Hayne Plane may land on Roosters runway
TEDESCO. Cronk. Hayne?
The Roosters will have the salary cap space available to make a play for Jarryd Hayne if they get Mitchell Pearce and Jayden Nikorima off their books.
Eyebrows have already been raised about the Roosters’ ability to fit marquee men Cooper Cronk and James Tedesco into a starstudded side that has been installed as premiership favourites. However, the tricolours will have even more cash to splash if two of their contracted playmakers move on.
Pearce is weighing up his options during an overseas holiday, but has told those close to him he is seriously contemplating leaving Bondi Junction. The NSW No 7 is unimpressed about the prospect of playing second fiddle to Cronk after steering the team around the park for a decade.
Manly will turn their attention to Pearce after missing out on Matt Moylan, who will move from Penrith to Cronulla as part of a player swap with James Maloney. The Sharks privately believe they could accommodate Pearce as well as Maloney if the former wants out.
Newcastle coach Nathan Brown has also publicly expressed interest in Pearce, having recently poached ShaunKenny Dowall, Connor Watson and Aidan Guerra from the Roosters. The departure of those players has given the Roosters the room required to sign Cronk, but they may not be the last to leave.
The glamour club has been attempting to offload Nikorima, on a deal worth about A$350,000, for some time and he may have given them an excuse to do so. The utility has allegedly registered a second positive to an illicit drug test. While he intends to appeal, the Roosters – having sacked Kenny-Dowall and Paul Carter for drug-related incidents – could tear up his contract if he is unsuccessful.
If Pearce and Nikorima go, they will free up more than A$1 million, enough to lure Hayne. The Roosters had previously con- GETTY IMAGES sidered signing Hayne following his NFL stint. The cross-code star is keen to return to Sydney to be closer to his young child and Parramatta remain his most likely destination. He would first require a release from his A$1.2m Gold Coast deal, although it is unlikely the Titans would stand in his way given the drama he has created on the holiday strip.
Should Hayne return to the blue and golds, it is likely the parties would contemplate a player swap for Josh Hoffman, who has two years remaining on his Eels deal. Hoffman has previously made 49 appearances for the Gold Coast, owns a house in Brisbane and may consider a return given he would struggle for a first-grade spot in a Parramatta backline that includes Hayne.
Hoffman made just 13 NRL appearances in an injuryinterrupted first year at Parramatta and couldn’t get back into the top side during its finals run.
A Parramatta return would require Hayne to take a sizeable pay cut.
The Eels are also considering handing a lifeline to another of their former players, Tony Williams. The former NSW and Kangaroos star has struggled with form and injury, but may accept a minimum-wage contract in a bid to reignite his NRL career.
Elsewhere, Wests Tigers utility Jeremy Marshall-King has signed with Canterbury. Marshall-King, the brother of Benji Marshall, made his NRL debut in the final game of the season and had agreed to remain at the jointventure outfit. However, he accepted an offer to switch to Belmore before the 10-day coolingoff period had expired.
While his dream was to play alongside Benji, Marshall-King is now hopeful they will oppose each other in first grade in 2018.
‘‘Hopefully we can verse each other, I’d love to play against him,’’ Marshall-King said. ‘‘There would be a lot of dirtiness, a lot of rubbing his face and that, but that’s just how it is with brothers.
‘‘I just want to keep going with my NRL career and play as many games as I can.’’
‘ I just want to keep going with my NRL career and play as many games as I can.’ JEREMY MARSHALL-KING
The Sun-Herald