Eels, Dragons and Panthers in race to sign Manly’s Peta Hiku
December 7, 20157:02pm
Paul CrawleyThe Daily Telegraph
THREE weeks ago Peta Hiku arrived home from New Zealand’s Test series in England to discover he was no longer wanted at Manly.
But the versatile Kiwi will sit down to make the most important decision of his career, with Parramatta, St George Illawarra and Penrith now desperate to win the race for his signature.
And in what is shaping as a dramatic end-of-season game of NRL musical chairs, some of the game’s most influential figures are trying to pull off pre-Christmas deals.
While the Eels and the Dragons have already publicly confirmed their interest, Hiku’s New Zealand-based agent Stan Martin on Monday night refused to reveal the identity of the third club.
But The Daily Telegraph understands it is the Panthers, and the persuasive powers of Phil Gould should never be underestimated.
Whether that will be enough to break the bond Hiku already has with Parramatta’s former Manly connection of Brad Arthur, Kieran Foran, Anthony Watmough, Clint Gutherson and James Hasson remains to be seen.
It is understood Hiku had a good relationship with Arthur when he was the assistant coach at the Sea Eagles, and the opportunity to play again with the highly respected Foran has the Eels the raging hot favourites.
Hiku also toured the Dragons’ training base last week where he could play either centre or fullback, while the Panthers are cashed up following Jamal Idris’ recent decision to take a break from the NRL.
Martin confirmed Hiku has the three offers in front of him and is expected to make his decision on Tuesday or Wednesday.
It follows Monday’s announcement that former Eel Will Hopoate has now officially joined the Bulldogs, while the remaining piece in this intriguing off-season puzzle is Tim Lafai who requested a release from the Bulldogs just prior to Hopoate’s announcement.
But where Lafai ends up will most likely be determined on Hiku’s decision, with Penrith and St George Illawarra also keen on the former Bulldog who wants to play left centre.
When The Daily Telegraph first got wind of Manly’s decision to allow Hiku to test the open market last month, Martin was adamant Hiku had no knowledge of the decision given he was still in England on the Kiwis’ end of season tour and had two years to run on his current contract.
But in a matter of weeks the unwanted Sea Eagle has emerged as the most wanted free agent in the game.
And after only celebrating his 23rd birthday last Friday, he will have good reason to celebrate as soon as he puts pen to paper.
Martin last week told The Daily Telegraph: “I was really surprised when Peta came back from playing three Tests with New Zealand to a club where he is on a pretty good contract and the new coach (Trent Barrett) says I’m not sure if you are going to make my top side and if
you want to move on, you can,” Martin said.
“But that’s footy and we’ll move on and it might work out better at the end of the day, you never know.”
Which is more proof you just never know your luck in this crazy game of musical chairs that is the NRL.
