Gower claimed to be goooooone

[Nuffy]

2GB claiming hes off to French rugby from 2008.

Claiming a deal has been done overnight.

 

[Nuffy]

Heres a link from the RU club, its in french but mentions Gower joining the club.

http://www.avironbayonnaisrugby.fr/

 

[lainey]

Heres a link from the RU club, its in french but mentions Gower joining the club.

http://www.avironbayonnaisrugby.fr/

it's in French....all I can make out is Gowies name but it doesn't say in English that he has actually aigned, they could just be seeking to sign him...

 

[*Sandy*]

It's all over the radio this morning. Gower has *apparently* signed. And *WILL* seek a release for his last 2 years.

Who knows... we can only wait until it's officially released from Penrith.

 

[The Rhino]

But doesn't it concern you that the website ACTUALLY says his name. I'm trying to find something that will translate it so we can see exactly what it says.

Craig Gower
a officiellement rejoint l'Aviron Bayonnais ce lundi 25 Juin. Nous vous donnerons plus d'infos sur cet star du Rugby Australien dans les prochains jours.

 

[BuBz81]

Exactly PK, I'll beleive it when i hear it from the horses mouth, for now I'm just that they have it wrong..... but if it's true

 

[*Sandy*]

Craig Gower
a officiellement rejoint l'Aviron Bayonnais ce lundi 25 Juin. Nous vous donnerons plus d'infos sur cet star du Rugby Australien dans les prochains jours.

From Free online translation.

Craig Gower
the Oar Bayonnais on Monday, June 25th officially joined. We shall give you more information on this star of Australian Rugby in next days.

 

[The Rhino]

And here is the translation (put the above text into the first box, change the translation to FRENCH TO ENGLISH and hit translate) :

http://translate.google.com/translate_t

Craig Gower officially joined the Bayonne Oar this Monday June 25. We will give you more infos on this star of Australian Rugby in the next days.

 

[*Sandy*]

It concerned me that the radio was saying he *WILL* seek a release. I gather if he has officially signed then he has already gotten some verbal agreement from the club.

 

[The Wrong Eye]

will he now play premier league as he is no longer in clubs plans for 2008 and beyond ?

 

[The Rhino]

And if so, that sh*ts me to no end, knowing full well we no longer have a halfback close to the calibre of Gower (despite the fact he has not played well this season).

 

[herbert henry1908]

I would have loved to have seen craig finish his career a Panther but overall I think this is for the best.

The club needs a new direction on the field and most of that will come through a new halves combo.

I could have sworn i read that Mick leary said if craig seeked a release it would be granted , so its pretty much a given he's gone from next year.

oh well , you have to remember we cant get much worse as a footy team next year so its not all Bad.

Does anyone know how much money he is on? is it 450K?

 

[The Rhino]

will he now play premier league as he is no longer in clubs plans for 2008 and beyond ?

Do you see CLINTON playing Premier League as he is no longer in the clubs plans for 2008 and beyond??? Tool:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[Big Mick]

cya Craig

 

[The Rhino]

And this from the Telegraph - FIRST I KNEW OF GOWER BEING A CENTRE:lol: :roll: :roll:

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21969296-5001023,00.html

Australian rugby league centre Craig Gower has switched codes and joined French Top 14 rugby union side Bayonne, the Basque team said today.
The 29-year-old, who has made 14 Test appearances for Australia, joins from NRL side Penrith Panthers.
Gower's manager said at the weekend he was looking at European rugby union options for his client and the Panthers captain may ask for a release from the final two years of his NRL contract.
Panthers football manager Michael Leary said at the time the club would seriously consider releasing Gower after more than a decade at the club.
"His manager hasn't asked for a release and he hasn't asked for a release," Leary said at the weekend.
"If it does come around with all the speculation going on it is something we would look at.
"There's no agreement that we would (definitely release him), but the situation is whereby if towards the end of his contract he did feel as though he couldn't get through the next couple of years it would be something the board, with the high profile player Craig is, the board would look at it if he did ask for a release.
"We've got nothing but admiration for Craig ... the ball really is in Craig's court. Until he asks for a release it is business as usual."

 

[*Sandy*]

We could probably thank the media for making his and his family life a living hell and chasing him away from Penrith. Being in France will give him some anonymity.

 

[The Rhino]

Well, despite the fact that the media is partly to blame, he is not completely innoncent.

 

[Fibroman]

It will free up $500k for our cap. The only problem is........THERE ARE NO DECENT PLAYERS LEFT TO SIGN! I don't think Gowie will like it in France. I haven't been there, but I've read a bit and heard a lot about it. What about Amanda's media career? I wonder if she will go with him? I wonder what sort of dollars he's been offered? You'd have to imagine that it would be somewhere near what Penrith are paying him?

 

[The Tank]

I'd like to thank the media for forcing this over-rated hack out of the club. This is as good as a high profile signing!

 

[mightypanther]

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Congratulations Panthers administrators.

You have just managed to alienate 90% of your fans permanently.

NOT because Gower is going.......but because Gower, Weaver, Matthews. Leary and Elliott ALL spent the weekend denying the rumours emphatically and saying there was nothing to them.

This is the most blatant lie that the club has told in recent memory, and if they even attempt to make us believe that this has all come about in the last 24 hours because of all the media hype I'll scream.

Never again will the fans believe a word that anyone at this club says, not players or administrators. They all lie. For what reason ??? God knows. They should have just admitted on the weekend that this was in the works. What difference would it have made, other than to stop tons of fans hating our administration even more than before.

Now everyone associated with the club just looks even more like a laughing stock than they did before.

I couldn't care less whether Gower goes or not, I stopped caring about what players stay, go or come to the club long ago after the way the club dumped Satts. Every year since, they have just reinforced what a useless bunch of businessmen they really are.

This is just the epitome of their incompetence in dealing with the team, fans, and media.

From now on I only care about the footy on the field. I don't give a stuff about anything else. Of course I will still be there on Saturday cheering them on and hoping for a win, but I hate to think what sort of a reception Gower would get IF he plays. Could be far worse than what Wing copped on the weekend. But then again, he could already be on his way to France by then. If so, such is life.
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