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Newcastle have told skipper Danny Buderus he is free to leave the club on the same day they used the captaincy carrot to retain young star Kurt Gidley for a further three years.
Gidley today re-signed with the Knights until the end of 2011, with an option for a fourth season, while giving Buderus permission to negotiate ending his career elsewhere.
Knights chief executive Steve Burraston insists the NSW and Test hooker is still wanted at the club and could be retained under the salary cap, but won’t stand in the 30-year-old’s way if he requests a release next year to finish his career in the Super League.
“Danny’s been such a loyal and great player for this club for so many years, the decision very much lies in his hands,” said Burraston.
“We will work with him either way, if he wants to stay, we will then work with the salary cap.
“If his decision is to go and finish in England, we wouldn’t stand in his road either.”
The re-signing of Test utility Gidley today has gone some way towards preparing for life after Buderus, the 25-year-old resisting rival NRL club approaches with the lure of future captaincy.
Gidley also said he wanted to emulate his older brother Matthew’s loyalty towards their home town team.
“It would always be hard to leave a club like this but I think to be a one-team man is something pretty special,” Gidley said.
“I think Matt being a one-club man was something that also had a big influence on it, I love Newcastle as a town and also the team so I’m very happy with the decision.
“This year is an important year for myself, I don’t want to sit back and live in the past.
“I’m ready to get away to a flying start this weekend.”
Gidley’s commitment to the Knights is a vote of confidence for coach Brian Smith, who spent the latter half of 2007 defending himself after a revolt for his player cleanout.
Buderus spoke out against his coach last season, and while they’ve since buried the hatchet, there is little doubt the NSW skipper will finish his career elsewhere.
But despite the ongoing speculation over Buderus’s future, Smith said the re-signing of young guns Gidley, Jarrod Mullen and James McManus proved Newcastle were united in 2008.
“I think (Gidley re-signing) is sending a message that he’s got some confidence about the place,” said Smith.
“There’s a real stability about our place from some of our younger players.
“Kurt had a bit of a chat and asked the question of me and certainly my feeling is that he’s got captaincy written all over him as far as what we look for at this club.
“It’s not in the short term with Danny and Simmo (Steve Simpson) both there, but further down the track I would think that Kurt and captaincy would sit very closely together and work really well for him and the team.”
Meanwhile the Bulldogs today tabled a three-year deal for off-contract North Queensland prop Carl Webb to help bolster the club’s depleted forward pack for next season.
Webb and Melbourne centre Israel Folau are the Dogs’ top two targets for 2008, with the Storm teenager expected to announce his decision in the coming days.
Folau has been offered a four-year deal at the Bulldogs, but is more likely to remain in Melbourne or possibly return to Brisbane.
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