Australia great Tim Horan urges Digby Ioane to be a Wallaby great
By Jim Tucker
May 27, 2009 Australia great Tim Horan has urged Digby Ioane to chase his destiny as a 50-Test force for the Wallabies over the lure of the yen or he'd regret it for the rest of his life.
The anguished Ioane is backflipping by the hour on what is most important to him - his 2011 World Cup dream or setting up his family by taking a purported $1.1 million-a-season offer in Japan.
The Queensland back said he wanted to decide his future on Friday now Wallaby coach Robbie Deans is flying to Melbourne on Thursday for face-to-face talks.
Deans is the Reds' greatest hope for their star staying because Ioane so respects him.
"Digby has got a chance to play 50 Tests and the chance to prove to himself he can do it," Horan said.
"The rewards in going overseas will still be there at the end of that. It would be a huge shame to lose him."
Horan is speaking from experience when he talks of weighing up monetary reward with football ambition and leaving his mark on the game.
He was the pure amateur of 30-odd Tests who resisted a three-year, $300,000-a-season offer in 1994 to switch to rugby league with North Sydney.
Instead, Horan soared to a second World Cup triumph in 1999, Team of the Century status for the Wallabies and the rewards of professionalism.
Most players enter a meeting to make the biggest call of their careers with a player agent.
Ioane's mother Fia will be beside him when Deans visits the family's Melbourne home.
Ioane feels let down by the guaranteed amount of around $170,000 within his contract offer from the Australian Rugby Union.
The ARU is pitching the scope for him to earn more than $400,000-plus a season with $11,000-a-Test fees and other extras.
His recent shoulder surgery will cut Ioane out of potential earnings of $100,000 in Test match fees in 2009 so the young back is seeing the flaw in that structure.
"You get injured and you can't achieve those numbers. I want to know I'm secure and my family is secure with a bigger base amount," Ioane said.
"I change my mind all the time on what I'm going to do.
"I love playing for the Reds, I want to go to the next World Cup and I want to look after my family."
Deans holds the key.
"Robbie really believed in me last year. I respect what he has to say a lot," Ioane said.
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