GIANTS officials are still waiting to announce that Aussie Test player Luke O’Donnell is on his way – but reports from down under suggest it is a done deal.
The 29-year-old back row forward’s manager Wayne Beavis has yet to confirm the deal for the North Queensland Cowboy, but the player himself seems sure he will be at the Galpharm for the 2011 season to start a four-year contract.
The Sydney press are reporting that O’Donnell has secured a $1.8m deal with Huddersfield, that’s around £1m, with the player saying his repeated brushes with the NRL judiciary had been a factor in his decision to leave the Cowboys.
In what appeared to be a parting shot at the Australian code’s lawmakers, O’Donnell was reported as saying his passion for rugby league in Australia had been eroded by the number of bans that had made him the most suspended player in NRL history.
Since 2000, O’Donnell has been suspended 10 times for a total of 29 weeks, with his latest suspension being a three-match ban for a dangerous throw on Queensland winger Darius Boyd while playing for New South Wales in the second State of Origin game this season.
The Cowboys are believed to have wanted to retain O’Donnell, but their three-year $660,000 deal has been dwarfed by the Giants’ reported offer, which is said to be worth around £250,000 a year by the press Down Under.
O’Donnell was also reported in Sydney as saying he wanted a fresh start after a decade of run-ins with the NRL and said: “That definitely adds to me wanting to leave. I didn’t enjoy my footy at times because of all the suspensions and it was really disappointing considering I work so hard and then, come game time, you feel like you have a target on your head.
“It (his disciplinary record) crossed my mind when my options started to come up.
“When England came up, the problems I’ve had with the judiciary made it easier for me to go.”
Cowboys boss Peter Parr said he hoped O’Donnell’s poor record would not taint memories of his successful seven-season stint in Townsville.
