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Brad Arthur must surely be the only person among those whose opinion Kieran Foran seeks and respects that is telling the star player he should still go to Parramatta.
Surely anyone else Foran is asking is telling him he should run a hundred miles from the joint and then look behind to make sure the club isn’t still chasing him before he stops.
As far as rugby league farces goes, it’s a high-ranking one even in the sport that just keeps on giving – and the incredible thing is that it’s still dragging on.
There are obvious difficulties clubs would face in trying to make space under the salary cap for a big-budget player who unexpectedly becomes unavailable after they have done the vast majority of their bidding for the following season.
But the motivation to succeed in the NRL is so strong there is always something, somewhere, that can be done to make room when the prize is this good.
So the fact Foran still hasn’t announced a decision on his future must have more to do with his not wanting to let Eels coach Arthur down than anything else.
Foran is clearly a highly-principled individual who doesn’t want to appear as if he is reneging on a deal, but he
doesn’t owe Parramatta anything.
The club has stuffed him around in a display of mismanagement that has been extraordinary, even for a code that has produced some incredible examples of it in its long and fascinating history.
Even for a club that has produced some incredible examples of it on its own in recent years!
If Parramatta do manage to convince Foran to join them next season, they should thank their lucky stars.
If they don’t, they should admit they stuffed up beyond the degree that has traditionally been acceptable in rugby league and heads should roll at the club.
Heads should roll anyway, but either way they probably won’t. That’s another key element of the greatest game of all, the sheer determination – and ability – of people to survive in positions of power and influence, no matter what.
If and when the nuclear bomb finally drops, the two things that will crawl out from underneath the rubble are cockroaches and rugby league.
Speaking of cockroaches, the developments at Cronulla regarding NSW captain Paul Gallen mean that Foran isn’t the only player on the radar now when it comes to interesting contract deal machinations.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan comes out and says in a podcast that Gallen won’t be playing State of Origin again after this year and Sharks chief executive Lyall Gorman reacts by saying there is no such understanding and that Flanagan was talking about what he would prefer “in a perfect world”.
Then Gallen comes out and says: “They are his (Flanagan’s) wishes, they are probably the club’s wishes, but at the end of the day it’s my decision and it will be left up to me.
“It’s not part of my contract negotiations, it’s never been spoken about and to be honest it’s not a big issue for me. It’s not true.”
Gallen says he was “disappointed and upset” by Flanagan’s comments and that “if it’s going to be announced and it’s true, it should be announced by me”.
The cynic in me can’t help thinking that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I’ll believe only what happens in the wake of Origin III, whatever that may turn out to be. Particularly if the Blues win.
All of this is very interesting, as is the hand injury suffered by NSW hooker Robbie Farah playing for Wests Tigers against Penrith on Sunday.
Could he play in the series decider with a hand that may be broken, on top of a bung shoulder?
Queensland have already got their Origin injury story, with star halfback Cooper Cronk looking to make a triumphant return from a knee injury for that match.
It wouldn’t be fair if NSW didn’t have one as well.
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