Gits to Stay With Australian Rugby Till After RWC2011

[Darren]

Australian Rugby Union has today re-signed star Wallabies and Emirates Western Force playmaker Matt Giteau until the end of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

The two-season extension to his current agreement positions the 25-year-old to take on a key long-term role with the “new generation” Wallabies.

“I’m still at a relatively young age and feel my best Rugby is still ahead of me,” Giteau said.

“So it’s really exciting to secure my future at a time when a few of the long-serving guys like George Gregan and Stephen Larkham have gone and so many new players are coming through.

“The 2011 Rugby World Cup was definitely important in this decision.

“There was also a feeling that if I do want to play at my best then I need to play in the best competitions.

“Super 14, Tri Nations and the World Cup as a member of the Wallabies fit that bill for me, so it was easy in the end to say that I want to stay in Australia.”

As part of his new deal, Giteau has signed on to stay with the Emirates Western Force.

But he does have the option to consider offers from other Australian Super 14 sides before the provincial component of his contract kicks in for 2010 and 2011.

Giteau said he had no intention of leaving Perth, where he now holds the Force vice-captaincy behind skipper Nathan Sharpe.

“I have really enjoyed my first year and a half with the Emirates Western Force and I’m very keen to continue with the Club beyond next season,” said Giteau.

“I’m contracted with the Emirates Western Force until the end of 2009 and right now I’m concentrating on doing my best to help the team achieve the best results on the field.”

“The signing of Nathan Sharpe last week was a massive boost for the team and the future looks very bright with some of the young players that have stepped up to Super 14 level this season,” he said.

“I am very excited about the direction of the team and feel that we have the talent in our squad to be a serious contender in the Super 14 for years to come.”

After making his Wallabies debut before playing a Super 14 match, Giteau has gone on to play 51 Tests and become one of the national team’s senior players.

FACT FILE

Matt Giteau
Position: Flyhalf, Inside Centre
Physical: 1.78m, 85kg
Age: 25
Test Caps: 51
Test Points: 259 (20t, 39c, 26p, 1dg)
Test Debut: 2002 v England
Super 14 Caps: 56 (40 Brumbies, 16 Force)
Super 14 Points: 249 (23t, 28c, 26p)
Super 14 Debut: 2000 v Sharks (Brumbies)

[no.8]

Yabba Dabba Doo!

[The InnFORCEr]

As part of his new deal, Giteau has signed on to stay with the Emirates Western Force.

But he does have the option to consider offers from other Australian Super 14 sides before the provincial component of his contract kicks in for 2010 and 2011.

So we still only really have him until end of 2009, it's only ARU that have re-signed him until 2011, not EWF. I'm sure he'll stay though.

This is the same thung that is happening with Moore from Reds.

[BLR]

DAMN YOU ARU!

[KenyaQuin]

Giteau said he had no intention of leaving Perth, where he now holds the Force vice-captaincy behind skipper Nathan Sharpe.

“I have really enjoyed my first year and a half with the Emirates Western Force and I’m very keen to continue with the Club beyond next season,” said Giteau.

“I’m contracted with the Emirates Western Force until the end of 2009 and right now I’m concentrating on doing my best to help the team achieve the best results on the field.”

“The signing of Nathan Sharpe last week was a massive boost for the team and the future looks very bright with some of the young players that have stepped up to Super 14 level this season,” he said.

“I am very excited about the direction of the team and feel that we have the talent in our squad to be a serious contender in the Super 14 for years to come.”

Some encouraging words but in the face of possibly attracting competitive offers from the other franchises, they mean little. Will be interesting to read RWA's spin on this.

[BLR]

Some encouraging words but in the face of possibly attracting competitive offers from the other franchises, they mean little. Will be interesting to read RWA's spin on this.

They'll pussy out like usual...act all happy despite the fact that next year a massive deal could be sorted out to lure him away...

[KenyaQuin]

Giteau to stay in Australia until 2011
12th March 2008, 11:52 WST

Giteau to stay in Australia until 2011 : thewest.com.au

Wallaby superstar Matt Giteau has re-signed a contract which will keep him in Australian rugby for the next two years but has left the door open to leave the Western Force at the end of 2009.

