0
Strapped Waratahs shop close to home
Greg Growden Chief Rugby Correspondent | April 28, 2009
WHILE Al Baxter and Kurtley Beale are set to remain with the Waratahs next year, the NSW Rugby Union is unlikely to chase a marquee overseas player because of financial concerns.
NSW Rugby Union chief executive Jim L'Estrange yesterday said Baxter and Beale had agreed to remain in the Australian Rugby ranks, and that the Waratahs were still negotiating with Tatafu Polota-Nau, Matt Dunning, Brett Sheehan and Will Caldwell.
The Waratahs were also awaiting news as to whether Test forwards Rocky Elsom and Dan Vickerman, who are both overseas, were interested in playing for NSW next year. Elsom is scheduled to join either the Waratahs or the Reds, but Vickerman is unlikely to return to NSW.
Of Baxter and Beale, L'Estrange said: "We have to still get pen on paper. You are not going to get any signings while they are in South Africa, but it was important to try to get some of them to actually agree to terms.
"We'll try to move towards paperwork from our side with Kurtley and Al, because our understanding is that the managers have agreed to final terms. They still have to be agreed to by myself and the ARU."
Baxter, Australia's most-capped prop, had been contemplating heading overseas after his contract renegotiations with the ARU broke down recently, while Beale had been tempted by a move to rugby league.
Beale had been in the sights of several NRL clubs, including South Sydney, who had known that the Waratahs five-eighth had become disenchanted with his demotion to the NSW bench.
However, the pair is not expected to be joined next year by a high-profile overseas player. Due to a financial squeeze at the NSWRU, Waratahs scouts will focus on local talent.
Each Australian province is allowed two marquee players - a non-capped player who could qualify for the Wallabies after three years of residency, and a capped player who could not qualify for Australia because he had represented another country.
If the province wants a capped overseas player it cannot rely on ARU financial assistance.
"At the moment, we are not in the overseas marquee market, because you've got to be able to afford the player," L'Estrange said. "As your capped marquee player falls outside your [ARU] allowances, you actually have to pay for him from outside your funding basis. You have to be able to fund it from your coffers.
"We've tried very hard to hold on to key players like Phil Waugh, and to some extent we've used up a little bit of our bank there to ensure that he remains with us. So our intention with the Waratahs squad is to go local. And we feel the talent is very good locally.
"Also you can't spend what you haven't got, and I'm not sure the marquee players are going to come here cheaply."
Queensland was the first Australian province to lure a marquee player, signing All Black back-rower Daniel Braid this season.
"The international player market might be more robust this year, because last year it happened quite quickly, and while one or two provinces got players, you were chasing a little bit," L'Estrange said. "This year the whole world knows you have a potential market in Australia for marquee players."
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...684400445.html