Rohan Smith poured cold water on reports linking Leeds Rhinos with Luke Brooks. The Australian media has linked the Wests Tigers halfback with a move to Headingley for a number of weeks, despite currently earning $1 million a year.
However, Smith was quick to rule out any substance behind the reports as Brooks' future appears to be closing in on a resolution. It is now been reported the halfback has been offered a two-year deal to stay in the NRL.
"He's a good player," Smith said. "If he was here that would be good but to my knowledge, I don't know anything about that and I can go to sleep at night knowing I'm not telling you guys anything other than I know absolutely nothing about that."
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Attention then turned to retention, with six players still off-contract at the end of the year. Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, David Fusitu'a, Zane Tetevano, James Bentley and James Donaldson are all in the final months of their existing deals. Between them, they take up considerable salary cap space and four quota spots. Their departures would allow for considerable recruitment ahead of 2024. However, Smith insisted all seven could yet remain at the club.
"All players that are off-contract could potentially stay," he confirmed. "Some of those will be staying and will be announced in time. Some of those are works in progress that are ongoing negotiations. When there is one, we'll be getting it out there.
"I'm not going to make comment around whether they've had an offer or not. We're talking to and have spoken to all of those players and that's just a process that will take time in each individual case."
When pushed on whether the volume of players off-contract was a distraction, Smith replied: "It can be for an individual, for seasoned veterans who have been in the position multiple times during their career where they've been off-contract, so they're perhaps familiar with it.
"For younger players, it can be more of a challenge and it seems like in the UK a lot of young players sign quickly after May 1st as they want to get it done, but that's just an anecdotal feeling. It can be a distraction, no doubt, but that's the system rugby league has created for itself by doing business publicly in the middle of a season.
"It's a distraction to the fans, to those viewing the games because we're talking about 2024 when we're only halfway through 2023. I understand people are interested and it's newsworthy but it's a distraction from the present moment."
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