When Matt Rogers decided the world should stop for him and he wanted to break his rugby union contract a year early, the Gold Coast Titans stepped forward and offered Rogers a one year contract the winger could take up ahead of his much more lucrative two year deal he had already signed with the club starting in 2008.
The Titans already rolled the dice on Rogers when they signed him to a contract that runs from 2008 through to 2010. A winger that is injury prone and far from youthful, I came out at the time and said it was a stupid decision by the Titans and a waste of their money.
Now that they have Rogers on a smaller deal for one year, what happens if they realize Rogers is a complete dud, and they STILL have a big, fat two year contract waiting for him starting 2008?
Not a real smart position to put the club in is it?
The last time a club signed a player that far ahead of time was when Wigan signed Jerry Seu Seu from the New Zealand Warriors.
Wigan signed Seu Seu close to 2 years before his Warriors contract expired. At the time they signed him he had just come through the other side of a good run of form.
By the time Seu Seu lined up for Wigan, his best form was well behind him and he was already a very poor signing.
So before a club thinks it should get in before everyone else and sign a player well ahead of time, maybe they should take a cold shower and realize that a lot can happen in a week in Rugby League. Imagine what can happen in 12 months.
