Eels Signings

LOL OK. The Parra circus has come to town.

Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler hoses down Manly’s links to Eels’ captain Clint Gutherson

Manly coach Des Hasler has attempted to pour cold water on his NRL club’s interest in Clint Gutherson, saying he’s too expensive for the Sea Eagles to squeeze into their salary cap.

Parramatta skipper Gutherson is off-contract at the end of 2019 and has been frustrated as his contract talks have played out publicly over the last several weeks.

The Eels have reportedly refused to meet his asking price of $750,000 a season with his management announcing they were set to negotiate with rival clubs.

Gutherson on Thursday denied he was set to meet with Hasler, and the Sea Eagles mentor on Friday also said he had no plans to sit down with the former Manly junior.

“No, no, no,” Hasler said when asked if he planned to hold talks with the 24-year-old.

“We’re still in a situation where we’ve got salary cap constraints.

“We’re still operating 350 (thousand) under the cap. We still have 250 suspended. I haven’t spoken to Clint Gutherson.

“At this stage, no, it’s just not feasible.”

The Sea Eagles had $660,000 shaved off their salary cap over 2018 and 2019 after being found guilty of salary cap cheating.

However they will have a full salary cap to work with in 2020 and beyond.

Should Dylan Walker, who faces an uncertain future, depart the club, it would also free up room.

Walker has been stood down under the game’s “no fault” rules after being charged with domestic violence offences.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Also standing in the way of the deal is the fact that the club has one of the game’s premier No.1s on their books in Tom Trbojevic, but Gutherson spent the bulk of 2016 and 2017 at five-eighth.

Hasler expressed his admiration for Gutherson but said the club wasn’t in a position to meet his asking price.

“I think anyone would be a fan of the way he’s playing,” Hasler said.

“He’s also a local junior. And he has that flexibility and versatility. But he also costs a lot of money.”

Good to hear Manly aren't interested because of the salary cap. Maybe the Roosters will sign Gutherson, because salary caps don't exist in Bondi. LOL

No audits exist over at Bondi. Just suitcases with loads of $$$.

Headline - Eels great, Ray Price, slams Parra for not signing Gutherson yet.

Do Parra need Latrell Mitchell? Already have good fullbacks, centres and wingers. Really, the only thing missing from Parra is that Cameron Smith type player, a great leader who can deliver a premiership.

LOL Can't even run a bath.

Roosters great urges Mitchell to look beyond dollars ahead of new deal

Sydney Roosters great Anthony Minichiello has urged star centre Latrell Mitchell to look beyond the bottom line when it comes to his next contract, saying the tri-colours are a "family club too" as rivals prepare their sales pitches.

The NSW and Australian three-quarter will be the hottest off-contract player in the game after his Roosters deal expires in 2020, with South Sydney among those tipped to be in the running for his services as they search for a replacement for the retired Greg Inglis.

Minichiello expects the Rabbitohs will have company in trying to lure Mitchell away from the Roosters, although his predicted price tag of close to $1m per season could rule out a host of potential suitors.

He may not be the best player in the NRL just yet but he's one of its in-form stars has only seemed to lift his game as the hype around his performances continues to increase.

"[The hype] been around for a couple of weeks now ... his form seems to get better," Minichiello said as he helped promote Magic Round in Brisbane. "As a player, you can't really dwell on your own form too much because there is often a bit of a fall on the horizon.

"The players are all just trying to improve their own game and aren't too worried about scorelines."

Speaking of scorelines, Mitchell contributed 26 points on his own against the Wests Tigers amid growing speculation that a move to South Sydney was a growing possibility.

Mitchell deflected queries when interviewed on television after the game, while his coach Trent Robinson was just as quick to shut down the line of questioning after the match.

The Rabbitohs have a strong Indigenous heritage, which is something the club could use as part of a package if they were to try and poach Mitchell from their great rivals. Inglis was a giant at Redfern and some believe Mitchell would be an ideal fit.

