GOLD Coast boss Graham Annesley has revealed details of the delicate final negotiating process that enabled the club to re-sign young gun Kane Elgey after it had been widely reported he had done a deal with Manly for next year.
The
Titans took the view that it’s never over until it’s over and ended up getting their man, despite the
Sea Eagles having pulled out all stops by promoting to Elgey the opportunity to work with their specialist halves coach – the eighth
RLWImmortal, Andrew Johns.
Now, Gold Coast can plan for 21-year-old Elgey to partner Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves next season – after Cherry-Evans leaves Manly.
“From our point of view, our negotiations with Kane were never concluded,” Annesley tells
RLW.
“We were still talking to him and his manager right up until yesterday (Tuesday), as we had been right through the process. We made one final increase to our offer before Kane made his decision.
“It was fairly minimal, it wasn’t a massive increase, and then we just waited. We had been assured by Kane’s management, despite what was being reported in the media from Monday onwards, that he hadn’t signed anything.
“Kane is a local junior with unlimited potential, so we submitted our final offer and then we just sat back and waited until about 4.30pm yesterday, when I received a text message confirming he had decided to stay.”
Annesley says Gold Coast had worked hard over a period of time to get to a stage where it could come to terms with Elgey.
“I think Kane always wanted to stay, because this is where he played his junior footy and it’s his home,” Annesley says.
“But when you’re young and it’s your first big contract, the sort of dollars rival clubs are prepared to offer can be tempting, so we gradually edged our offer up during the course of the negotiations.
“In the end I think we got close enough to be competitive with other offers Kane had received, making it an easier decision for him to say ‘I’m staying’.”
What's good for the goose is good for the gander. We should take a leaf out of the tits book and return serve with DCE
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