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Departing skipper Samu Kerevi insists Queensland Reds had every chance to keep him
Wallabies ace Samu Kerevi has hit back at suggestions he defected to Japanese club Suntory without giving the Queensland Reds and Rugby Australia a chance to keep him.
Peter Badel, The Sunday Mail (Qld)
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September 14, 2019
Wallabies ace Samu Kerevi insists he did not deceive the Reds and claims Queensland were given every chance to retain their skipper over a contract spat involving his departure to Japanese club Suntory.
Kerevi’s build-up to Australia’s World Cup campaign, starting this Saturday against Fiji, has been marred by murky claims and counterclaims over his decision in June to quit the Reds to sign a three-year, $3.6 million deal with Suntory.
The 25-year-old Reds captain will head to Japan after the World Cup in a blow to Queensland’s methodology of retaining homegrown products in the face of big-money raids from offshore outfits.
Samu Kerevi will join Japanese club Suntory on a rich three-year deal after the Rugby World Cup. Picture: Getty Images
Samu Kerevi will join Japanese club Suntory on a rich three-year deal after the Rugby World Cup. Picture: Getty Images
It was revealed last week that relations between the Queensland Rugby Union and Kerevi’s manager Anthony Picone had reached breaking point. It is understood the QRU has advised other Picone-managed Reds players that he will be excluded from future contract negotiations.
There is a sentiment within the walls of the QRU and Rugby Australia that Picone did not conduct a transparent negotiation and that they were never truly in the hunt to retain Kerevi for 2020.
There is also a belief that Picone, one of the code’s most powerful agents, had given Suntory a crucial headstart to poach Queensland’s most important player and one of Australian rugby’s brightest prospects.
But emails, obtained by The Sunday Mail, show Picone twice asked the Reds and RA for a contract offer last November – two months before Kerevi signed a letter of intent with Suntory in January.
“It’s a total fabrication to say RA and QRU didn’t get a chance to present their offer,” Picone said
Just six days out from Australia’s World Cup opener against Fiji in Sapporo, Kerevi hit back at suggestions he defected to Suntory without giving the Reds and RA a chance to keep him.
“The rumours about my deal that RA and the Reds didn’t get a chance to keep me is false,” he said. “I had always wanted to stay in Queensland and Australia.
“I made that clear from the start. The Reds and RA had plenty of time to keep me.
“I wanted to sort my future out with the time pressures that rugby has. It was a big call for me but in the end my family came first.”
Reds chiefs always faced an uphill battle to retain Kerevi. Under national contracting rules, the QRU could only offer a maximum of $400,000 annually, leaving RA, as the lead negotiator, to formalise a package that would keep the hulking centre on Brisbane soil.
Leaked emails show Picone made a formal proposal to the Reds and RA, as early as May 2018, asking for a five-year deal. Six months ago, RA tabled an offer starting at $850,000 and scaling up to $1 million in the fourth year of the proposed deal.
However, RA and the Reds privately felt it was a futile attempt because, in their eyes, Kerevi already had one foot on the plane to Japan.
In one email sent to Picone on February 18, Reds chief executive David Hanham moves to seek clarity on Kerevi’s future.
He writes in part: “It’s disappointing to hear from multiple sources that Samu will be departing the Queensland Reds. I understand we have not had a chance to present our collective offer so I find this very difficult to understand why an offer would be accepted without reviewing the formal offer from Queensland Rugby & Rugby Australia.”
But Picone attempted to source an offer from the Reds and RA three months earlier, making it clear to Hanham in a November 19 email that he wanted to ramp-up talks on a new deal for Kerevi.
“I will need RA and the Reds to clarify an offer for Sam for 2020 and beyond,” Picone writes in part. “As I have mentioned, I have been lobbying for a long-term deal for 18 months.
“I don’t think he (Kerevi) can do any more than he has over the term of his time at the Reds/Wallabies, hence it is over to you.”
Asked on Saturday to confirm Picone’s company Newstar Sports had sought an offer from the Reds for Kerevi, a QRU spokesman said: “Samu Kerevi is a wonderful player and we would have loved him to stay.
“In saying that, we believe the decision we have made on Newstar Sports is in the best interests of the QRU.”
Picone told The Sunday Mail he wondered why the Reds appeared to stall for two months, opening the door for Suntory.
“I had been trying to convince QRU of Samu’s value as a long-term, franchise player,”
Picone said. “Initially, we proposed a five-year deal for Samu which would have locked him in for two World Cups.
“It’s a simple case of non-buyer’s remorse, maybe key individuals at the Reds need to take ownership of their decisions.”
