To stay or not to stay...that is the question...

[Storm Spirit]

From the get go...I will declare my allegiance.

Cam is the second great love of my life...

While the football truism that no player is irreplaceable to a team....Cam comes to within .00000000000001% of debunking that theory.

Geez I hope the Club can convince him to stay with a decent financial package and whatever platitudes he needs.

I can't imagine Cammo playing for anyone else.......

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl ... 6719213574

[blazza18]

I'd love to see him stay and I think he will, but there is no way I want us to come close to matching $1 million to keep him. Not when he'll be 32 when his next contract begins.

[Bourbon Rat]

"bring him home"
Short memories right - THIS is the team that didn't think he was 'up to their standard'

GIVE ME A 'PUTAIN DE' BREAK Broncos

[Woody]

So they`ve just signed Barba and Kennedy and are still confident of getting Millford. They`ve had numerous resignings and let go of no-one whose salary is going to be astronomical but they reckon their in a position to offer Smithy $1 mill a year. Gotta love those Thoroughbreds

[blazza18]

They don't have anyone of big money really, maybe Hodges who comes off contract next season I think, same as Hannant. Barba will only be on $300k for the next 3 seasons. Kennedy about the same. Then the cap increases heaps plus all the 3rd party deals they can get. They had Lockyer on $250k for his last 5 seasons. If any team can do it its Brisbane.

[The Mauritian]

I can't blame Cameron if he leaves. Him and his missus been away from their folks for ten years. When your parents start getting on that's when you need to be close to them. Don't ask who would replace him. I'm not overly enthused about Griffin. Be hard to find someone with a long kicking game like cam. He is the best in the league at kicking to the corners. He has saved many a poor set with a great kick. If he does go we should have a bit if cash to throw at someone else. But in saying all that I hope he remains a one club man.

[Ice]

For what it's worth (nothing) i honestly can't see him leaving. While there's no doubt the Broncos offer will be superior I'm sure ours will still be a very good one and the lure of being a one club player will sway him to stay.

He's our captain, Queensland and Australian captain and no doubt a future immortal so there'll be media outlets and any number of other organizations tripping over themselves to sign him up on big money deals. His scope for future earnings in life after football will more than make up and then some any short fall he'd have in re-signing with us and over the Donkeys.

[stormy]

If they release players and throw that kind of money at Cam who will be on the team with him? I don`t want or think Captain Courageous will go.Craig Bellamy got the best out of Cammy,Billy,Coops,Hoffman etc etc. I think they will all finish their careers together cos they know each others game and it would be hard for him to settle for mediocre.

[Rose Madder]

So they`ve just signed Barba and Kennedy and are still confident of getting Millford. They`ve had numerous resignings and let go of no-one whose salary is going to be astronomical but they reckon their in a position to offer Smithy $1 mill a year. Gotta love those Thoroughbreds

yes and if we are to believe the reports that they are also chasing DCE..there won't be much left in the coffers for Smithy's $mill a year????

[stormy]

Has that ever stopped them before Rose.?

[mattystorm1987]

if Issac luke signs with broncos it helps our chances of keeping smith.

There are so many parts of the Issac Luke story you don't know. One of them is how he approached Michael Maguire earlier this season about this being his last at South Sydney.
''My wife's from Brissie,'' the hooker says. ''We love it up there. My missus started getting homesick. I asked what she wanted to do. She said, 'Eventually, I want to go back to Brisbane.' I said I would play out these years and see how we go.''
If his wife Mikayla - mother of his son Adaquix, 7, and Ava, 3 - wanted to leave, Luke would follow.
Luke, contracted until the end of 2015, approached Maguire, who has become fundamental to his emergence this season, to discuss the crossroads he was at.
''I pulled Madge in straight away,'' Luke said. ''He said, 'What do you want to do?' I said, 'I've got to work. I've got to put food on the table for my kids.' It was like Benny Barba. You can't leave your children. They're part of my life, my daily routine. I would sacrifice everything for them.''
Sitting in the grandstand at Redfern Oval on a spring afternoon, Luke's potential departure from Souths is merely one surprise of many during our interview.
Luke has appeared to want to maim his fellow players with cannonball tackles and tried to break the leg of his cousin Rangi Chase during an international between New Zealand and England. He has been stood down for breaking curfews, and can be so aloof with the media it borders on arrogance.
So here it is. All the stuff you didn't know about Issac Luke.
■ He borrows his guitars from Russell Crowe, and then plays Little River Band songs on them.
■ When Luke was 14 and growing up in Hawera - a bruiser of a town in New Zealand's North Island - he was the designated guitarist at his parents' parties, when everyone stood around and sang.
■ He did a school project on The Eagles and can play almost every song in their discography. ''Music is my home away from my footy. It's somewhere where I am really relaxed. If I'm not with my babies. My wife and kids. I don't really tell people I play. I haven't had a jam for a while. I've been focusing on my job - as a footballer and a father.''
■ He has a son named after Atticus Finch, the fictional lawyer in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird. ''Adaquix Jeremiah,'' Luke says, explaining the different spelling, which he doesn't really need to do because it's tattooed on his right arm.
Then he starts talking about Cameron Smith, who some believe hasn't been as influential for Melbourne Storm this year as Luke has been for South Sydney. ''I respect the man that much - as a player and a person,'' Luke says. ''The things he does in rugby league. The things he's done in the modern-day era.''
Ever said that to him? ''Nah. I'm too shy.''
He has outplayed Smith this season. Consider Luke's numbers and that of the Storm captain. He has run exactly 2100 metres - to Smith's 1571. He has made 76 tackle busts - to Smith's 35. He has made 237 runs - to Smith's 185.
He also has performed at key moments in big matches. In the qualifying final against the Storm in the opening match of the finals series, Rabittoh Sam Burgess went close to scoring, and Luke's nippy service out of dummy half sent Jeff Lima over.
Tell him that he has played better this season than Smith - the Kangaroos and Queensland hooker - and Luke won't have it.
''He's been a massive role model in my life,'' he says. ''I watch all of his videos. The things he does. His ability to control a game. Hopefully I will get there one day. Every time I come up against him - I reckon I've come up against him more than any other hooker, because of Tests against him - it's the ultimate test.''

http://m.theage.com.au/rugby-league/lea ... 2ugxv.html

[blazza18]

LOL @ the article saying he has outplayed Smith this season and then just give stats where Luke is clearly better than Smith. Amateurish stuff.

[mattystorm1987]

lol yeah i was thinking the same thing.. y is there no tackle and missed tackle stats lol cos he wouldn't even be close to smith..

[stormy]

I wouldn`t even put CAMMY who is the GREATEST HOOKER ever to have played the game





and i.luke in the same catergory.

[Storm Spirit]

I wouldn`t even put CAMMY who is the GREATEST HOOKER ever to have played the game





and i.luke in the same catergory.

or even the same sentence....apparently....