Knights weigh up loan deal for Walsh
DIMINUTIVE Knights halfback Luke Walsh could be sent to France on a short-term loan to replace injured Catalans Dragons and former Brisbane Broncos playmaker Casey McGuire.
Walsh played 13 NRL games last year and was considered the most likely successor to Andrew Johns, but the 20-year-old was overlooked for Newcastle's pipe-opener against Canberra on Saturday because his pre-season was disrupted by injury and illness.
McGuire broke his cheekbone in a head clash with former Kiwi Test back-rower Ali Lauiti'iti in the Dragons' game against Leeds last month and has been ruled out for at least six weeks.
That prompted Dragons coach Mick Potter to contact Australian-based player agents, including Walsh's manager Todd Buckingham, who suggested the French connection to Knights coach Brian Smith late last week.
The Dragons want Walsh for eight weeks but Smith, who is yet to settle on an established halves pairing for this season, is reluctant to let him go for that long.
Buckingham believed the deal would benefit Walsh and the Knights as the player would gain match fitness and confidence in Super League and return to Newcastle a more complete footballer.
Walsh is contracted to the Knights until the end of 2009 after signing a two-year extension the day after his NRL debut in June last year.
"They want someone for eight weeks," Buckingham said.
"They approached us and asked if we had any halfbacks, and I raised it with Smithy a couple of days ago.
"I just said that if he's going to start the year in reserve grade [NSW Cup], how about he goes over there and does a short stint in the Super League?"
It is understood the length of the contract, how much the Dragons were prepared to pay, insurance issues and NRL salary-cap implications were among the administrative obstacles, but Buckingham hoped to finalise negotiations in the next few days.
"There's a lot of boxes that need to be ticked to get through it all . . . and obviously the deal has to be worked through first before any of the other boxes can be ticked," he said.
"Walshy's pretty keen. It would be a great experience to be able to go over there because you'd rather be playing Super League than NSW Cup."
The Knights released Luke Quigley to the Dragons under similar circumstances last year when Aaron Gorrell was injured then struggled without a specialist hooker later in their NRL season when Danny Buderus and Terence Seu Seu were injured and unavailable.
Knights operations manager Warren Smiles said the club did not want a recurrence but could see the benefits in Walsh playing Super League for a short period.
"It's an idea that's been floated by his management, and we're investigating it," Smiles said.
Meanwhile, Smith, Smiles and the Knights coaching staff met yesterday to discuss a replacement for Seu Seu, who was sacked last week.
Quigley is one of the players the Knights are considering signing as a back-up to Buderus.
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