Also said Cust is expected to leave at the end of the year. Slightly annoyed if true as I'd like to have seen him for a few more years.

I wouldn't worry. He probably meant at the end of the year 2025.

Always expected cust to leave tbh either end of this year or next if the extra year option is taken on him (not sure who this is in favour of). He was thought alot of at manly and was seen as part of their future plans. The only reason they released him out of his contract to join us was because he was stuck behind DCE/Foran, they get first bid on him if he returns to the NRL and i imagine he will go back to manly.



Thought he looked pretty sharp today and got through alot of solid defensive work.

Not even worth getting eat up about the ‘rumours’ given who has put them out there. All of the lines are common sense, 50/50 guesses and that’s standard. As ever, it gets people talking so fair enough. I will say that Cust seems to love it here so I wouldn’t be surprised if he extends.

That will all depend on as someone above said, where Manly see him. If he is their #1 choice for 2025 then he's gone.

2025 is fine as that's another 2 seasons with him.



End of this season would be a disappointment imo. We've got, for once, a settled backline for a couple of seasons. Would be good to keep the HB pairing too.

Quote Egg Chasing="Egg Chasing"That will all depend on as someone above said, where Manly see him. If he is their #1 choice for 2025 then he's gone.'" Had abit of a read up on manly's team for this year as i knew foran had left and seems they have another young lad who will be starting in the stand off role for them this season. He has played 35 NRL games so far but all bar a couple have been at second row. If he works out well for them that could work in our favour especially if Cust is as happy here as people seem to think he is. Had a nosey at this topic on the other site and most over there also seem to be under the impression that Cust is loving his time with us, so fingers crossed. https://www.seaeagles.com.au/teams/tels ... -schuster/

Quote Egg Chasing="Egg Chasing"That will all depend on as someone above said, where Manly see him. If he is their #1 choice for 2025 then he's gone.'" Had abit of a read up on manly's team for this year as i knew foran had left and seems they have another young lad who will be starting in the stand off role for them this season. He has played 35 NRL games so far but all bar a couple have been at second row. If he works out well for them that could work in our favour especially if Cust is as happy here as people seem to think he is. Had a nosey at this topic on the other site and most over there also seem to be under the impression that Cust is loving his time with us, so fingers crossed. https://www.seaeagles.com.au/teams/tels ... -schuster/

Meant 2024, but yes I agree on keeping a HB pairing.

Quote BoredWiganer="BoredWiganer"Had abit of a read up on manly's team for this year as i knew foran had left and seems they have another young lad who will be starting in the stand off role for them this season. He has played 35 NRL games so far but all bar a couple have been at second row. If he works out well for them that could work in our favour especially if Cust is as happy here as people seem to think he is. Had a nosey at this topic on the other site and most over there also seem to be under the impression that Cust is loving his time with us, so fingers crossed. https://www.seaeagles.com.au/teams/tels ... -schuster/'" Money counts though.

Quote BoredWiganer="BoredWiganer"Had abit of a read up on manly's team for this year as i knew foran had left and seems they have another young lad who will be starting in the stand off role for them this season. He has played 35 NRL games so far but all bar a couple have been at second row. If he works out well for them that could work in our favour especially if Cust is as happy here as people seem to think he is. Had a nosey at this topic on the other site and most over there also seem to be under the impression that Cust is loving his time with us, so fingers crossed. https://www.seaeagles.com.au/teams/tels ... -schuster/'" Money counts though.

Brodie Croft won’t be coming here anyway, he’s signed an 8 (eight) year deal at Salford! Fair play to them for that.



*felt the need to do the old video printer style confirmation that I meant 8.

If nothing else, it's a big payday for them when the NRL start trying to tempt him back in about two years' time.



No criticism of Salford there. They've done very well to try and secure him on the best deal possible. But these days, I don't trust the players or their agents when it comes to respecting contracts. Lots see them through, but plenty don't,

I do agree that the 8 year but can probably be ignored. I doubt he’s signed for that length of time without any options to break the deal at certain points but it’s a good news story for Salford and the league. They’re doing a good job at Salford of picking out those players who are supremely talented but need a fresh start. One of my gripes in the last season or two is the line that gets thrown around pretty often, that they do it on a shoe string. I can’t buy that with the players they have. They may be cheaper than they were at the point of that player being on their career best deal but they’ll still be costing a fair amount. It’s good to see that they are able to increase their spend.

They're certainly a team to watch, though quite a few of them were at walking-past half way through last Sunday's game. Not sure how many of those will be first-graders, of course.

They turned down £170,000 last week from an NRL club so I believe



There's no way it's an 8yr deal without NRL buy out clauses etc.

Unless he's on 300/400k a year (and Marquee, sponsorship paying for it) he will also be susceptible to being unsettled.



If someone comes knocking with 350/400 plus as a transfer it would be very hard to turn down

Also, lf someone wants him that hard then the money they'll be offering will deffo unsettle him.

Congrats to Salford - Croft is a fantastic halfback to watch and great for SL that he's here for a while. Surely won't be eight years though - the length of contract is just a bit strange. Why commit for that long to any club if you were as good as Croft?

I wonder if the eight year contract is a bit like Chelsea have been doing in football- as a device to spread costs over the lifetime of the contract (although I know with the salary cap it cannot be exactly the same but other things such as image rights etc may come into play) and also to ensure that any club wanting to sign him have to pay a hefty fee due to the amount of time the contract would have to run. Some smart accounting going on there I think - it is the only reason I can see someone signing an eight yeear contract which is really odd in RL.

Excellent news for Salford and SL.

Agreed

He must like the night life in Manchester ,read that our overseas players are based there as well.

Not trying to be critical about this contract renewal but I'd be absolutely staggered if he even stays for another 3 years. Its good business from Salford because it will ensure a big transfer fee should he go back to the NRL as clubs can't wait for his contract to expire.



I've no doubt there will be clauses within the contract if certain financials are met and £250-300k would be a hell of a lot of money for Salford.



He's a great player and I simply can't see him not going back to the NRL in the next 3 years.

Agreed great business for Salford but if he’s still there in 7/8 years I’ll eat my hat

I said to a Salford supporting mate that I still wouldn't bet against him being at one of the big four SL clubs or in the NRL come 2024.

Matt Shaw reporting its a four year deal with four years of options. By that logic Bevan French signed a four year deal with Wigan.



It is interesting that it's a marquee deal. First, where is the money coming from? If its from new investment/income then great. If not, hopefully its not a gamble that backfires on them.



Have they restarted their academy? I noticed they played Wigan at the weekend but was under the impression they abandoned their youth system a few years ago due to costs.

They are attempting to rebuild their youth pathways.

Have they not got a new backer he wants to buy the A J BELL stadium.