Smith wary of former Knight with extra motivation
BY ROBERT DILLON
NORTH Queensland Cowboys five-eighth Daniel Abraham will be intent on proving a point to Brian Smith at Dairy Farmers Stadium tonight when he plays his first game against the Newcastle Knights.
But if he had been willing to back himself, Abraham could possibly have earned the same type of vindication without leaving his home-town club.
Abraham parted company with the Knights last season in less-than-amicable circumstances after showing little interest in accepting an offer that reportedly could have earned him about $150,000 for the season providing he played regular first grade.
With 100 NRL games to his name, the former Country Origin player was far from impressed when the Knights tabled him an incentive-based deal.
At the time, he told The Herald: "I'd have to play pretty much all of next season to earn decent money [with the Knights]. If you were a young bloke coming up, you'd probably jump at it.
"But with a young family and a mortgage, things become a little bit more complicated."
After further discussions with coach Smith, Abraham decided to see if he could do better elsewhere.
"When I spoke to Smithy, he made it reasonably clear I'd be in reserve grade, or at best filling a couple of holes in first grade, and I had to take all that into consideration," he told The Herald.
Abraham might have been miffed with his treatment from Smith and Knights management, but the fact he had played only 37 games in four seasons after twice breaking his right ankle was a factor they had to consider.
After leaving Newcastle, Abraham was further frustrated when possible deals with Central Coast Storm and London Harlequins fell through.
Eventually he accepted a scaffolding job in the tropical north and started playing with Queensland Cup club Mackay, who are a feeder team for the Cowboys.
The struggling Cowboys called him into their squad last month and he has since played in five consecutive games but is yet to feature in a winning team.
Whether he would have been better off, both financially and from a football perspective, by staying with the Knights is a moot point.
But the strength of Newcastle's back row, and the sparkling form of Chris Bailey at five-eighth, would suggest Abraham may have struggled for game time had he re-signed with the Knights.
Asked whether Abraham would have played much first grade for Newcastle this season, Smith replied: "Oh yeah, that's possible, but it's all a bit hypothetical. Abes's problem was that last year, and probably the couple of years before that, he just hadn't gotten over that horrific injury and been able to show his absolute best."
The coach was nonetheless wary of the ball-playing 27-year-old, who at 107 kilograms rates as the biggest five-eighth in the NRL.
"He's got a range of skills," Smith said. "I've watched him since they called him in there I think he's had four or five games now since they called him in there so it'll be interesting."
The Knights flew to Townsville yesterday and held their final ballwork session last night.
Bailey has been recalled to five-eighth at the expense of halfback Scott Dureau, who played in the NSW Cup on Saturday. Jarrod Mullen will move from pivot to first receiver in Dureau's absence.
Front-rower Jesse Royal has replaced Danny Wicks in the starting line-up.
The embattled Cowboys will be without injured stars Matt Bowen, Steve Southern, Matt Scott and Justin Smith, as well as suspended duo Luke O'Donnell and Travis Burns, but Smith said they would still be treated with respect.
"Their track record away this year has not been so good, but when you look at their home record, they've had some big wins and very narrow losses," Smith said. "Their form's not been so bad there, and I'd expect that we'll need to be right on our game. I'm expecting we will be. I'm very impressed with the way we've trained this week."
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