Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan has chosen not to deny reports the club is chasing off-contract St George Illawarra star Josh Dugan.
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The Seven Network reported on Wednesday night that the Sharks were prepared to offer Dugan similar money to what Jack Bird rejected to join Brisbane last month – believed to be close to $1 million a season.
Dugan and Dragons coach Paul McGregor believe the 27-year-old’s best position is fullback but St George Illawarra have reportedly tabled him an offer to play centre, a role which typically would pay less.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Flanagan chose not to confirm or deny the speculation.
“As a common practice we don’t talk about recruitment. Obviously we’ll talk about retention [of] our current players [and] where they’re at. But external recruitment is not something we go and talk about,” he said.
“I don’t know what Josh is doing so I can’t speculate on that.
“He’s an Australian centre, a Test centre at the moment so he’s a quality player. We’ve always said we’re after quality players at our club.”
Dugan is sidelined with a fractured cheekbone suffered during the Anzac Test last Friday night. He is expected to miss three weeks but could be fit for Origin I.
It is an interesting sideshow to Friday night’s clash, with the Dragons welcoming their fierce local rivals Cronulla to Kogarah for their second derby of the season.
Any potential offer from Cronulla would not be for Dugan to play fullback, with Flanagan adamant Valentine Holmes will be the Sharks’ No.1 for the next decade.
That fact was another reason why Flanagan said the club would not be pursuing premiership-winning fullback Ben Barba to return to the club. Reports that Barba is to be released from his French rugby union contract with Toulon saw speculation Barba could return to the shire.
“I’d say it’d be long odds. Benny made two bad decisions. He was a fantastic player for us and it was an outstanding contribution to what he did winning the grand final for us last year,” Flanagan said.
“But he’s made a decision. We were going to keep him here this year and he decided to go to France. I think as a club we’ve probably moved on.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone but… we’ve probably moved on.
“Val’s doing an outstanding job. We think Val’s going to be our fullback for the next 10 years.”
