Eagles, Titans eyeing Carney
David Jean
At least two rival NRL clubs are poised to bid for the services of Canberra Raiders star Todd Carney if he hasn't signed a contract extension by the start of the 2008 season.
The Canberra Times yesterday contacted NRL clubs to gauge their interest in Carney, who retired superstar Andrew Johns touted as a future Australian halfback earlier this week.
Seven of 15 clubs returned The Canberra Times's calls.
The Gold Coast Titans and Manly expressed interest in Carney.
The 21-year-old and his manager David Riolo are considering a contract extension.
The Goulburn product has expressed his desire to remain at the Raiders but has put off signing anything until after Canberra's trial games against Brisbane and North Queensland in February and March.
The Raiders have made re-signing Carney a priority, but would struggle in a bidding war.
Manly chief executive Grant Mayer said his club was on the lookout for quality backs for 2009.
Mayer said the club would strongly consider Carney despite his off-field troubles, which included a third conviction for a driving offence earlier this year.
"We're looking for outside backs for 2009 and he's versatile," Mayer said. "We haven't really talked about him but he's a quality player. There's obviously baggage there but if he's a good enough player I'm sure we'd certainly have a talk about him.
"If he wants to get something done before the start of the year that's a bit early for us [but] later we'd have a chat to him for sure."
Titans boss Michael Searle said his club would need to gauge his early-season form and behaviour before making contact with him.
"We'd consider him but it would just depend on how his season went this year and how he bounces back from his misdemeanours from last season," Searle said.
"On the field definitely we'd be interested in him, but I'd be lying if I said we didn't have some concerns about his off-field antics.
"If we were going to enter negotiations we'd probably enter them around about early April or mid May."
North Queensland, Parramatta and the Sydney Roosters said they were not interested in recruiting Carney, while Wests Tigers and Penrith said they would only consider him towards the end of 2008 if their current halves were struggling.
"We've got a couple of young blokes we're hoping will come up and cover that spot and if they don't we'll reassess the situation when it arises," Tigers recruitment manager Warren McDonnell said.
Penrith chief executive Michael Leary said his club was in a similar position and would wait until at least mid season before considering new halves for 2009.
The Canberra Times was unable to contact Cronulla chief executive Tony Zappia yesterday, but a source close to the club said coach Ricky Stuart had a high opinion of Carney.
The Raiders have 16 players off contract at the end of next year.
