Souths CEO Blake Solly admits Jye Gray has a ‘difficult decision’ to make about his NRL future, amid reports the gun fullback is being offered a lucrative deal to join breakaway rugby competition, R360. Gray is stuck behind Latrell Mitchell as the Rabbitohs’ first-choice fullback but if master coach Wayne Bennett was to shift the Bunnies livewire into the No.1 role moving forward, it might convince him to turn down the big bucks on offer from rugby.
Organisers of R360 informed player agents this week that the inaugural rugby competition would kick off in October next year. It’s understood funding has been secured for a further two editions of the competition, guaranteeing that it would run until at least 2028. Gray is among a number of high-profile league stars who’ve been linked with a switch to R360, along with Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen and Eels rep star, Zac Lomax. All three players are managed by former NRL player Clinton Schifcofske.
According to reports, Gray has been offered a three-year deal worth around $2.4 million to join the breakaway rugby competition. His current contract with the Bunnies runs until the end of next season, meaning he will hit the open market on November 1 unless a new deal is agreed before then.
The R360 offer is significantly more than Gray could currently command at Souths, whose salary cap situation is already quite tight. However, Solly insists the Rabbitohs would love to keep hold of their Players’ Player of the season, but admits the mega-money lure of a rugby switch leaves Gray with a massive decision.
“His development on and off the field over the last two seasons has been exceptional,” the Rabbitohs boss told News Corp about the 21-year-old. “We would love him to stay at the club long-term and continue that development to make a big contribution to our success. But we also understand that if the salaries being discussed in R360 are true, Jye faces a difficult decision.”
Souths move that could convince Jye Gray to remain in NRL
Bennett could help convince Gray to stay in the NRL with Souths if he handed him the No.1 jersey next season, and shifted Mitchell into the centres. It’s a notion that has been widely debated around the NRL world, off the back of Gray’s electric form at fullback and Mitchell’s history of missing games for Souths.
Mitchell only managed 11 games for Souths this season due to injuries, suspension and State of Origin commitments. And across his six seasons at the Bunnies, the superstar No.1 has only averaged 14 games a year. Gray has impressed in the No.1 role almost every time Latrell has been out, and was an early leader in this year’s Dally M Medal count after a superb start to the season.
Gray is a busier fullback than Mitchell and more effective in cover defence, despite not being as damaging in attack as his rep teammate. But Mitchell has proven at Origin level and in Tests for the Kangaroos that he’s a world class centre, and many good judges believe that’s his best position.
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League great Greg Alexander is one of them, and claimed recently that switching Latrell to centre could be the best way to keep him on the park more often. It could also be the best way to convince Gray that his future lies with the Rabbitohs.
“I think it’s worth Latrell playing in the centres to try and get more footy out of him,” Alexander said on SEN radio. “If in fact, it does get more footy out of him. Because he has been playing in the centres (yet still sidelined with injury).”
News Corp league reporter Michael Carayannis also said he ‘can’t see how Latrell wears the No.1 jersey at South Sydney next year’. He told SEN: “It’s two-fold… the form of Jye Gray, who’s become a must-pick in that starting side into the fact that Latrell’s body shows that he’s not up to the rigours of playing week-in, week-out NRL games at fullback.”
This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/souths-move-with-latrell-mitchell-that-could-stop-jye-gray-taking-24-million-offer-to-leave-033743836.html
