Cashed-up Cowboys to lose 124kg beast

Uncapped Cowboys forward Wiremu Greig is set to join the Parramatta Eels on a two-year deal that could come into effect immediately.

The 21-year-old is off-contract for next season and is yet to play for coach Todd Payten this year despite the club’s struggles.

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The Courier Mail’s Peter Badel reported Greig is set to join the Eels and could be the next Cowboy to leave the club with immediate effect.

The club switch reportedly follows talks held between the New Zealand native and Eels coach Brad Arthur.

The 124kg giant has impressed for Intrust Super Cup side Norther Pride so far in 2021 after scoring two tries against Sunshine Coast Falcons last week.

Greig represented the Maori All-Stars in February, coming off the bench for 10 minutes against the Indigenous All Stars.

NRL: The Brisbane Broncos have bubbled up in Sydney ahead of their round four encounter with the Melbourne Storm….

NRL: The Brisbane Broncos have bubbled up in Sydney ahead of their round four encounter with the Melbourne Storm.

COWBOYS FLUSH WITH CASH TO FILL PLAYMAKER VOID

Souths skipper Adam Reynolds will have to accept a one-year-deal if he wants to stay at Redfern with the Cowboys ready to pounce.

Reynolds wants a multi-year extension, but the Rabbitohs are unwilling to give him any more than a one-year-deal, with the Cowboys having room in their salary cap to make a big play for his services, according to The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie.

“The Cowboys are really interested in Adam Reynolds because Michael Morgan has this shoulder issue,” Ritchie said on The Big Sports Breakfast.

“He is on $1 million a year and there seems to be a fair chance that he will be retiring because it is chronic and it is ongoing.

“Jake Clifford is off to Newcastle and Scott Drinkwater is off-contract, so the Cowboys will have money and they will be looking for halves.

“So every club out there should be a little bit nervous if they have a half coming off-contract that the Cowboys could well be hunting around.

“Reynolds is high on their list to be discussed. He would be a perfect fit for North Queensland.

“There has already been links between the Cowboys and Shaun Johnson at the Sharks, Mitchell Moses at the Eels and Luke Brooks at the Tigers, who have also had tenuous links to the Cowboys.

“I don’t think Moses will go anywhere, but Luke Brooks could be shopped around if his form doesn’t improve and the Tigers have already made contact with Jackson Hastings.

“It is a bit of a merry-go-round, but in terms of North Queensland needing a half and having money to spend they will be in the game heavily.”

The 30-year-old has scored 34 tries and a record 1656 points for the Rabbitohs since his debut in 2012 and won a premiership with the club in 2014.

However Ritchie revealed neither party seems willing to budge on the length of the deal.

“Souths have said this is what we are offering and we are not changing and Adam has said this is what I’m accepting and I don’t want to go any lower,” Ritchie said.

NRL: North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten may be just three games into his tenure with the club, but the 360 crew believe he could already be under pressure….

NRL: North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten may be just three games into his tenure with the club, but the 360 crew believe he could already be under pressure.

“The new coach Jason Demitriou wants Adam Reynolds. They just don’t want to sign a long-term contract again given what we saw with Sam Burgess and Greg Inglis.

“Having said that Inglis and Burgess were a little bit busted at the end of their careers and Reynolds isn’t.

“But I spoke to Souths and they are adamant that one is on the table and one will stay on the table and Adam is equally adamant that he will not sign a one-year-deal.”

Rugby league legend and Reynolds’ former Origin coach Laurie Daley can’t understand why the club has not revised their offer to at least two years.

“I can’t believe that they won’t at least offer him a two-year-deal,” Daley said.

“They will be judged on their decision, but for another year is he really going to be that bad in two years time?

“I know what he gives you and every club is crying out for a player like that and they will pay Adam whatever for three or four years.

“I can understand not giving him a four-year-deal or three, but I can’t for the life of me understand why they wouldn’t come to an arrangement where they offer him two and then if he decides to go they can say, we gave him the option of two years. We weren’t prepared to go to three or four years and we shake hands and move on.

“But when you have someone of that quality in your organisation and he is your captain it worries me that it will affect their season and their future.”

NRL: Paul Kent and Buzz Rothfield did not hold back when discussing whether Jason Taumalolo and players of Polynesian descent should be considered for Origin selection….

NRL: Paul Kent and Buzz Rothfield did not hold back when discussing whether Jason Taumalolo and players of Polynesian descent should be considered for Origin selection.

STAGGS TO STAY AT BRONCOS

The Brisbane Broncos are reportedly set to secure the services of star centre Kotoni Staggs on a monster four-year-deal.

The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie reported the Broncos are in the box seat to beat out approaches from three NRL rivals to sign Staggs on a long-term extension.

“The mail I am getting is that he will stay at the Broncos,” Ritchie said on The Big Sports Breakfast.

“It is more likely now than unlikely. It will be a four-year-deal worth about $2.8 million, which is a huge contract for a centre.

“That is about $700,000 a year. There is a suggestion there might be an announcement later this week or early next week.

“He certainly could have potentially got more money in Sydney. He had been linked to Parramatta and the Bulldogs. Also the Gold Coast are still very keen on him.

“It would be a huge boost for the Broncos. They have had a few players leave and Brisbane need a PR kill. They need Staggs to stay and the suggestions are he will stay.”

The 22-year-old has scored 23 tries in 47 games for the Broncos since his debut in 2018.

Staggs has also represented his native Tonga and was considered a lock for an Origin debut last year before his season-ending knee injury.

NRL: The Canterbury Bulldogs are yet to win this season, the NRL 360 panel discuss whether their issues start with recruitment….

NRL: The Canterbury Bulldogs are yet to win this season, the NRL 360 panel discuss whether their issues start with recruitment.

STORM STAR TO SEE OUT CONTRACT

Storm cult hero Brandon Smith is expected to stay at the club and see out the remainder of his Melbourne contract, which expires at the end of 2022.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the 24-year-old was interested in paying $200,000 to free himself from the club and chase a starting hooker role at an NRL rival.

However NRL.com reported Smith’s agent Stan Martin confirmed that the Kiwi Test star will honour his Storm deal, with the proposed buyout of his contract scrapped.

“Brandon will be at the Storm until the end of 2022,” Martin told NRL.com.

“In all honesty I don’t think it is going to happen. I am not talking to anyone, no [rival] club at all.”

Smith has scored nine tries in 65 games for the Storm since his debut in 2017 and won a premiership with the club last season.

A utility and impact player for much of his career, Smith concedes he still needs to evolve his game as a starting hooker after leading the Storm to a 1-2 record to start the season in the absence of the retired Cameron Smith and the injured Harry Grant.

“I like playing hooker and showcasing my skills but it still feels a little bit foreign to me,” Smith said.

“I guess I’m going to have to remodel my game, even my routine; usually I like to be super pumped up before I go on the field. It’s a little bit different now.”

Smith has been linked to the Bulldogs, Broncos and Titans since being given permission to talk with other clubs, but it now appears he will see out the remainder of his contract, before potentially looking for a starting role elsewhere in 2023.

Originally published asCashed-up Cowboys to lose 124kg beast

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