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Cordingley may motor off to Grenoble
Wayne Smith | April 28, 2008 Cordingley may motor off to Grenoble | The Australian
FOR want of a car, Queensland Reds halfback and captain Sam Cordingley might be on the road to France to play out the remainder of his career with his old second division club, Grenoble.
Cordingley this month indicated he intended to re-sign with the Reds for two more years and then hopefully move into a coaching career with the organisation. But within a day of that news breaking, the 32-year-old learned that a key component of his Queensland package, a car, had to be dropped.
"It was totally out of the Reds' control and I don't blame them for it, but I felt a vital part of the deal had fallen through," Cordingley said yesterday.
"At about the same time, Grenoble came back and said I could have a year-and-a-half contract or a two-and-a-half year contract, take my pick.
"The Reds are offering two years so, at my age, that extra six months playing in France is very attractive.
"As much as I'd like to stay with the Reds, I'd probably say I'm leaning towards heading off to France.
"Of course I'd love to continue playing Test football this year but I realise by signing with a French club it might have some impact on my chances."
Suddenly, the Reds' rebuilding program, which had been shaping up well, is looking decidedly light on for experience.
Fullback Chris Latham has, at best, only two games left with the Reds before he heads to Worcester, hooker Stephen Moore, who brought up his 50th cap in Queensland's 32-20 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday, has confirmed he too is leaving, though whether for Canberra or Perth remains unclear. Goalkicking winger Clinton Schifcofske will decide in the coming days whether to take the three-year deal on offer at Ulster.
Moore's decision to leave the Reds has produced a spectacular if short-term dividend.
Now that the weight of a decision has been lifted from his shoulders and he has spoken over the past week with incoming Brumbies coach Andy Friend and Force bosses John Mitchell and Greg Harris, the World Cup hooker has returned to top form.
He was at his rampaging best, smashing so regularly through the Chiefs that he was an automatic choice for the players' award.
"As much as you don't want it to distract you, when you've got to stand up and tell your team-mates you're leaving, that's something that weighs on your mind," Moore said.
Even a modest slice of luck would have seen the Reds win a pulsating match they dominated for lengthy periods and which ultimately hinged on a 14-point play, Sione Lauaki scoring from an intercept of a Quade Cooper pass just when it seemed Cooper or Morgan Turinui were try-bound at the other end.
They came away empty-handed after two controversial rulings from the television match official and a number of dubious ones from referee Craig Joubert.
The video referee was happy to give Chiefs winger Lelia Masaga the benefit of the doubt in awarding him his second try when it appeared he had gone into touch before placing the ball, yet denied the Reds the same latitude when captain James Horwill crashed over in a tumble of bodies.
The good news for the Reds is that winger Peter Hynes and halfback Ben Lucas both should recover quickly from ankle injuries. But so well did their replacements, Digby Ioane and Will Genia, play that it will be no disaster if they are forced out of Friday's match against the Blues at Suncorp Stadium. Of greater concern is a shoulder injury to blindside flanker John Roe.
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