NSW Origin forward Hudson Young has arrived in Port Moresby as the Chiefs continue their aggressive recruitment drive, desperate to lock up the injured Raider as their signing #008.
Young, who is recovering from a season-ending Achilles injury, arrived on Wednesday in Port Moresby, where he was greeted by Chiefs coach Willie Peters, chief executive Lorna McPherson and general manager of football Michael Chammas.
Young made the trip with his manager Sam Ayoub in a clear sign they are ready to do business.
Itโs a tour that almost didnโt go ahead after the NRL initially set Youngโs market value at $1.1 million, to match the amount Canberra was prepared to pay him. That figure was reset to $1 million before being re-evaluated again after the Raiders pulled the deal.
The Chiefs were never going to budge from their $900,000 per season offer, an amount which is now palatable to head office and Young himself given there are not any higher offers on the table.
That was as high as the Chiefs were prepared to go after factoring in Youngโs age (28), the serious Achilles injury he is recovering from and the other back-row options on the open market.
Young is no stranger to PNG, having toured previously with the Prime Ministerโs XIII side. However, this trip will be an opportunity to look at the working and living arrangements for Chiefs players before deciding whether the lifestyle suits him.
While Young remains under contract to Canberra until the end of next season, relations between the parties have soured. The Raiders felt they had no option but to pull their offer โ the highest the club has ever tabled to a player โ after he continued to vacillate even after a fifth season was proposed.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart, when asked if the Green Machine was prepared to release Young immediately, told The Canberra Times: โThatโs up to Hudson and his management to ask for that, but Iโd definitely look at it.โ
Whether another club could accommodate Young for a bridging year, before the Chiefsโ inaugural season in 2028, is unclear. Young said in September that the only clubs he would consider playing for were Canberra or PNG, although the landscape has shifted significantly since then.
โItโs one of those things, itโs a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,โ Young said at the time about the prospect of joining the Chiefs.
โI just want to make sure that Iโm comfortable with the decision I make, and thatโs the reason why Iโm going over there, just to suss it all out โฆ
โItโs one of those things, I just want to see it for myself first. Thereโs been a lot of media around it and certain players going over there and saying certain things, so I just want to go over there and make the decision myself on what I feel.โ
Now that they have entered their first free-agency period, the Chiefs are focusing on landing a halfback and assembling a strong forward pack.
The incoming franchise has tabled an offer of up to $3 million over four years for Gold Coast forward Cooper Bai, although he is reportedly leaning towards joining Melbourne. The Storm thought they had their man when Bai was last off contract, only for the 19-year-old to backflip and stay at the Titans during the 10-day cooling-off period.
Should he sign with Melbourne, Bai will follow in the footsteps of his father, premiership-winning Storm winger Marcus Bai in playing for the men in purple.
PNG have signed only one forward to date, English prop Matty Lees, but have secured utility Connor Watson and backline stars Joey Manu, Jarome Luai, Alex Johnston, Zac Lomax and Brian Toโo before hitting free agency.
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