Giteau, 25, followed the lead of Force captain Nathan Sharpe and committed to stay in Australia until the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

But despite a pay-packet reputed to be around $1.5 million a year, and Giteau repeatedly saying he was happy in Perth, he declined to recommit to the club beyond the end of next season.

A Force statement said Giteau "has the option to consider offers from other Australian Super 14 sides before the provincial component of his contract kicks in for 2010 and 2011".

But Giteau reiterated he was still happy in Perth, despite keeping his options open.

"I have really enjoyed my first year and half in with the Force ... and I'm keen to continue with the club beyond next season," Giteau said.

"Im contracted with the Force until the end of 2009 and right now I'm concentrating on doing my best to help the team achieve the best results on the field."

As well as the task of keeping Giteau, which acting CEO Mitch Hardy said would start almost immediately, the Force contracting radar will also be trained on Wallaby and World Cup teammate Cameron Shepherd, whose contract ends in October.

Shepherd is understood to have already started talks with the club and is keen to settle on a deal that would also see him stay in the west.

And Force bosses are also keen to retain the services of backrow sensation Dave Pocock, who continued his rise to prominence with a man-of-the-match performance against the Crusaders last weekend.

AAP

[Skiza]

Good on ya Gits ...and now he just has to sign up to stay west until after 2011

[Jehna]

DAMN YOU ARU!

Ah you don't see this as a good thing?

I honestly cannot see Gits leaving Perth. There is no incentive for him whatsoever. His salary is awesome, he's playing with awesome people, the Force are the best Aussie team in the comp right now and I don't believe we've reached our potential, he is VC with an opportunity to become Captain, he has flexibility in where he plays, he has his mates, he has his girlfriend here, he has a house.....why would he leave?

[BLR]

I honestly cannot see Gits leaving Perth. There is no incentive for him whatsoever. His salary is awesome, he's playing with awesome people, the Force are the best Aussie team in the comp right now and I don't believe we've reached our potential, he is VC with an opportunity to become Captain, he has flexibility in where he plays, he has his mates, he has his girlfriend here, he has a house.....why would he leave?

The Weagles thought the same about Judd, if you don't lock them down they have every opportunity to leave, I mean, who is to say hypothetically one of the other clubs are working behind the scenes to put together a deal which will blow out of the water anything we can offer him...he left his home of ACT to join the Force because of money, who is to say he won't do so again?

[GIGS20]

The Weagles thought the same about Judd, if you don't lock them down they have every opportunity to leave, I mean, who is to say hypothetically one of the other clubs are working behind the scenes to put together a deal which will blow out of the water anything we can offer him...he left his home of ACT to join the Force because of money, who is to say he won't do so again?

OK what do we know?

1 He won't be going OS!
2 The Reds and Waratahs are crap and he'd be shooting himself in the foot to even consider it
3 The Brumbies have not got the corporate support to match the deal Perth can throw at him

I think he's pretty safe, it is probably more of a "never say never" thing in case the QRU find 200 million dollars and sign him up as the captain of a team which contains pretty much every Wallaby coming off contract, some awesome kids and David Nucifora as coach...how likely's that?

[BLR]

But look at the reasons for coming to the Force in the first place. A team that only won one game the previous year and he played for the most successful Aussie Super 14 team at the time (around about) who had a strong squad of players....and as for the Waratahs, I think last years 50 man world cup training squad shows despite for thier players get picked...

[AndyS]

Frankly, in his position, I wouldn't have signed either and I was born here. The ARU keeps muttering into it's navel over allowing Wallabies to be eligibility from anywhere in the S14 (a decision that could make entirely without SANZAR/Newscorp input), and every "next Wallabies No.10" that the Waratahs throw on the field comes up short. I'd absolutely take a wait-and-see approach, provided I was confident that nothing was going to happen to degrade my value (and I'm sure he feels immortal at the moment).

[slomo]

good signing, now we just need a decent stadium to see him play in....next target bam-bam...

[blueandblack]

good signing, now we just need a decent stadium to see him play in....next target bam-bam...

next start target bam-bam, perhaps. next current target shepherd.