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Luke McAlister has signed with North Harbour and will play for the Blues next year, ending speculation he may end up at the Hurricanes, who had made strong overtures.
Hurricanes chief executive Greg Peters was optimistic earlier last week that the franchise might snare the former All Blacks five-eighths, who is returning to New Zealand rugby after leaving in 2007.
But a watertight Sunday Star-Times source has confirmed that McAlister has already signed on the dotted line with his old union, meaning the Blues will get first call on his services.
Last week the Sunday News reported that incumbent All Blacks first five Dan Carter could himself shift to the Blues after he came off contract with Canterbury at the end of this year.
That is unlikely.
Although Carter commutes to Auckland on a regular basis to see his partner and tend to business interests, his Canterbury roots won't be easily severed.
Carter is a staunch advocate of his club at Southbridge, where his family live, and he's expected to renew his commitment to the Crusaders when he returns from Perpignan in June.
It's understood Carter may even make a rare appearance for his province during the Air New Zealand Cup as he makes his first tentative steps back from his Achilles tendon injury.
McAlister's other commitments make slim his own chances of appearing in the Air NZ Cup.
Although he is due back in the country about the same time as Carter, he has been pencilled in for the Junior All Blacks in June and then the Tri-Nations from July.
North Harbour, who already have Jimmy Gopperth on their books, have been playing their cards close to the chest in recent weeks. But they confirmed on Friday they would make an announcement on McAlister's future within a week.
Harbour is understood to have been waiting for the New Zealand Rugby Union board to decide his All Blacks eligibility status, which they did last week.
Now that Graham Henry has been given the green light to pick him, Harbour will get 75% of McAlister's contract reimbursed by the NZRU, which agreed late last year to compensate provincial unions who were unable to select their All Blacks.
In an oddity unique to New Zealand rugby, most of our top players are contracted by the the NZRU, and the provincial union they are associated with, even though most rarely play for their provinces.
That second contract has been a major drain on provinces' resources. But it does have one important function: in effect it dictates which Super rugby franchise each player is eligible for. Collectively, these contracts are worth millions of dollars.
Host Super rugby franchises use the provincial contracts to lock in players for the Super 14 Air New Zealand Cup availability is of lesser importance.
That's led to accusations of exploitation by unions who don't host Super rugby sides, and contributed to the parlous financial state some provincial unions are in.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/p...s-with-Harbour
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