Captain Kurt

Newcastle Herald

Friday February 8, 2008

ROBERT DILLON RUGBY LEAGUE

THE Newcastle Knights hope to

have Test star Kurt Gidley re-signed

before the start of the season after

tempting him with a lucrative longterm

deal and the likelihood of the

club captaincy.

Gidley's agent, Darryl Mather,

met with Knights football manager

Warren Smiles and chief executive

Steve Burraston yesterday to

discuss the 25-year-old's future.

Gidley has a contractual option

in his favour that effectively makes

him a free agent at season's end.

Since Gidley signed his most

recent deal with the Knights, in

June 2006, he has graduated to

NSW Origin and Test honours and

can expect a significant upgrade on

his next contract.

It is understood he will earn at

least $350,000 a year if he re-signs

with the Knights, who are keen to

tie him up for three or four seasons

after this one.

A further sweetener will be the

probable honour of succeeding

Danny Buderus as club skipper

when the champion hooker opts to

part company with the club, either

at the end of this season or after

2009.

Knights coach Brian Smith said

last night that Gidley was 'the ideal

candidate' for the captaincy in

coming seasons.

'He showed last year that he won

games for us with his on-field drive,

and he was able to play at a high

level regardless of how the team

was performing,' Smith said.

'Those are the sort of inspirational

people you want in charge. He's

the right age for it because he

relates well to the younger guys

in the club, but he's got a lot of

experience for someone his age.

'He's played Origin, he's played

for Australia and he loves the club.

He seems like the ideal candidate

to me.'

Continued Page 70

Captaincy sweetener for Gidley's signature

From Page 72

Gidley was waiting to hear from Mather last night but admitted the possibility of captaining the Knights in the future was appealing.

"Obviously it would be a great honour, from my point of view, when you think about the people who have represented the Knights as captain previously," Gidley said.

"That would be a pretty big deal, obviously. But I guess that sort of stuff comes after you re-sign."

Gidley said it was "a bit of an each-way bet" whether to re-sign promptly or bide his time and see if his market value increased.

Clubs such as South Sydney have already expressed interest in the versatile utility, and there is little doubt he would be hot property on the open market.

There is also a possibility Newcastle will have more room to move under their salary cap later in the year if Buderus announces he is heading to England after this season.

Gidley has stated that he would prefer to stay in Newcastle but would not sell himself short, describing his next contract as the "most important" of his career.

"I'm not getting any younger I'll be 26 this year so I'll probably be looking for a deal for three or four years," he said.

Smiles said that yesterday's negotiations "moved everything along to another stage" and was hopeful of securing Gidley to a "lengthy" contract in the near future.

"I think Kurt is looking to stay in Newcastle if he can, and we're trying to get a deal sorted so that he's got some certainty and stability in his life," Smiles said.

"From our point of view, he's a valuable player and we'd certainly like to see him stay.

"The ideal situation would be to have it sorted out before the actual season kicks off."

"Those are the sort of inspirational people you want in charge." - BRIAN SMITH

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home