Salary cap problems at Parramatta enable Panthers to bag a bargain
BYJOHN MACDONALD
20/10/2009 2:30:00 PM
Kingston told the Star last week all chance of remaining at Parramatta had gone.
"It's imminent and it's nice to be wanted, Penrith are a very strong club,'' said the Cronulla reject who became a key member of Parramatta's run to the NRL grand final this season.
"Parramatta tried every avenue to keep me and I was blown away by the support I received,'' he said of offers from other Eels' players to drop payments so Parramatta could fit him under the salary cap.
"But Ian Schubert said no,'' he said of the NRL's auditing officer and his assessing of Kingston as a $110,000-a-season man.
Kingston said he wouldn't be receiving that but a base $50,000 contract at Penrith because of their own salary-cap problems.
Kingston, 26, said although his nominal value might now be high it wouldn't be reflected in his wallet, and his wife would still have to work.
Still, Kingston said he couldn't be disappointed with how things had panned out.
"It was pretty special and it was a privilege to be part of such a great team,'' he said.
Penrith coach Matthew Elliott said Kingston's arrival would be ``a massive positive''.
"He buzzed them up a bit when he came on in the second half and he has that grand-final experience now,'' he said of Kingston's Parramatta form.
Elliott said Kingston's departure from a club he wanted to stay at was nothing new under the salary cap.
Penrith have lost hooker Paul Aiton to Cronulla but Elliott said he hadn't given any thought yet to Kingston as starting hooker or bench impact player, as he was with Parramatta. Elliott said he had much faith in 20-year-old hooker Masada Iosefa.
