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Talk about a PR disaster. It’s hard to come off looking like the bad guy when you’ve just lost one of the best young players in the NRL. Yet somehow South Sydney managed to do this and a whole lot more.
The Bunnies’ reaction to Chris Sandow’s four-year-deal with Parramatta was nothing short of bizarre.
They released a statement in which South Sydney CEO Shane Richardson declared that Sandow had “met his Alan Bond.”
It was a reference to the late Kerry Packer’s deal in which he sold Channel 9 to Bond for $1 billion and then bought it back at a much lower price.
Sandow has scored the deal of a lifetime. The Eels wouldn’t confirm what their new recruit would be paid, but they certainly had plenty to spend. Do the Rabbitohs also feel they’ll be able to buy him back at a reduced price in the future?
Bunnies owner Russell Crowe then tweeted: “Chris Sandow to Parramatta at $550k a year.”
Since when do club owners reveal a player’s future salary in cyberspace? Crowe does have form in this area though. He famously went on the Jay Leno show in America to boast about the big bags of money they chucked at Greg Inglis.
That little statement almost ruined the deal, as the NRL investigated whether all aspects of Inglis’ contract complied with the salary cap.
Sympathy for Souths should’ve been everywhere you turned. Instead, it was non-existent.
Eels CEO Paul Osborne hinted that Sandow had felt unloved and that made it easier for Osborne to swoop. That was backed up by South Sydney winger Nathan Merritt revealing the Bunnies should’ve tried to secure the services of their star half-back sooner.
A few Brisbane Broncos fans also contacted me yesterday to say they felt karma had come back to bite the Bunnies, after they were seen to have stolen Inglis away from Brisbane.
It’s hard to understand why South Sydney felt so bitter. This is a part of modern day rugby league.
In the past, they’ve offered the likes of Dave Taylor and Roy Asotasi big money to move to Redfern.
Did the Eels do anything different?
At least Parramatta didn’t parade Sandow in front of the media, like South Sydney did when Craig Wing was still contracted to the Roosters in 2007.
Sandow has come out as the overwhelming winner. If the Eels are paying him $550k a season, as the Gladiator says, then that is ridiculous.
The little number 7 is good, but is he really worth more than half a million dollars a season?
Only time will tell.
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