Titans in the Kane game
Sezer’s shock departure reaffirms interest in half
THE Gold Coast Titans have moved to secure rookie playmaker Kane Elgey in the wake of five-eighth Aidan Sezer’s shock defection to Canberra.
The Raiders yesterday confirmed they had snared Sezer on a three-year deal believed to be worth $1.5 million.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart had convinced Sezer to head to the nation’s capital with the Titans tabling a $300,000-a-season contract at the eleventh hour to try to keep the classy pivot on the Gold Coast.
But the offer fell well short of Canberra’s and Sezer will wear the lime green from 2016, meaning the Titans are searching for a playmaker to partner Test star Daly Cherry-Evans.
That player could be local product Elgey who has made a promising start to his NRL career. Elgey’s management rejected a three-year contract extension from the Titans last week and the club has now tabled an improved two-year offer.
The Titans have also been linked to Eels pivot Corey Norman who may be squeezed out of Parramatta by the arrival of Kieran Foran.
Titans coach Neil Henry will get a first-hand look at Norman today and said the club was waiting to hear if Elgey would accept its revised offer. “We’ve got an offer in for Kane and we know that there’s other clubs interested in Kane as well,” he said.
“It’ll be a matter of whether he makes a decision to stay on the Gold Coast being a Gold Coast boy and given his opportunity to play first grade here this season. Hopefully we can come to a resolution that he stays on the coast.”
Sezer joined the Titans in 2012 and was thrust into first grade alongside former skipper Scott Prince.
He has shown a level head and great kicking game in his 58 NRL appearances but is yet to develop into the dominant half many had been expecting.
Sezer didn’t gather his teammates yesterday morning to deliver the news he was leaving but Henry said he wished him the best.
“We had an offer in for Aidan and he’s had another couple of clubs interested in him,” he said.
“We wish him all the best. He’s an exciting young player and we couldn’t come to terms with an offer that he was able to get. He’s been up front about it. We talked (on Thursday).
“He informed Nate (Myles) early in the piece that he’d made a decision to leave the club. He’s been showing a bit of leadership for Kane who’s only played a couple of games. I’d expect that education process to occur between the two.”
The arrival of Cherry-Evans wasn’t enough to convince Sezer to stay at the club but league legend Wally Lewis said partnering the Queensland star would be a great opportunity. “Daly’s already proven his worth as a player,” he said.
“He’s got experience at all levels. You’ll rarely get served poor possession when you’ve got someone as experienced as Daly inside you.
“If you’ve got somebody who’s going to create doubt in the mind of the defender on the inside wondering whether Daly’s going to run or not, that probably adds a little bit of spark to the man outside.”