Nick Markham | rugbyleaguelive.com | 12/05/08 | 0
Dragons have Peter Doust has confirmed that the club will be unable to stop marquee player Mark Gasnier from leaving the club if the Test and Origin star decides to take up a lucrative off with a French rugby union club.
The 26-year-old has a get-out clause providing him with a one-month window to explore other career options, and the Dragons admit they are powerless to stop him, despite the fact he's in just the second year of a five-season deal.
"Gaz is contracted until 2011, and I'll be doing the best I can to get him to fulfil that contract. In saying that, there is a clause in his contract which enables him to make decisions on a yearly basis about the subsequent terms of his contract, and that's there for a reason I'm not prepared to comment on," Doust told News Limited.
"Gaz and I have always got on well together and we'll always understand each other," he said. "I'm just happy to work through it with him, as he would want us to.
Gasnier, who has a French fiancee, conceded that he may in fact invoke the get-out clause, but was at pains to stress that he's not on the verge of leaving the club at this stage.
"I've explored options there, yeah," Gasnier told News Limited. "[But] don't put it as [though] I'm trying to get out of my contract. I've been confronted with a situation that I've had to react to, and I'm doing it in my best interests.
"I can only be vague, because I'm not one to pinpoint names, things, whatever it is, but it's definitely not ill feeling between the club and I, and I want the fans to know that, too," he said. "I love the club, and I'm fortunate enough to be captain, but unfortunately something's happened … and I've gone and looked."
According to Doust, it was "surprising news for me and for the club, but we'll make sure … that we explore it as appropriately and thoroughly on the club's behalf - we want him to be here and we want him to be a Dragons man, as he does as well".
The crisis could see incoming coach Wayne Bennett lose his star player and skipper before even taking the reins at his new club.
"I don't think it's fair on the club," Gasnier said. "I don't think it's fair on everyone."
In other Dragons news, Doust confirmed the club had pulled out of the race to lure former captain Trent Barrett back to his old stomping ground.
"We wanted to get some of these issues about where we're going with our roster [finalised] as soon as possible," Doust said. "He wasn't in a position to make a decision that suited what we were trying to do, so we've advised that we're moving on."
There is a clause in his contract which enables him to make decisions on a yearly basis about the subsequent terms of his contract
Peter Doust, Dragons chief
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