2009 NRL Player Rumours & Signings

Thursto's a target

THE agent who helped broker Craig Gower's groundbreaking rugby deal has warned the Cowboys to brace for a French raid on star playmaker Johnathan Thurston.

Paris-based manager Pierre Vandome, the conduit between Gower's agent Greg Willett and French rugby outfit Bayonne, believes Thurston will get a $1 million offer from French rugby in the next 12 months.

The prediction came as leading agents provided The Sunday Mail with a hit list of NRL players in danger of being lost to the cashed-up French.

The list contains six Queensland Origin stars - Thurston, Karmichael Hunt, Israel Folau, Greg Inglis, Justin Hodges and Billy Slater, who has a Storm get-out clause he can activate if approached by a club outside the NRL. Thurston, Hunt and Inglis are said to be able to command $1 million offshore.

As revealed in The Sunday Mail last week, Thurston has been on French rugby's radar since last year.

Off contract at the end of 2010, the Test half-back is happy in Townsville, but confirmed in his newspaper column on Wednesday that he was considering following Mark Gasnier's lead when his Cowboys deal expires.

But after seeing Gasnier and Gower prematurely cut short NRL agreements to play in France, Vandome is adamant Thurston will be the big target next year.

Speculation is rife that one club, understood to be Toulon, has $600,000 ($979,000) set aside for a National Rugby League back.

"Thurston will have interest from the clubs here next year, 100 per cent," Vandome said from his Paris office. This is the rumour over here, that Johnathan Thurston has interest for next year.

"Recruitment is now finished for this season (the French rugby transfer deadline closed on July 14), so definitely not this year.

"But next year there will be more NRL players of interest to the (French) clubs."

Brisbane-based player agent Anthony Picone says the threat of more NRL departures is real.

Broncos custodian Hunt, off-contract at the end of next season, stands to earn between $800,000 and $1 million annually overseas because of his NRL credentials and his background in the 15-a-side code.


The Sunday Mail (Qld)
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Bad news for the cowboys and bad news for australia, if he goes another world cup quality goes
 
We do have heaps of other half backs happy to take the spot but he is a very good player and his loss would be big
 
Yeah but based on the fact that SBW walked out, Thurston is negotiating.
And SBW is NZ's loss so im kinda happy bout that
 
Thurston is and has been in the top three players in the NRL for a while now.
It would be a huge loss!

Imagine how we would have felt if Joey left the Knights for french rugby a few years back.

SBW is not worth his 450-500k a year atm he's injury prone and usually only dominates against weak oponents or teams that are on an off day:)
 
Deanoknights said:
Thurston is and has been in the top three players in the NRL for a while now.
It would be a huge loss!

Imagine how we would have felt if Joey left the Knights for french rugby a few years back.
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Def. If hes fit, he'll probably be the first person chosen in the AUS side for the world cup alone with Lockyer in the halves.
 
Deanoknights said:
Imagine how we would have felt if Joey left the Knights for french rugby a few years back.

SBW is not worth his 450-500k a year atm he's injury prone and usually only dominates against weak oponents or teams that are on an off day:)
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about joey: i would have been so annoyed! alot of knights fans would have been distraught

about sonny: thats true. he doesn't deserve that money. he had a wonderful first few years but now he is a cripple.
 
I think he's worth that type of money even though he's done the wrong thing he is still a fantastic player unstopable at his best
 
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