Storm??? England??? Newton to weigh up future

[Parra_Power]

England? Newton to weigh up future
Stathi Paxinos | July 21, 2007

AS IF a tight salary-cap squeeze was not enough of a hurdle for Melbourne Storm in its quest to find enough money to keep mid-season recruit Clint Newton at the club beyond this year, it now faces a new challenge, with the dynamic back-rower expected to weigh up the merits of a Super League offer within days.

Newton, 26, was recruited to Melbourne after walking out on Newcastle because of a rift with coach Brian Smith, but it was on the understanding that the Storm could not offer any guarantee beyond the rest of this season.

But Newton has impressed since his arrival and the Storm has made no secret of wanting to keep him. Newton hopes to receive an offer next week from the club, which has lost Matt King to Super League club Warrington after this season.

Newton said he "definitely" wanted to stay with the team that gave his career a lifeline but he also has had contact with an English club, which he would not name, and expected to receive an offer from it by the end of next week. He was linked to London Harlequins earlier this year.

"I'm hoping to have at least an offer from Melbourne in the next week or so and then by the end of next week, I should also have something concrete from England, so it will be down to those two," Newton said.

"If we can find a happy medium in what I'm wanting and what the club can afford, then I'd definitely choose Melbourne over England any day. I want to stay with Melbourne and continue to develop a relationship with the club and the fans down here, hopefully for the next couple of years.

"The positive thing from my perspective is the fact that the club has shown their hand in that they would like to sort something out for me, which definitely makes me feel a lot better in knowing that I've made somewhat of a good impression."

The table-topping Storm, after celebrating winger Steve Turner's 50th National Rugby League game with a 44-0 thumping of the Knights, will have another couple of milestones to celebrate tonight, with Ryan Hoffman and Dallas Johnson playing their 100th first-grade games against Canberra at Olympic Park.

"I'm really excited not only to have played it all for the one club but also to be able to share it with a good mate like Dallas," Hoffman said. "We like to make a big deal of milestones because that's the type of team that we are. We're very close-knit and obviously when it's a big occasion, we like to make it as special as possible."

Raiders captain Alan Tongue — who racks up tackles much in the mould of opposite number Johnson — is the sole remaining player from the most recent Raiders team to score a win over the Storm, in round 26, 2002. Since then, the Storm has won 10 encounters in a row.

"It has been a while … it is a really great challenge for us as a young side and as a side that's really been up and down on form this year, there's no bigger challenge than playing Melbourne here at home, especially being in the form that they're in," Tongue said. "It's been too long."

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