Bulldogs Offer Unacceptable For O'Meley

[jenny]

Bulldogs offer unacceptable for O'Meley

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD


TEST prop Mark O'Meley, who is entering the final year of his contract with the Bulldogs, has rejected the first offer by the club to re-sign him.

O'Meley's manager, Wayne Beavis, said yesterday he had told the Bulldogs management that O'Meley regarded the proposed deal as "unacceptable", but that negotiations would continue.

"The Bulldogs forwarded an offer a couple of weeks ago, while I was away, and I met with the club on Monday," Beavis said. "Then I met with Mark and his wife on Tuesday and Mark told me he felt the terms were unacceptable.

"The offer wasn't up to par and I told the club that, but dialogue is continuing. That's the first offer and we'll see what the club comes up with from here."

Beavis said the offer was for another two years. Presumably, it would include an increase for this season as well, although Beavis would not say.

O'Meley would not have any trouble finding another club for good money if he couldn't reach an agreement with the Bulldogs and Beavis said there were numerous clubs keen to talk.

But, Beavis added, the aim was to concentrate on talks with the Bulldogs and see how they go first.

Beavis said he had resolved to meet North Queensland management about the future of another representative star - Luke O'Donnell - during the first few rounds of the NRL competition in mid-to-late March.

O'Donnell is also off contract at the end of this season and has said he wants to "consider all options".

There is plenty of speculation that O'Donnell wants to return to live in Sydney after this season, but Beavis said North Queensland had not been ruled out.

"I've spoken to the Cowboys and I'm going to get up there in about round two to discuss Luke's future," Beavis said.

O'Donnell says he is not in a hurry to make a decision on his future and Cowboys chief executive Peter Parr says he has no problem with that. "No one ever thought this was going to be an easy decision for Luke," Parr said yesterday. "We'll let it play out at Luke's pace."

Fullback Billy Slater has re-signed with Melbourne until the end of the 2010 season. Slater was contracted until the end of this season, but negotiated a new deal that includes another three years on top of that.

The speedster is not only very important to Melbourne's hopes on the field, but also their hopes of breaking further into the Melbourne sporting market because of his high profile.

"He's probably the most popular player in our club," Storm coach Craig Bellamy said at yesterday's announcement.Slater's signature was good news after a number of setbacks for the Storm.

Bellamy said the late return to training of his Test players from Tri-Nations duties, and a number of injuries, including a freak accident which left Greg Inglis knocked out, had set back his side's preparation.

The 20-year-old has managed only two training sessions this year after he was felled by a boxing bag frame in the club's weights room and suffered concussion.

Meanwhile, Alan Tongue, who is regarded as an inspiration to his teammates because of his high workrate and ability to make big plays, could be rewarded with the outright captaincy at Canberra this season.

Raiders chief executive Simon Hawkins said yesterday the club was still to make a decision on whether to go with a single captain or to rotate the captaincy, which was held by Clinton Schifcofske until he left the club at the end of last season. If it is rotated, then second-rower Tongue, hooker Lincoln Withers and prop Troy Thompson are the likely candidates, but indications are that if there is just one captain then Tongue could get the nod.

Hawkins said the decision was up to coach Neil Henry. "It's pretty much Neil's call," he said. "He'll run it by the management, but I'd expect we would back his decision. It's an important decision, because we're following on from a very good leader in Clinton."

[Go_The_Doggies]

Shrek can't leave

Might aswell prepare for his departue already.............

[Capital_Shark]

Shrek and Ben Ross. Great starting lineup for the mighty blue, black and white.

[Titanium_BD1103]

Won't happen... hopefully....

Kimmy, they were talking about this on radio and Grahame Hughes said that the club and Mark are not agreeing on certain areas, but they can be worked out... apparently money is not the main issue here... it's length of contract and the additional options...

I know he will stay if the club gives him a decent offer, he is happy here... but doesn't want to be treated 2nd rate compared to the others like Sonny.

Lets hope this can be sorted out soon, as I like Shrek and want him to stay with the Blue and White, he will be a good leader for the younger guys....