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Brumbies to "actively" pursue Giteau
By Peter Fitzgerald (Rugby union)
Giteaumay yetreturnto ACT - Sport - Rugby Union - The Canberra Times
Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan confirmed yesterday he would actively pursue Giteau's signature in 12 months. Giteau left the ACT under acrimonious circumstances at the end of 2006 to join the Force on a three-year deal.
The Perth-based franchise has since been investigated and cleared of using illegal tactics to persuade Giteau west for a reported $1.5million a season, a figure made up largely of third-party endorsements.
While Giteau's initial departure from Canberra remains a sore point for the Brumbies, Fagan hoped the possible return of the 25-year-old would heal some aching wounds.
"He's a Canberra product, a Brumbies product developed through our system and we'd love to see him back here one day," Fagan said. "There's a lot of time to pass between now and this time next year but I think Matt was never unhappy here, it was just a whole bunch of circumstances that led to him signing with the Force.
"In a year's time we'd be in a position to put a pretty compelling argument together to get him back here. I can almost definitely say we'll be putting our hand up and putting a good argument forward."
Acting Western Force chief executive Mitch Hardy struggled to hide his frustration yesterday after Giteau declined to commit to the Perth-based franchise post 2009.
"I am a little disappointed that we could not secure his services until 2011," Hardy said. "There is no reason why he should not stay with us going forward, but he has got the option to have a look around for the 2010-11 seasons."
Giteau is likely to attract the attention of all four Australian Super rugby clubs when the Western Force-aspect of his contract expires next year.
The Wallabies back is the highest paid player in Australian rugby.
The main reason he left Canberra in the first place was the lure of the lucrative third-party payments, which the Brumbies were unable to match. Fagan said it was "too early to comment" if the Brumbies would again struggle to attract adequate corporate dollars to lure Giteau back to Canberra in 2010.
But he did speak with confidence of the ACT's chances of re-signing the former Queanbeyan junior.
"Ultimately, players love playing in front of their home crowd, love living close to their family and friends and that's usually the way they start their career and quite often it's the way they finish their career as well," Fagan said.
"We think this could track a similar course."
Giteau, who made his Super rugby debut for the Brumbies in 2000, indicated he was happy at the Force but wanted to keep his future options open. "I'm still at a relatively young age and feel my best rugby is still ahead of me," he said.
"A lot of players have those options in their contract, they just don't choose to take them up ... and it is a little further down the track than I wanted to think.
"I just wanted to commit to Australian rugby. So it's really exciting to secure my future at a time when a few of the long-serving guys like George Gregan and Stephen Larkham have gone and so many new players are coming through."
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