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http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24903835-23214,00.html?from=public_rss
GOLD Coast's quest to lure a star hooker has failed, with Wests Tigers star Robbie Farah set to decline the club's poaching bid and current No. 9 Nathan Friend rejecting the club's final contract offer.
Farah is expected to re-sign with Wests Tigers as early as Tuesday while Friend declared he had been forced on to the open market after canning a revised two-year deal tabled by the Titans last Friday that featured a strict three-day deadline.
The Titans courted Farah last November after being unsuccessful in their bid to lure Australian Test hooker and Melbourne captain Cameron Smith to the sunshine strip.
Smith re-signed with the Storm last December, but Farah visited the Titans for a tour of the club's facilities and met head coach John Cartwright during the club's bid to sign him.
Expecting Farah to reject their advances, the Titans last week responded by presenting current No. 9 Friend with a slightly updated contract offer.
The updated two-year offer came after Friend rejected the club's initial pitch last year amid the hunt for Smith and Farah.
But the offer put to Friend had a three-day cut-off date which expired on Monday night.
Earlier, Titans chief executive Michael Searle said no subsequent offer would be made to the 27-year-old if the 5pm deadline was breached.
With Friend now on the hunt for a new club post-2009, the Titans are likely to offer former Brisbane Bronco Ian Lacey a contract for next season, while they also view youngster Kayne Lawton as a potential back-up option.
It is understood Farah, a former Leichhardt junior and 2005 premiership star, has received a lucrative long-term offer to remain at the Tigers.
This will mean forgoing a reunion with former premiership teammates Scott Prince and Anthony Laffranchi.
Titans centre Brett Delaney and young prop Will Matthews, 20, have been added to an eight-man players' representatives group alongside senior players Prince, Luke Bailey, Laffranchi, Preston Campbell, Mark Minichiello and Friend.
GOLD Coast's quest to lure a star hooker has failed, with Wests Tigers star Robbie Farah set to decline the club's poaching bid and current No. 9 Nathan Friend rejecting the club's final contract offer.
Farah is expected to re-sign with Wests Tigers as early as Tuesday while Friend declared he had been forced on to the open market after canning a revised two-year deal tabled by the Titans last Friday that featured a strict three-day deadline.
The Titans courted Farah last November after being unsuccessful in their bid to lure Australian Test hooker and Melbourne captain Cameron Smith to the sunshine strip.
Smith re-signed with the Storm last December, but Farah visited the Titans for a tour of the club's facilities and met head coach John Cartwright during the club's bid to sign him.
Expecting Farah to reject their advances, the Titans last week responded by presenting current No. 9 Friend with a slightly updated contract offer.
The updated two-year offer came after Friend rejected the club's initial pitch last year amid the hunt for Smith and Farah.
But the offer put to Friend had a three-day cut-off date which expired on Monday night.
Earlier, Titans chief executive Michael Searle said no subsequent offer would be made to the 27-year-old if the 5pm deadline was breached.
With Friend now on the hunt for a new club post-2009, the Titans are likely to offer former Brisbane Bronco Ian Lacey a contract for next season, while they also view youngster Kayne Lawton as a potential back-up option.
It is understood Farah, a former Leichhardt junior and 2005 premiership star, has received a lucrative long-term offer to remain at the Tigers.
This will mean forgoing a reunion with former premiership teammates Scott Prince and Anthony Laffranchi.
Titans centre Brett Delaney and young prop Will Matthews, 20, have been added to an eight-man players' representatives group alongside senior players Prince, Luke Bailey, Laffranchi, Preston Campbell, Mark Minichiello and Friend.
