PROP Shane Tronc has been squeezed out of the Cowboys by the salary cap and will depart for the European Super League next year.
Negotiations are under way with fellow bookend Matt Scott and second-rower Scott Bolton but executive director Peter Parr conceded there was not enough money left to retain Tronc.
The 27-year-old has been in devastating form this season, averaging over 118m and 27 tackles a game, which would see him require a contract upgrade to stay at the Cowboys.
With several other players also requiring upgrades, Parr said the club had reluctantly made a decision not to offer Tronc a new deal to stay under the $4.1 million cap.
"We've told Shane at this stage we won't be in a position to be able to offer him something moving forward because of the situation with the cap and the money that a player of his abilities commands," he said.
"We've had to make that decision, we've informed him of that and (coach) Neil's (Henry) given him the reasons behind it.
"It was always a major balancing act with the cap."
Tronc is in his sixth season at the
Cowboys but has enlisted the aid of high-profile manager Wayne Beavis to find him a new club in the UK. Beavis could not confirm which club Tronc would be playing for, but said talks were in an advanced stage.
"Nothing's finalised because of the confidentiality agreement but talks are progressing very well, we should be in a position to make an announcement within a week," he said.
The loss of Tronc has opened the door for North Queensland to retain forwards Scott and Bolton, with the latter expected to sign a new deal this week.
Parr said reports Scott was set to be signed in the same timeframe were 'premature' but said the club was beginning negotiations and were hopeful of securing his signature.
"We're down the track further with Scott Bolton," Parr said. "The only conversation we've had with Matt Scott's manager is that we would like to talk to him about an extended stay at the Cowboys.
"We haven't discussed anything in terms of an offer, the length of time, remuneration or anything. We're hopeful absolutely but you never know, once we start negotiations we will have a lot of things to discuss."
Parr said the Cowboys would not be seeking out a replacement for Tronc on the open market. "Maybe a couple of younger guys but ... we're not in a situation with the cap," he said.
"With the amount of players being upgraded in terms of money we will not be a big player in the market."
Carl Webb is likely to see out the last two years of his contract after Wigan failed to table an offer after coming to Australia to watch him play earlier this year.
"We're starting to plan that Carl will be here ... we'll only worry about those things if they happen," Parr said.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/nrl/story/0,27074,25706950-5016543,00.html
This is the earliest article I could find, I'm sure he signed already though.
I'll keep looking
