South Sydney’s Corey Allan too good to spend another year stuck behind Latrell Mitchell
Paul Crawley, News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
October 22, 2020 4:05pm
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Corey Allan has gone from an NRL fringe player to getting his State of Origin call up in less than two months.
Now South Sydney’s rising star is being spruiked to rival clubs on the lookout for a fullback for next season.
While Allan still has a year to run on his current contract, it is understood the Rabbitohs would be reluctant to stand in his way if he can secure a long-term upgrade elsewhere.
It comes as the Rabbitohs on Thursday announced the signings of St George Illawarra forward Jacob Host until the end of 2023 and Taane Milne on a two-year deal.
Allan, 22, jumped right up the leaderboard for players coming off contract at the end of 2021 after doing such an outstanding job filling in for the injured Latrell Mitchell late in the season.
But while he has proven he’s too good to spend another year stuck behind Latrell, there’s no way he is going to get the chance to own the No. 1 jumper permanently at Souths.
Allan will get the chance to further push his claims after being promoted into the Queensland squad this week.
It’s been a meteoric rise for the former Brisbane Bronco who was the Rabbitohs’ rookie of the year in 2019 while playing on the wing, but fullback is his preferred and best position.
But the Bunnies have an oversupply of outside backs with James Roberts also chasing a new club despite having a year to run on his contract.
Braidon Burns and Dane Gagai are two more of the Rabbitohs outside backs coming off contract at the end of next season.
Roberts’ situation is particularly interesting given he’s on $550,000-a-season.
But he’ll be returning from a pectoral injury having not played the majority of this season, while he also spent time in a rehab facility to help him deal with some personal issues.
Souths officials are being very secretive about Roberts’ situation, but talk has been doing the rounds of the NRL for several weeks that he was likely to be squeezed out.
But Wayne Bennett has been very protective of Roberts throughout his career knowing the full difficulties of his upbringing, and no doubt Bennett will want to do the best by him here.
Gagai is also on a huge $650,000 salary coming into the final year of his current contract.
While Gagai had a pretty solid season, what can’t be ignored is that he turns 30 in January, so his new market value will take that into account.
Souths also have youngsters such as Jaxson Paulo and Stephen Marsters who stepped up this year, along with Campbell Graham who is still only 21.
The club only recently extended the contracts of Graham and Alex Johnston.
Skipper Adam Reynolds is another of the Bunnies’ big names coming off contract at the end of next season.
There has been no movement on extending Reynolds’ deal at this point but no doubt that will become a priority in the coming weeks.
Bennett won’t want too much change going into next season given it will be his final year at the Rabbitohs.
And after they made it to the preliminary final this year despite a stack of injuries, Bennett knows at full fitness he has a squad capable of challenging for the title in what will be his final year as an NRL head coach.
Second-rower Host, 24, and centre Milne, 25, will give the Rabbitohs added depth.
“We’re really looking forward to Jacob and Taane joining us next season,” Rabbitohs head of football Mark Ellison said.
Jacob comes highly recommended by JD (Demetriou) and he has been on our radar for a number of seasons.
“He has performed strongly for the Dragons in the opportunities he’s been given and we’re looking forward to him pushing for a spot in our top 17 on a weekly basis.”
Milne had limited opportunities at the Warriors after being sacked by the Wests Tigers following a second positive drug test.
A neck injury has also forced Souths forward Ethan Lowe to retire.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...l/news-story/986156fa2fc68fcdf4dfe3b316c28ff5
