Tigers caught short on All-Black
By David Riccio
October 28, 2007 12:00am
WESTS Tigers are feverishly scouring the world for a quality centre after narrowly missing out on signing All Black Ma'a Nonu.
The 2005 premiers had held intense negotiations with Nonu and were confident of luring the strike weapon into switching codes.
Recruitment manager Warren McDonnell lamented that the NRL salary cap restricted the size of their tabled offer, and the reality that Nonu probably would have had to take a small pay cut.
"We thought we had him,'' McDonnell said. Nonu ended up signing with the NZRU.
The Tigers are desperate to plug the holes left by premiership-winning centre Paul Whatuira (Huddersfield) and reliable utility Daniel Fitzhenry (Hull KR).
Back-rower Ben Galea and Jason Moodie have also left, leaving anxious Tigers officials searching for answers to increase their depth.
Just eight days out from the official start to their 2008 campaign, two spots remain available in the Tigers' top-25 roster.
"We're putting a lot of work into it and I'm sure we'll come up with the right answer,'' McDonnell said.
"There's certainly players out there ... you've got to go outside the square.''
The Warriors' Todd Byrne and Castleford's Ryan McGoldrick have been linked to the club.
But McDonnell said: "No, that's not the way we're going to go.
"We're looking to get some quality players in and we're doing our best to try and find them ... across both codes.''
Meanwhile, club captain Brett Hodgson will complete the final year of his contract.
"As far as I'm concerned, next year looks an exciting year for the club,'' Hodgson said.
"After the way we finished this year off, I'm looking forward to a good off-season ... we've got plenty to play for.''
