Green’s mind is on play, not pay
COWBOYS coach Paul Green believes his club will manage the contract talks with Jason Taumalolo and Matt Scott without distracting from a brisk start to the NRL season.
Taumalolo, the joint Dally M medallist, and Test prop Scott are off contract at the end of the season and are being courted by approaches from NRL rivals.
“It’s a risk, any time there’s contract negotiations, particularly around guys not concentrating on what they should be doing, but I think we can manage that,’’ Green said.
Asked if he thought the Cowboys would retain both international forwards, Green said: “I do. I think both said they’d like to deal with our club before they go to the market.
“Matt Scott in particular has the experience. He knows how to get himself ready to play.
“Jason is a little younger. I thought he handled his contract negotiations really well last time.
“We are doing everything we can. It’s tough seeing we don’t know the salary cap next year. But I’m confident it won’t be a distraction.’’
The 2018 NRL salary cap is not known while the NRL and the Players Association negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.
The AFL, on the other hand, is having talks about a cap for 2017 and placed an interim limit on its clubs of a 10 per cent rise in their 2016 total player payments.
“No doubt they ( the NRL) should be giving the clubs some guidance or at least with- in a ( payments) range and what are the consequences of going outside that,’’ Green said.
“They have to give us some direction. We are left to work it out for ourselves. There has been a $ 1.5 million spread between the lowest number being bandied around ( as a 2018 salary cap) and the highest. I’d hate to be a club working off the highest number and it comes in below that and you have to shed players or face sanctions or whatever.’’
The 2017 Cowboys pack added Raider Shaun Fensom last week for a season that kicks off at home on Saturday night against Canberra, the other beaten preliminary finalists of last year.
“Hopefully, we can bank a few wins early in the season,’’ Green said.
“I’m pretty comfortable with where we are at.’’
The club lost James Tamou ( Penrith), Ben Hannant ( retired) and utility Rory Kostjasyn ( Newcastle) and will rely on improving their younger forwards and sometimes making use of recruit Ben Hampton at dummy- half.
“Shaun Fensom will add a bit of experience. He’s not a front- rower, but he will play in the middle and is a good defensive player,’’ Green said.
“I’ve said all along that unless someone out of the box came along, we weren’t going to roadblock any of our young guys like Patrick Kaufusi, Sam Hoare, John Asiasta or Coen Hess. I wanted to give them an opportunity.
“The NRL competition proper is different to trials but all the indications are good from those players.’’