TJ Perenara thought close to signing with Roosters

RUGBY LEAGUE

AUCKLAND: Kiwis and Roosters prop Jared WaereaHargreaves has told Australian media that All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara is close to signing with the NRL club.

WaereaHargreaves said his intel was based on a conversation with Perenara’s former All Black teammate Sonny Bill Williams, who told him last month that it almost a done deal.

‘‘I spoke with Sonny and he reckons he’s good mates with TJ. He’s close [to signing],’’ WaereaHargreaves told media on Monday.

‘‘We are obviously super keen. We’d love to have a guy of his calibre definitely amongst our squad, especially now with the injuries.

‘‘There are such talented players doing it for so long in rugby union, but you want to see that talent come and give it a crack over here for sure . . . They’ve been doing it for a long time in rugby union so they should come on over.’’

Whether or not the deal was ‘‘close’’, Perenara himself appeared yet to decide whether he would accept the offer but said if he resigned with New Zealand Rugby, he would probably never play professional league.

‘‘No decision yet. There’s a few different scenarios on the table but in all honesty, my wife and I haven’t come to a decision,’’ he told media last week.

‘‘I would be doing the club and the boys that I work hard with an injustice by focusing on anything else besides our games coming up. I wanted to make a conscious decision to focus on the games at hand and when there’s some time to put some thought into some other things, do that in due time.

‘‘If I don’t make a decision and be part of an organisation this year, I don’t know if I will do it again. It will be a commitment one way or the other. Committing to New Zealand Rugby, to home and the [Wellington] Hurricanes will take league off the table for my career,’’ Perenara said.