Cowboys have big guns on side in effort to ensure Thurston stays in the north
THE manager of Johnathan Thurston will meet potential third-party sponsors for the North Queensland star in the next few days and has admitted the in-demand halfback could decide his future within a week.
Sam Ayoub will travel to Cairns today to meet business executives with a view to negotiating the third-party deals that are likely to be critical to the player remaining a Cowboy. He will then fly to Townsville to update Thurston on the progress of talks over dinner, before holding further third-party talks on Saturday.
As speculation intensified that the Bulldogs, the club with which Thurston won a premiership in 2004, might enter negotiations, Ayoub said four NRL clubs had expressed an interest in the Test and Origin player, off contract at the end of the season.
Thurston has received offers from the Cowboys and French rugby union club Biarritz, while Newcastle, the Warriors, the Bulldogs and Parramatta have been linked with the 26-year-old.
Bulldogs officials have denied an interest in Thurston, even though the future of their halfback Brett Kimmorley is yet to be confirmed.
But Ayoub's itinerary over the next few days suggests the Cowboys are still heavy favourites to secure Thurston's signature, as the club tries to bridge the gap between an NRL deal, subject to a salary cap, and the significant money on offer from Biarritz, the club for now of his former State of Origin teammate Karmichael Hunt.
Ayoub said if third-party negotiations were positive, Thurston might be in a position to make a decision next week.
Cowboys chief executive Peter Parr said he was not concerned about the latest round of NRL clubs being linked to his marquee player.
''We're comfortable with the whole process, and I'm really confident that if he plays in the NRL [next year and beyond] he'll be playing for us,'' Parr said.
The links to the Bulldogs are intriguing. Thurston's Queensland and Test teammate Ben Hannant has sought a release from the final season of his contract, giving the Bulldogs some financial clout to entice Thurston back to the club. Even though Hannant's absence would leave them a front-rower short, the addition of Thurston would more than make up for that.
Still, it is anticipated no NRL club will be able to match the offer from the Cowboys, reported to be $1.8 million over three seasons.
In fact, the homesick Hannant now seems more likely to fulfil his contract with the Bulldogs, who have been unable to source a suitable front-row replacement.
Hannant's desire to return north with his homesick family is being hampered on two fronts; that the clubs he wants to join, Brisbane and Gold Coast, seem to have little room under the salary cap to offer him anywhere near his $300,000 deal with Canterbury, let alone more, while the Bulldogs remain firm in their demand that they will not be disadvantaged by losing the 25-year-old. As yet, there have been no options put to the Bulldogs whereby they would not lose out in releasing Hannant from the final year of his deal.
The Broncos have pulled out of negotiations with their former player, leaving the Titans as the only viable option. But the Titans have little room under their salary cap for 2011, and a swap deal seems unlikely.
Hannant's standing as a player is effectively counting against him; there are few props off-contract who would compare favourably with the Queenslander, who produced an astounding effort in a beaten side against South Sydney on Monday night, running for 208 metres and making 51 tackles.
The Bulldogs have ruled out making a play for Melbourne's Jeff Lima, who has been released from the final year of his deal, as well as Parramatta's Fuifui Moimoi, who is yet to re-sign with the Eels although he has verbally agreed to a new deal.
The Storm's in-form prop Aiden Tolman would be a suitable pick-up but he is likely to stay put.
If Hannant doesn't leave the Bulldogs at the end of this season, club officials are instead open to the option of allowing him to begin negotiations for an expected move in 2012.
Under NRL laws, Hannant cannot negotiate officially until November 1, but the Bulldogs are prepared to waive that.
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