NATHAN Peats could be the latest player to quit the Titans following a pay dispute that has opened the door for Parramatta to poach the highly-rated hooker.
Two NRL rivals are eyeing off Peats, including the Eels, who are keen to reclaim the rake they were forced to offload to the Titans just 11 months ago amid their salary-cap crisis.
The Titans have suffered dual recruitment ructions in the past 48 hours. Back-rower Chris McQueen formally inked a three-year, $1.2 million deal with the Tigers on Friday — the same day boom rookie Tyler Cornish walked out on the club.
Now the Titans are in danger of losing the off-contract Peats after tabling a two-year offer that is understood to be well short of his management’s asking price.
There are fears the Titans could have their senior core ripped apart in their quest to be prudent spenders.
McQueen, a member of the club’s leadership group, accepted a lucrative offer from the Tigers after the Titans refused to budge on their two-year, $300,000-a-season deal.
Interest from two cashed-up NRL clubs gives Peats bargaining power and unless the Titans up the ante, he will join McQueen at the exits.
Peats’ manager Sam Ayoub last night confirmed the 26-year-old, who has been sidelined due to a shoulder injury, is being targeted by NRL rivals.
“Two other clubs have made contact so there is no shortage of interest in Nathan,” Ayoub said.
“When Peatsy got the injury we decided to sit back and wait, but every club needs a quality hooker and not many clubs have them.
“Nathan likes living on the Gold Coast so hopefully we can work something out.”
The Titans have experienced extreme turbulence with their roster since 2015, when Neil Henry began his first full season in charge.
In just two years, Gold Coast have used a staggering 56 players in the NRL and will blood their 11th debutant of the season, Paterika Vaivai, against Canberra tonight.
By comparison, Queensland’s other teams, the Broncos and Cowboys, have used 40 and 35 players respectively. That means the Titans have fielded almost an extra team of players.
Peats’ failure to appear this season has made it difficult to establish his value, but Titans hierarchy insist the resolute rake is a priority signing.
Peats joined the Titans from Parramatta midway through last season.“We would love Peatsy to stay at the club,” Titans recruitment chief Tony Mestrov said.
“We have made an offer to Peatsy. He is definitely a player we want to keep.
“Peatsy adds a lot of enthusiasm in defence and everyone knows what a tenacious player he is.
“We look forward to him coming back.”
Henry defended the club’s recruitment and retention strategy, saying the Titans will fight hard for players they want to keep.
“We’re comfortable we can recruit and retain the players we want to retain,” he said.
“You can only look at what you can table as an offer and other clubs if they come in and it’s above your budget, you can either extend your budget or shake their hand and say ‘good on you’.
“We’re keen to keep (Peats) — we see him as a big part of the future of the club.”
Replies
Great, so what hooker are we going to use for the 10-26 rounds hes out injured?
To have kaysa as a back up hooker is pretty good imo, but not as first grade. He is definitely ok but not a star
They are close with the second tier, that's why Cornish walked out, they told him they can't use him in first grade again this year.
Well Fongy Brads set on Moses by the looks of, hes here next year unless he backflips, we might as well work on combos now than have to start again next year.
Tits will be stoked to be getting rid of a walking injury.
True Frankie. At least Kaysa shows he's prepared to tackle. When Peats came here he had an injury and correct me if I'm wrong it was his shoulder, like the Manly offering in Watmough who also came to the eels with shoulder problems, with both of them supposed to have had their shoulders fixed at their former clubs.
If Peats come, and he's supposed to be wanting to be the only 9 and to play 80minutes, (ps that's each game) which I doubt he will manage, so maybe Kaysa ends up being the #14 again.
He's not included the four signings the club has already made.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next