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http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005401,00.html
WESTERN Force star Matt Giteau has given his strongest indication yet that he may not play Super 14 in Perth next year.
"I want to be playing in Australia but I can't say where that will be," he told The Sunday Times from London before flying to the US for Christmas.
There is a lot of talk concerning Matt Giteau's playing future. Will he stay or will he go? Have your say - place your vote below and leave a comment.
The Wallaby five-eighth is contracted to the Force until the end of the 2009 competition but said he has had no official talks with the club since leaving on the Wallaby tour.
"I've not had any personal contact with the Force and that's been a problem. I wouldn't mind talking to them," he said.
"I need to sit down and talk it over with the Force, my manager, my family and girlfriend. I've got to sit down and have a lengthy, proper discussion and get a few things clear.
"I really can't say what I want to do at the moment because I really haven't made up my mind. I can't say because I just don't know.
"Perth is a great place and I've really enjoyed the last two years. It's got a great lifestyle, great people and I've always said I love it in Perth but that's only one of the things I have to consider.
"There are many factors, like where I'm going to develop best, where I'm going to grow as a player and as a person.
"Australian rugby is where I want to be. Playing for the Wallabies is something special and we're embarking on something special."
The Force, obviously keen to keep a player of Giteau's calibre, is confident it has a binding contract.
The club has kept a deliberately low profile and is understood to have had little communication initiated by Giteau's manager James Erskine.
A clause keeping Giteau in Perth until 2011 was the stumbling block to the $1.6 million third party offer to replace money lost by the collapse of fuel-tech company Firepower.
"My contract is with the Force until 2009. That was what was what I was hoping to get. It's not just about money," he said.
He admitted being under pressure after French club Bayonne offered him an $8m, four-year deal.
"I need a break from rugby. I need to freshen up and think about things away from rugby. While I'm away I'll take a good look at where I want to be," he said.
Giteau is also contracted to the Australian Rugby Union until the next World Cup in 2011 and ARU chief executive John O'Neill said: "As far as we're concerned he is not going anywhere."
If Giteau broke a contract to play in Bayonne, that club would be sanctioned by the French Rugby Union. If the matter was still not resolved the IRB could penalise the French governing body.
Ironically Bayonne says it may ask the IRB to help secure Giteau.
"If Matt accepts to sign for Bayonne, the club will help him and support him and push the International Rugby Union to have him selected for the Wallabies," Pierre Vandome, the Paris-based agent acting as the conduit between Bayonne and Giteau's management, said.
"It is only fair. If we want to develop the game everywhere, they (the ARU) have to accept someone like Matt playing overseas.
"Bayonne would be more than happy for Matt to play for the Wallabies. They will release him anywhere, anytime."