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THE Titans' big-money play for Michael Jennings looks to be over before it really began, with representatives of the star centre revealing they have no interest in meeting Gold Coast officials regarding a possible move.
Jennings's future at Penrith has been the source of constant speculation for much of the past 12 months with the latest raft of rumours reportedly tied into Panthers boss Phil Gould's desire to lure champion Cowboys halfback Johnathan Thurston to the foot of the Blue Mountains next season.
Complicating any move is the fact Jennings's manager, Isaac Moses, has had his NRL licence temporarily suspended, meaning Moses's cousin Stephen will oversee negotiations.
Moses is holidaying with his family on the Gold Coast, but contrary to reports in the media yesterday, insisted no one in Jennings's camp had met or planned to meet the Titans.
That news will come as a bitter blow to the Titans camp after they released centre Beau Champion to return to South Sydney just one season into his three-year contract with Gold Coast.
The Australian understands Jennings is committed to seeing out his deal with the Panthers and has no desire to leave the area in which he was born, raised and has played his entire career.
His position is being made difficult by an apparent feud with Gould - the Penrith supremo so keen to remove Jennings's multi-million-dollar contract from the Panthers' books that he advised the young flyer he did not have to return to training with the rest of the squad after the recent Christmas-New Year break.
With Jennings gone, the Panthers would be primed to tempt Thurston with a proverbial "Godfather offer" to relocate from his base in Townsville with North Queensland.
Cowboys football manager Peter Parr said the Cowboys were aware of Gould's interest in trying to lure Thurston south, but remained hopeful the champion halfback would recommit to the club.
"We are aware that Penrith have sounded out Johnathan - we have been aware of that for some time," Parr said.
"When a player of Johnathan's quality is coming off-contract, you would expect other clubs to express an interest and JT and his manager (Sam Ayoub) made it clear to us from the outset that with this deal they were keen to go through a process of seeing what was available on the open market.
"We are comfortable with that, it is every player's right to do that. JT has been really open and the discussions we have had to this point have been positive. Obviously no one here is getting ahead of themselves but we are quietly confident JT will stay."
Given Thurston turns 30 this year, the deal could well be the last for the North Queensland co-captain.
With that in mind, Parr said it was understandable the former Golden Boot winner would look to secure the best deal he could for his future.
Still, Parr said he was hopeful a decision would be made before the 2013 season kicks off.
"We have been really conscious of not putting too much pressure on him," Parr said.
"His manager has been away on a break, but he is back on deck next Monday and we are planning to speak to him and hopefully get things rolling.
"We aren't putting a timeframe on when a decision needs to be made but certainly you'd like to think we will have something settled before the start of the season."
THE Titans' big-money play for Michael Jennings looks to be over before it really began, with representatives of the star centre revealing they have no interest in meeting Gold Coast officials regarding a possible move.
Jennings's future at Penrith has been the source of constant speculation for much of the past 12 months with the latest raft of rumours reportedly tied into Panthers boss Phil Gould's desire to lure champion Cowboys halfback Johnathan Thurston to the foot of the Blue Mountains next season.
Complicating any move is the fact Jennings's manager, Isaac Moses, has had his NRL licence temporarily suspended, meaning Moses's cousin Stephen will oversee negotiations.
Moses is holidaying with his family on the Gold Coast, but contrary to reports in the media yesterday, insisted no one in Jennings's camp had met or planned to meet the Titans.
That news will come as a bitter blow to the Titans camp after they released centre Beau Champion to return to South Sydney just one season into his three-year contract with Gold Coast.
The Australian understands Jennings is committed to seeing out his deal with the Panthers and has no desire to leave the area in which he was born, raised and has played his entire career.
His position is being made difficult by an apparent feud with Gould - the Penrith supremo so keen to remove Jennings's multi-million-dollar contract from the Panthers' books that he advised the young flyer he did not have to return to training with the rest of the squad after the recent Christmas-New Year break.
With Jennings gone, the Panthers would be primed to tempt Thurston with a proverbial "Godfather offer" to relocate from his base in Townsville with North Queensland.
Cowboys football manager Peter Parr said the Cowboys were aware of Gould's interest in trying to lure Thurston south, but remained hopeful the champion halfback would recommit to the club.
"We are aware that Penrith have sounded out Johnathan - we have been aware of that for some time," Parr said.
"When a player of Johnathan's quality is coming off-contract, you would expect other clubs to express an interest and JT and his manager (Sam Ayoub) made it clear to us from the outset that with this deal they were keen to go through a process of seeing what was available on the open market.
"We are comfortable with that, it is every player's right to do that. JT has been really open and the discussions we have had to this point have been positive. Obviously no one here is getting ahead of themselves but we are quietly confident JT will stay."
Given Thurston turns 30 this year, the deal could well be the last for the North Queensland co-captain.
With that in mind, Parr said it was understandable the former Golden Boot winner would look to secure the best deal he could for his future.
Still, Parr said he was hopeful a decision would be made before the 2013 season kicks off.
"We have been really conscious of not putting too much pressure on him," Parr said.
"His manager has been away on a break, but he is back on deck next Monday and we are planning to speak to him and hopefully get things rolling.
"We aren't putting a timeframe on when a decision needs to be made but certainly you'd like to think we will have something settled before the start of the season."
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