PETTYBOURNE’S NOT DONE DESPITE INJURY CLOUD
EDDY Pettybourne’s decade-long top grade career might have ground to a halt but his manager insists the veteran forward still has “another three or four seasons in him”.
The Titans brought Pettybourne back from the NRL deep in the 2015 preseason, as a replacement for the sacked Paul Carter, after he had spent the previous year in England helping Wigan to a Super League grand final.
The popular Kiwi performed well enough across 21 games in his first season in Titans colours to score a two-year extension but the wheels have fallen off his tenure on the Coast during that time.
Pettybourne’s body let him down week after week in 2016 and he has now been released by the Titans after another season plagued by injuries and poor form that saw him mostly line up for Queensland Cup battlers Tweed Heads when fit.
With Pettybourne unable to contribute more than two bench appearances for the 15th-placed Gold Coast side, many feel the 29-year-old has come to the end of the road at NRL level.
His management disagree.
“Oh, for sure,” his agent Steve Gillis said when asked if Pettybourne will play on.
“Yeah, he’s got plenty left in him, he’s only a young man.
“He has another three or four seasons in him. He is on the open market, so we are talking to some clubs here and overseas but until we know directly what the salary cap is going to be and once the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) is finalised, hopefully things will fall into place for him.”
Pettybourne made his NRL debut for South Sydney in 2007 and has racked up 137 games across stints at the Rabbitohs, Tigers and Titans.