Minichiello acknowledged that but insisted the Roosters were a supportive, family environment where Mitchell was content and playing superb rugby league.

"He's the only one that can make that decision. There is obviously plenty of talk around South Sydney because they have got a huge representation of his community. He's a very proud Aboriginal man which we love," Minichiello said.

"For us behind the closed doors of the Roosters, it is a family club. Not many people know about that. He's happy there.

"It just depends on what clubs are vying for him. A lot of them will be. For me, it was never so much about the money when I was coming through. It was about being in a winning culture, one that sets high standards and wants to challenge for a premiership each year."

Minichiello always gave a strong endorsement for Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary to make his State of Origin debut for NSW this year, saying he was confident and in-form and was a must for Brad Fittler's outfit.

"He has to be in the squad. You have to pick guys that are playing with confidence for that type of arena. You can't pick players down on form or it will show up in that arena. He has to be there somewhere."

Won't happen. There is no talk about Parra being interested.

The Australian

Parramatta Eels’ deal for Clint Gutherson proving elusive

The 168-day negotiations over Parramatta star Clint Gutherson continued without a resolution yesterday after Eels general manager of football Mark O’Neill met with the fullback’s agent, Sam Ayoub.

The Australian spotted the pair at Munoushee Concord, a Lebanese cafe in Sydney’s inner west, almost six months after Ayoub first tabled Gutherson’s terms to Parramatta on November 23.

Dozens of meetings, phone calls and emails have since failed to nail down a deal. There was some hope yesterday’s meeting could signal the beginning of the end of protracted negotiations ­between the two parties. Neither side, though, has set a deadline ­despite Ayoub being ready to consider offers from rival clubs.

Both Ayoub and the Eels want to complete a deal, although they are still some way apart on the amount, and its ­duration.

Gutherson is seeking ­between $700,000-$750,000 a season over four years, while Parramatta have stuck solid on a three-season deal worth $650,000 annually.

There are no immediate plans for another meeting between O’Neill and Ayoub.

Gutherson will head to Brisbane today with the Eels for their Magic Round clash against Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night.

The contract saga hasn’t affected Gutherson’s form after he put in a man-of-the-match performance in last weekend’s comeback win over St George Illawarra.

Manly coach Des Hasler has denied he is chasing Gutherson, ­although the Sea Eagles speculation refuses to totally subside.

There are other clubs interested, some even discussing the prospect of manoeuvring their salary cap to possibly accommodate ­Gutherson.

The Australian reached out to Ayoub yesterday but he refused to comment.

Parramatta are confident halfback Mitchell Moses will re-sign with the club, while coach Brad Arthur is yet to lock down a deal beyond this season.

Meanwhile, Melbourne have been assured centre Curtis Scott is not under NRL integrity unit investigation and coach Craig Bellamy said he remained an important part of the club’s future.

Twelve months ago Scott was considered a potential NSW State of Origin debutant but he has spent the past fortnight in the Storm reserve team and will again be missing for tomorrow night’s clash.

Bellamy revealed yesterday that 21-year-old Scott had been working through personal issues and, while the club had contacted the integrity unit some time ago, he was only dropped due to form.

“These days any little thing that might blow up are supposed to be reported to the integrity unit. That’s what we’ve done about six weeks ago,” said Bellamy.

“Curtis has got a couple of very personal issues, which we hope remain ­private. It was reported to the ­integrity unit but there never was an investigation. We were told there’s no plans for an investigation.”

An NRL spokesman confirmed Scott was not under investigation. Bellamy predicted Scott would be back in first grade in the next several weeks as he had responded positively to being dropped.

“Curtis wasn’t playing well. When I make decisions to leave players out of the side, that’s ­dependent on form,” Bellamy said.

“There were a couple of things in Curtis’s game that weren’t ­Curtis-like.”

Maybe to meet with the other teams interested in Gutherson? Guth won't win us a premiership, anyway.