Stone's hard sell to Horo
BY BRETT KEEBLE
25 Aug, 2010 04:00 AM
KNIGHTS coach Rick Stone hopes to have convinced recruitment target Justin Horo to let his head rule his heart and continue his NRL career in Newcastle, not Parramatta.Stone met with Horo and his manager, Gavin Orr, in Newcastle yesterday to give the Auckland-born Eels back-rower a tour of the Knights’ playing and training facilities at EnergyAustralia Stadium and Mayfield, and to discuss the club’s bid for his services.
It is understood Horo was disheartened by Parramatta’s offer of about $80,000 a season.
The Newcastle Herald has been told the Knights have tabled a three-year deal worth almost double that amount per year, and Horo will meet with Parramatta officials today hoping they come up with a comparable offer.
Stone acknowledged Horo would prefer to stay at the Eels but was confident he had made his strongest possible sales pitch if the promising back-rower decided to move.
‘‘I think it was more for Justin to come up today and have a look around for himself, meet myself, have a bit of a chat about footy, have a look at our facilities, meet a few people within our organisation, and satisfy himself that if he was going to move here, that he’d be comfortable doing that,’’ Stone said yesterday.
‘‘I still think his first preference is probably staying at Parra, but at the end of the day if they don’t come up with the right sort of cash he understands that he might have to make a move, so that’s something he thinks is maybe a realistic option for him.’’
Orr said the Eels had been given a deadline to make their final offer today ‘‘and if that’s what he wants, then he’ll stay, and if it’s not, then he’ll probably join the Knights’’.
‘‘The first stage for the Knights was for him to entertain the idea of looking around, and he’s taken that on board and come up there today of his own volition to have a look around, see what sort of person Rick Stone is, and meet with him for the first time,’’ Orr said last night.
‘‘The second step was to discuss the financial arrangements, and what the Knights were prepared to offer him, which we went through today. He’s always been up front with the Knights and told them that his first preference would be to stay where he’s at.
‘‘I expect a decision no later than Friday.’’
Horo played alongside Knights prop Richie Fa’aoso in Parramatta’s premiership-winning Premier League (reserve-grade) team in 2007.
That team was coached by Rip Taylor, who coaches Newcastle’s NSW Cup feeder team, the Central Coast Centurions.
Horo played lower grades at the Eels with Knights back-rower Zeb Taia and remains close friends with Taia’s younger brother Ben.
‘‘Rip gave him a decent rap, [Knights recruitment manager] Keith Onslow knows his father Mark Horo from times gone by, and Zeb and Richie know him pretty well from their Parramatta days as well,’’ Stone said.
‘‘Rip’s told us a lot about him, and he’s a decent sort of fella meeting him for the first time today, so I think he’ll enjoy Newcastle if he decides to make that move.’’
Horo, who turns 24 next month, made his NRL debut in Parramatta’s round-three game against the Tigers – the first of 20 straight for the Eels.
He has started in the second row in their past two matches.
For the first time in his NRL career he played all 80 minutes against the Tigers last Sunday, running 14 times for 111 metres and making five tackle breaks, two offloads and 33 tackles.