Gold Coast won't hang about on big signings
By Brad Walter - April 30, 2005
Gold Coast officials will look to sign up to 10 leading players this season if they get the go-ahead to enter the 2007 premiership at a meeting of the NRL partnership committee next month.
Gold Coast City Council yesterday unanimously passed a motion to accept the Queensland Government's offer to fund a new stadium, and the NRL partnership committee will meet on May 27 to discuss the issue of expanding the competition to 16 teams.
Consortia from Central Coast and Wellington will be asked to clarify the status of their bids after the NRL last year postponed a decision, but the pledge to build a 25,000-seat stadium is believed to have secured Gold Coast's spot.
Sydney Roosters assistant John Cartwright will coach the team, with former Queensland Origin stars Trevor Gillmeister and Scott Sattler on his staff.
Gold Coast officials have already drawn up plans for recruitment and managing director Michael Searle said yesterday they hoped to sign 10 top-line players this season and another 10 after June 30 next year. Various players might also be lured back from England, and Gold Coast juniors would be targeted.
"Obviously there would be an emphasis on Queenslanders," Searle said. "It is always preferable if your players have an affinity to the area they represent."
Among those who fit into that category and are likely to be available after June 30 are Penrith five-eighth Preston Campbell, Bulldogs centre Jamaal Lolesi, Roosters utility Chris Flannery, South Sydney lock Ashley Harrison, and Brisbane's Shaun Berrigan and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs. Test centre Willie Tonga has also been linked to the new venture after re-signing with the Bulldogs for just one year. Campbell is discussing a similar deal with the Panthers.
NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said if a new team was admitted before June 30, it would then be free to negotiate with players coming off contract this year for the 2007 season. Those players would then need one-year deals for next season.
"We see the signings we make this year as the most important because the players coming off contract next season would then be able to see who we've already got," Searle said. "Ideally we'd like to sign 10 marquee players this year and then another 10 or 15 from the NRL next season. If we had to wait until next season and do it all in one hit, it would have an inflationary effect on the game, but by spreading it over two years [it] lessens the impact significantly.
"There have also been a lot of good players go to England in the past two or three years that may come back either to us or someone else because of the extra $3.25 million in salary-cap money available by having another team in the competition."
Possible targets from England include Jamie Lyon, Jason Hooper and David Solomona, joining the likes of Luke Priddis, Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony and Mark Minichiello, Benji Marshall, Tim Smith and Shane Rodney.
A new nickname will be decided through competitions in the media and on the internet after the withdrawal of the name Dolphins because of legal threats from Brisbane club Redcliffe.
North Sydney president Mike Gibbons, whose club has worked towards relocating to Gosford since before its expulsion from the NRL in 1999, said a new stadium would still not bring the bid into line with Central Coast Bears.
But it is thought the NRL is concerned about having another team in close proximity to Newcastle and Sydney, unless one was to relocate.
