`Out' offer to renegade Titan Steve Turner
Luke Turgeon
20Nov06
RENEGADE Titan Steve Turner has been offered a 'get out of the Gold Coast' clause after just one season if he is unhappy living on the glitter strip.
In a move designed to speed up negotiations with the winger, Titans chief executive Michael Searle said he put the deal on the table because he believes that once Turner finally makes it to the Coast the 22-year-old won't want to leave.
"What we have done as part of the negotiations is that I have offered to his manager that we would consider releasing him on October 31 if he didn't want to stay," said Searle. "It basically means there would be an out clause within 12 months if he was uncomfortable with the place.
"He has been saying that he is not comfortable coming here, but this shows that we are operating in good faith. We would like to think he would at least come here and experience it first.
"From our point of view, if he comes here and tries it and doesn't enjoy it, then he is free to go.
"If he wants to go back to Melbourne after that then good luck to him. I will drop him off at the airport if he wants.
"But I would be very surprised if he came here and didn't want to stay long term."
Turner verbally agreed to a three-year contract with the Titans in June before getting cold feet and re-signing with the Storm a month later.
The NRL has made it clear they will not register Turner's new contract with the Storm, believing he should honour his commitment to the Gold Coast.
As a result, Turner's only real options are to play for the Titans or sit out the next three seasons.
"If they do decide to go to court this dispute could be more than 12 months in the courts anyway," said Searle. "The 12-month offer shows the club is acting in good faith, the way it has done throughout the entire process.
"We are empathetic that he may be thinking twice about his decision but it doesn't remove the obligation to his original commitment.
"But that (the one-season deal) would only be if he came here.
"If he doesn't he is sitting on the sidelines for the next three years."
The news follows reports at the weekend that the Titans were offered the services of Queensland centre Adam Mogg and financial compensation in exchange for letting Turner remain in Melbourne. Turner's manager Dave Riolo did his best to broker the deal, which would have seen Mogg abandon plans to join English Super League club Catalans.
But the deal fell through when Melbourne would not meet the compensation criteria.
"The number of offers that were put to us for players to substitute were wide and varied," said Searle.
"The most likely one was Adam Mogg, but at the end of the day it wasn't an easy deal to achieve and Melbourne thought that the compensation request was too much for them."
