With Tyrone Peachey’s management laying planks for a backflip, it’s time for the Gold Coast Titans to ratify policy and allow all recruits to renege ad infitum.
Peachey’s imminent betrayal isn’t a signal for the friendless club to just give up and move on to different cattle – like actual cattle – it is an opportunity to legislate its reputation as a bargaining chip.
Not only could an unlimited cooling-off period save revenue wasted on token legal threats, it could be the catalyst to finally attract much-craved talent.
The club could begin by making the bold move of replacing its recruitment unit with a committee of industry specialists headed by Sam Ayoub and Gavin Orr, bringing it in to line with reality.
Reform should also acknowledge the definition of ‘compassionate grounds’ for players to include unforeseen circumstances such as regret or building a house.
Additionally, Titans administrators should be authorised under club charter to continue doing whatever suits Penrith.
Whispers of Peachey reneging once again brings in to focus the issue of player recruiting, and whether Gold Coast should bother doing so.
Tyrone Peachey. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Via his manager’s delicate negotiation technique of making crude public accusations against the club, the Blues utility looks set to backflip on the template contract he signed earlier this year, which ties him to the Titans on a deal for three years with an option for none.
Gold Coast bosses responded by threatening Peachey with the prospect of sitting out for three seasons, much in the same manner Bryce Cartwright did this year in the defensive line.
However, he appears ready to follow through with his threat, snapping a long streak of successful recruiting for the Gold Coast stretching all the way back to 2015.
It was here that Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans signed a multi-million dollar agreement with the Glitter Strip organisation, but took advantage of the club’s wafer-like resolve by urgently recalling himself like a needled strawberry.
The incident lead to radical amendments to the NRL’s Round 13 transfer rule, with the changes stipulating that no stakeholder was ever allowed to like Cherry-Evans again.
Such lack of appeal for the Gold Coast has long plagued the NRL, with league administrators forever concerned by the region’s high number of shonky plastic surgeons and hustlers, and why footballers don’t find this alluring.
This is why the club must consider radical options like one-way unlimited backflipping rights, or simply adopting the methods of more successful organisations.
They could do worse than mirror the Melbourne Storm, who have recently re-signed Cameron Smith under the breeziest of negotiations.
Reports are the skipper has agreed to the club’s terms ‘In Principle’, which isn’t legal speak, but the name of his new boat.
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