DIY manager Te'o a very busy fellow
Andrew Webster | June 18, 2008
BOOM Wests Tigers back-rower Ben Te'o has personally contacted almost every club in the NRL about his future.
As the Gold Coast Titans denied speculation they had signed the 21-year-old, and the Broncos rejected claims they were poised to sign him, it has emerged Te'o has complicated his situation by negotiating his next deal on his own.
The
Herald understands Te'o contacted the Rugby League Players Association when he severed ties with leading player manager Daryl Mather earlier this month and was promptly provided with the contact details of each club chief executive.
Consequently, he has been linked to most clubs - although Tigers officials are privately pessimistic about his staying on and Te'o insists a decision on his future will be made next week.
"I can't say too much - I'm on a media ban," Te'o said last night. "I'm hopeful it will be sorted soon. Call me next week, man. I'll know then."
Rumours swept the game at the weekend that he had signed with a Queensland club to be closer to his family, although he had been linked to St George Illawarra after meetings with incoming coach Wayne Bennett.
South Sydney and Penrith are also interested in Te'o, who has been one of the form back-rowers of the competition.
"We're limited in what we could offer him," Broncos boss Bruno Cullen said last night, a sentiment echoed by Titans chief executive Michael Searle, who is overseas.
Te'o and his father met Tigers coach Tim Sheens and recruitment manager Warren McDonnell on Monday night.
"There's a limit to what we can offer him," McDonnell said. "We're trying our best."
The future of Broncos winger Darius Boyd was also no clearer last night despite being linked to the Dragons. Cullen said he had not been approached by his management about a release.
In other news, Knights halfback Jarrod Mullen is only a slim chance of being handed the NSW halfback job for the Origin decider - but teammate Kurt Gidley remains the overwhelming favourite.
Despite a call from Gidley for selectors to pick Mullen for game three on July 2, it is understood coach Craig Bellamy will tell them he wants Gidley in the crucial No.7 jersey if incumbent Peter Wallace does not recover from a testicular injury.
Roosters coach Brad Fittler again pushed for his five-eighth, Braith Anasta, for Blues selection and declared he was ready to dominate in the Origin arena.
"It is the right time of his career where he would be composed enough to really nail one of those games," Fittler said.
In team news, the Bulldogs have opted against rushing superstar Sonny Bill Williams back from a knee injury for their match against the Raiders.
Instead, Williams is expected to return next week against a Roosters side that won't feature his nemesis Willie Mason because of Origin duties. As expected, Souths opted against bringing back Craig Wing for their match against the Titans.
New Zealand Warriors coach Ivan Cleary has dumped Grant Rovelli after 28 successive games at halfback for the Warriors' home game against Manly.
�¡ Paul Vautin's older brother Geoffrey, who suffers from Down syndrome, has died just days after Vautin was forced to apologise for lampooning a bouncer who suffers from epilepsy on
The Footy Show.
Vautin was holding his brother's hand when he passed away from pneumonia in Brisbane early yesterday morning at the age of 57.
It means Vautin is likely to withdraw from the Channel Nine show tomorrow night, when he was expected to apologise for unwittingly ridiculing Caxton Hotel bouncer Greg Stacey during last Thursday's program.
Vautin said in a statement his brother would be "sadly missed but always remembered". "I'm too upset and grieving with my family to make any further comment," he said.
He has been heavily criticised in recent days for accused of calling Stacey "blind drunk" during a segment on the show. It emerged at the weekend that Stacey suffers from benign epilepsy.
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