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I think we are meant to read this and think, "How terrible, the ARU are letting these players slip through their fingers" but all I can think is YES!!!!!!
Stalwarts may head overseas
By Peter Jenkins
February 15, 2007
New South Wales Waratahs risk losing two long-serving national players unless the Australian Rugby Union agrees to re-sign the pair beyond this season.
Centre Morgan Turinui and prop Al Baxter, boasting 62 Test caps and six years' experience at international level between them, have emerged as prime targets for overseas clubs, with both free agents at the end of the year.
While the spotlight has fallen on New South Wales teammate Lote Tuqiri and the ARU's bid to block the poaching intentions of NRL sides, Baxter and Turinui also face fast-approaching career decisions.
They confirmed last night that offshore options will be considered if stripped of their current elite contract status, where the ARU provides a significant top-up to Super 14 salaries.
A reduced deal to play only for the Waratahs, and the intimation that their Test prospects had slumped, would add appeal to the financial lures being dangled in Europe and possibly Japan.
There are signs that Baxter has already slipped from favour after being overlooked for a 47-man World Cup training camp in Canberra last month when selectors plumped for six props ahead of the tight head veteran.
Turinui, surprisingly set to be relegated to the reserves bench for the Waratahs' clash with the Cheetahs in Kimberley this Sunday morning (AEDT), was part of the opening World Cup preparations.
But competition in the centres has increased with the recruitment of Ryan Cross from rugby league.
"I've had a chat to a few people overseas," Turinui, 25, said. "If the ARU and NSW still wanted me and made a good offer, that would be enough for me (to stay).
"But you do have a finite period in sport and I have to take care of my family. I've got the mortgage to pay like everyone else. At the same time I still want to play for my country."
Baxter, an architect with Sydney firm Cox and Richardson, has a further issue to consider.
"Obviously it's wait and see to a certain extent at the moment," he said. "But not making that initial squad does tend to make you look overseas a bit.
"If I was to go overseas though, I've got to look at what fits with architecture as well."
Baxter's current employer has offices around the globe. "The Middle East is going gangbusters for them at the moment," he smiled. "But there's not too many rugby teams there."
Turinui also floated the idea that any potential offshore stint for him would not necessarily be long-term, pointing to the two-year deal All Blacks centre Aaron Mauger will take up in Britain after the World Cup.
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