Chiefs in box seat to sign Young as Raiders pull offer
Joel Gould |
Canberra have sensationally pulled their offer to star back-rower Hudson Young, with the PNG Chiefs now in prime position to secure the NSW star’s signature.
The Raiders issued a statement on Monday confirming they had “withdrawn their latest contract offer to Hudson Young” after putting a four-year $4.4 million deal to him.
The Chiefs, who initially came in with a $900,000 per season lure, are now ready to pounce and add forward punch to their already star-studded backline for the club’s 2028 entry to the NRL.
Young, recovering from an Achilles rupture, won’t be at the Raiders beyond 2027.
“The club’s offer to Hudson and his management was intended to keep him at the Raiders for the rest of his career, as an integral part of the club and a potential future leader,” the Raiders said.
“The offer that was made was the largest in club history. As a club, we believe we have done all we can to keep Hudson in Canberra.
“However, negotiations have been ongoing since June, and the club needed an answer before the end of October so they could plan for the future.”
Young, 28, made his NRL debut with the Raiders in 2019 and has played 155 games for them, while representing Australia in six Tests and playing nine State of Origin matches for NSW.
How much the Chiefs will have to pay to secure Young is still up for discussion.
The NRL initially established Young’s market value at $1.1 million in the wake of PNG Chiefs making him an offer of $900,000.
That tax-free package would have meant he’d take home far more in his pay packet than the Raiders’ offer of $200,000 more per season.
The salary cap auditor revised Young’s value to $1 million, still higher than the Chiefs were prepared to go.
However ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has since told Nine Newspapers that players can seek to challenge their “official” market value and make their own submissions to the salary cap auditor.
“Let’s say a player wanted to be with his family or there are other specific reasons. We just don’t want the salary cap rorted. However, we know that at times there are exceptional circumstances, so we take those exceptional circumstances into account,” V’landys said.
“We won’t have a situation where people manipulate the salary cap. The unfortunate thing is with the tax-free status of PNG, we have to be extra cautious with the market value of the players there.”
AAP