the race for Giteau's signature

[The TRUTH]

Who will get Giteau

Brumbies face a bidding war for Wallaby star


All four Australian Super 14 teams will make formal approaches to the Brumbies' Matt Giteau in Canberra on Tuesday for the gifted centre-cum-fly-half's services for 2007 onwards.

Matt Giteau: Next up for auction...

In what amounts to a bizarre auction, mediated by ARU official Shaun Berry, Giteau is expected to confirm that he has already decided his future does not lie in Canberra

Why Giteau would want to leave the Brumbies is unclear, although one source speculated he was simply "ready to spread his wings".

The news is a surprise to Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher, who has coached Giteau since he was a junior.

"Matty has given no indication of that," Fisher said to The Australian.

"Hopefully, he will see it is in his best interests to stay, especially in the lead-up to the World Cup next year.

"I'm not a Wallabies selector, but Stephen Larkham is highly likely to be the five-eighth at the World Cup, Stirling Mortlock is likely to be the 13 and George Gregan is a good chance to be the nine.

"You would assume playing with these guys on a regular basis would be more sound than playing inside and outside other blokes.

"I haven't spoken to him about his desire to stay or go. It's just heads down and on with the job. If we do that, there's got to be some implications for staying, I'd hope."

GIteau is seen at the Brumbies as the leader of the future generation, with George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Stirling Mortlock all set to retire after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

The Brumbies are anxious to keep Giteau, who is in the vanguard of the team's Generation Next.

After the World Cup, the Brumbies will almost certainly lose Gregan, Larkham and Mortlock, which means retaining Giteau would be even more vital to the team's future.

The Western Force have emerged as the most likely contenders for Giteau's signature because of the presence of friend Matt Henjak in Perth, after Henjak left the Brumbies last season.

But Giteau may prefer to go to the Waratahs, who look only to be short of one or two jigsaw pieces before they could be a championship-winning team.

There is no salary cap in Australian rugby union, although the ARU prefers the states not to pay above AU$110,000, the contract then topped-up by the national union.

Whether this particular unwritten rule is adhered to will be interesting to see, as the bidding frenzy begins!



Force are favorites :bana: ...... man i hope we sign him

 

[aussie1st]

Giteau should stay in the ACT. All of the players will be gone so he can spread his wings over here. The Force have too many 5/8, so to the Tahs and Reds. Inside center hes already that at the Brumbies. No point in leaving Gits stay with the best Australian club

 

[melon]

One thing is for sure. he wont go to the reds or force

 

[Dumbo]

The Force really needs him, desperately.
It's what they are lacking - maturity and class at 10.

Personally I'd be stocked to hear that he was heading to Perth but think that Mitchell may have already blown his budget and that the Brumbies (unless they are thinking of the good of Australian rugby Union) aren’t going to let him go without a sh&t fight.

Fingers crossed for the Force.

 

[woosaah]

if i was still an autograph hunter i would want his signature

 

[Dumbo]

Think the Force need it more...

 

[BigTen]

I wonder how much of this is driven by the money. Maybe Giteau just wants to drive his price up. At the moment with the Brumbies he is still a little fish compared to Larkham, Gregan et al and he might just be thinking that he would rather be a big fish at another club commanding big fish wages.

Also he is surrounded by Wallabies at the Brumbies and, like Fisher says, it is strange that he'd want to leave that environment.

 

[Dumbo]

Shame if it just comes down to bucks, the side of me that still believes that If I drink 12 beers and a bottle of red wine plus 4 wild turkeys that I'm not going to wake up feeling like sh&t thinks that it might be for a better cause, like for benefit of Australian Rugby.

All 4 Australian teams need to be competitive if the Super 14 is going to do well is Oz, players need competition for the Wallaby jersey, players need more time and experience in their relative positions.
Kinda like what’s happening in NZ.

And the Force really needs Giteau cause they are sh&t.

 

[The TRUTH]

It has nothing to do with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

He obviously has his heart set on becoming a flyhalf...... and Mitchell seems to think Mackay is best at inside centre and Pelesasa at 13, so Gitz is guaranteed a starting spot at 10.

Personally i think Fisher is right in saying that Larkham will be the Wallaby 10 and Mortlock will be the 13 so its best for the Wallabies if plays between them coz thats where he's most likely to get his WC starting posy.

Maybe he thinks if he has a blinder of a year at 10 he can take Larkhams starting position(very unlikely),

I'm sure that the Force ,with the most support in Australian rugby can afford him.......so why not get him?

 

[Dumbo]

Still go to remember the injury worries that through the Wallabies into the sh&t during the Northern Tour.
You need at least 4 quality 10's, all with match practise.

 

[BigTen]

the Truth:

"It has nothing to do with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.."

Are you sure? It always comes down to the dollars otherwise there wouldn't be this so-called bidding war.

Giteau would simply say that he wanted to play number 10 and was waiting for a team to guarantee that for him and his signature would follow.

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by Rugby's_a_Religion@Mar 8 2006, 10:52 AM
One thing is for sure. he wont go to the reds or force

I don't see why not. Eddie Jones is going to have a lot of pulling power for next year's season.

I hope he goes to the Force.