Parramatta is said to have advised NSW Origin star William Hopoate the best he could hope to earn should he decide to play for the club in 2016 is a deal worth $200,000 – hundreds of thousands of dollars less than he signed a contract for that's being disputed in the NSW Supreme Court.
Fairfax Media understands that Hopoate's legal representative, Julieanne Levick, was advised if he decided to leave the Eels to play for another NRL, or even an English Super League team, he would receive no compensation.
The Eels were also said to have ruled out making any payments towards his contract at another NRL club – should he receive an offer before the start of the new season.
It's understood Hopoate will follow on with the legal battle which started when the Eels were accused of attempting to change the terms – and the fee – of the contract he signed after months of protracted negotiations with the club's former chief executive, Scott Seward.
The club failed to register the contract Hopoate signed before Seward resigned from his position. When Hopoate's barrister proceeded to take action she told Fairfax Media the deal Hopoate had signed was "valid and enforceable".
The club's deal with marquee recruit Kieran Foran came close to being terminated when Parramatta wanted to change the structure of the contract he'd signed.
Foran's four-year deal, which was worth $4.8 million for him to leave Manly at the end of 2015, was compromised but the New Zealand international decided at the eleventh hour to honour a mutually agreed deal for an abridged agreement.
Levick has previously challenged the notion Parramatta proposed to Smith that Seward was acting beyond the powers of his office – he was the chief executive – when he put the offer to Hopoate.
Hopoate was said to have rejected offers from rival clubs while he negotiated the deal with Parramatta because he wanted to stay with the Eels.
