL reporter James Hooper has revealed that Cronulla have made a big money offer to the Dragons star Josh Dugan.

The Dragons have been working to lock down the Australian representative to a long-term deal, but now face competition from their bitter rivals.

“They’ve (Cronulla) thrown a four-year contract at Josh Dugan,” Hooper told NRL Tonight. “They’ve really caught the Dragons by surprise.”

Dugan has been in negotiations with the Dragons all season and has voiced his frustration with the club valuing him differently to what the star feels he should be paid as a representative player.

Hooper says the Dragons may need to act quickly and revisit their offer for Dugan, or risk losing him to their southern Sydney neighbours.

“The Cronulla Sharks have come in and they say they just want to pay him ‘elite footballer money’,” Hooper revealed.

“It’s almost one million dollars a season, over a four-year tenure, it’s going to be very interesting to see how it plays out.”

Australian star Josh Dugan.

Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan refused to discuss any detail of the reported move for Dugan when asked on Thursday.

“External recruitment is not something we’ll go and talk about,” Flanagan said. “I don’t know what Josh is doing, so I can’t speculate.

“He’s a quality player, an Australian centre; if you go back in time you’ll see we’ve always said we’re after quality players.”

One player that Flanagan confirmed is unlikely to be a Shark in 2018 is former star Ben Barba.

French rugby club Toulon have reportedly told Barba he’s not wanted for next season and Flanagan told reporters Barba was not expected to return to the premiers.

“I’d say it’d be long odds,” Flanagan said on Thursday, adding the NRL club had “moved on” by anointing Valentine Holmes as their long-term fullback.

Facing a 12-week NRL ban for a second strike on cocaine use, 2016 premiership-winning fullback Barba in February secured a deal with Toulon until the end of 2019.

But he has barely featured for them this season and Toulon’s owner Mourad Boudjellal has made it clear he doesn’t fit in new coach Fabien Galthie’s plans.

While he is likely to explore a return to Australia, it comes at a bad time with the NRL — and Cronulla — hit hard by a cocaine scandal in recent days.

Cronulla Sharks Coach Shane Flanagan refused to discuss details of a Dugan deal.

Flanagan appeared to shut the door on re-signing Barba, who would still need to sit out a 12-week ban period.

“Benny made two bad decisions. He was a fantastic player for us. He made an outstanding contribution to win the grand final last year, but he’s made a decision,” Flanagan said.

“We were going to keep him here this year, but he decided to go to France and as a club we’ve probably moved on. I haven’t spoke to anyone about it but we’ve probably moved on.

“Val (Holmes) is doing an outstanding job, we think he’s going to be our fullback for the next 10 years.”

- AAP

Originally published as Cronulla add spice to local derby with Dugan bid