Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Nov 02, 2016 2:49 pm
NickyKiss wrote:
It was in May 2014 according to the article I read which you would presume takes him to the end of 2018 (as the contract won't run out in May 2018).
Let's hope it's all just hot air! I'll be extremely annoyed if it isn't and serious questions would need to be asked.
Let's hope it's all just hot air! I'll be extremely annoyed if it isn't and serious questions would need to be asked.
My reading of that contract signing in May 2014 is that it may have been back dated to start in February 2014 so it will be up for renewal at the end of 2017. All of which means he is negotiating right now for a better deal and the Warrington rumour has been started by his agent as a bargaining tool. Perfectly reasonably of course. George will be looking for parity with the top earners to reflect his standing in the team. I doubt the last contract would have reflected that.
A similar thing happened to Blake Green this year. He was on peanuts at the Storm, but after a successful couple of seasons his earning power is significantly higher. Storm can't afford to pay him what they pay Cronk, Smith, Bromwich etc so a move was the only option unless he accepted considerably less than the market was willing to pay.
One thing that puzzles me is that Wire have Patten, Sandow and Gidley. Of all Super League clubs who have problems at half back, they don't seem to be one of them.
I would have thought that a more likely option is similar to the contract Sam Tomkins signed in 2012 - five years with a get out clause for the NRL. He needs to be careful though. He is still young and IMO should give Wigan another 3 or 4 years before contemplating a move to the NRL.
