That is indeed the received wisdom. Though, as has been pointed out earlier in the piece, the idea of us wanting £200K is (to the best of [imy[/i knowledge) just paper talk and we're probably unlikely to get that. There are two distinct choices; either negotiate the best deal we can and be happy, or go to court. I can't imagine for a second the club [iwant[/i to go to court because a) it's expensive (on legal representation alone) and b) there is no certainty of outcome, and in a worst case scenario we might finish up with less than nothing (ie losing the case). I can't think for one second the club would go to court over a principle, tempting as it might be, and I'd guess on a more pragmatic approach.

Obviously the club want compensating as it has been publicly stated from the start and will probably need it should they attempt to sign a standoff currently under contract. My point is that I think we've lost some of our bargaining power by signing Herbert. I appreciate that the Bulls couldn't sit around waiting forever but it hasn't helped our case regarding compo. Before the signing there were two possible outcomes. Either we get a decent payout or Orford comes back to play as we needed him. Now Orford can't come back as our quota is full and I'm guessing that some of his wage will have gone elsewhere. Mimis and the Aussie clubs will be well aware of this and I'm sure will use it to their advantage.

Yep thats the rumour I was implying, I'm still far from convinced that deal will happen, even if we did get some decent compo....hope I'm wrong.

You're right it hasn't helped in the case against Orford. But I suspect the pragmatic approach was that whatever the outcome the club have decided, at least privately, that Orford will not be playing for us again either through his choosing or ours.

So we need a new half, any deal for Leon is still a pipedream, so we had to go for Herbert when we did if he was Potters choice of the halves currently available (which is not many). Other clubs were in for Herbert and if we had held off as a tool for upping the compo we might have been left with no new 7, herbert playing for hull, no orford and still no compo and pondering legal action.

At least now, even if Orford walks away for nothing and we don't get Leon we do have a genuine 7 who wants to be here. (for now at least!) I really don't see what else the club could have done with the situation Orford has left us with. Sooner its wrapped up the better now.

Yup, looks like Orford holding out til the last minute may have paid off for him and we simply had to move for Herbert before we ran out of options.

but there was nothing to stop us signing Herbert but then not annnouncing him until after Orford deal was sorted. Fact that we did announce Herbert suggests to me that club dont feel it affects Orford negotiations significantly. Worst case if we gone down route of not announcing Herbert would have been Orford coming back, and us having to pay Herbert for a year to do nothing without registering him as a player, Which I see as a ridiculously unlikely scenario tbh.

can't we not pay him and hold on to his registration? Thay way he won't play RL until something gets resolved.

I'd have thought once we stop paying him then we're in breach of contract. as long as he's technically injured we have to be very careful how we treat him.

He asked to be excused from reporting back for training 1/11.

That means HE is not performing the requirements of his contract now, so I am sure the club would be quite entitled not to pay him?

There's no way Orford or his manager would allow the player to remain clubless. Not a chance. If an Aussie club won't pay for him I recon its nailed on that they'd take it to court and demand that the Bulls honour his contract at least. Obviously this would stuff us right up after our new signing, so the Bulls would probably have to release him.

The latest statement from Mimis regarding his belief that the Bulls aren't entitled to compo suggests this is exactly what's going to happen. I'm not expecting a bean of compensation out of this (maybe costs).

Indeed. And I'm sure when he asked to be excused, the club would have said something along the lines of "Ok, but you accept that you won't be paid for that period?". I wouldn't think the club would just say "Yeah don't worry about it, we'll keep paying you large wages to sit at home."

Well, yes I suppose, but there is nothing to say Herbert wouldn't announce it (on twitter?) or tell friends, which all would mean the story would have been in the public domain pretty quickly. With the best will in the world it would be difficult to wind up your life in Aus and move over here without various others having to be in the know.

The clubs he turned down for a start.

As I understand it the Bulls have clarified with the RFL that they do not have to pay him and can retain his registration. That this process would seem to be ongoing and meeting with the club's hopes for compensation is supported by their willingness to allow Orford dispensation to remain in Australia rather than going down the 'breach of contract' route.

Were the NRL to allow any club to register Orford while he was contracted to us would set a precedent as far as the validity of contracts, the consequences of which would shake the foundations of the game. It would mean any player could simply leave Super league and get a contract in the NRL should a better opportunity arise.

I think it's a case of sitting tight. For all we know Parra and Canberra have agreed to the amount demanded by the Bulls and it's up to Orford to decide where he wants to play. Caving in is simply not an option.

...is the right answer.

Could not agree more.

Caving sets a very dangerous precedent to all other players which we just can't do. Otherwise you're pretty much inviting all other players to just leave when they don't want to play here anymore, regardless of what contract they're under.

That's fair enough but what happens if nobody wants to pay compo and Orford says that its all been blown out of proportion and he really wants to play for the Bulls?

then he's blatantly a liar! the bulls hold his registration to play RL and if anyone wants it then they must stump up.

I assume we're allowed to hold his registration for the next 2 years?

As long as he kept quiet i guess he had that option. But since officially asked for a release , he burnt his bridges imo, and no longer has that option.

And he blinked first.

im going to batter orford for this

You will have to get past his mummy first.

I doubt you could batter a fish.

Dead right. I understand that the so called severity of his shoulder injury that he insisted could only be rectified in Oz is now in question and that the "remedial" operation he had there was minor, and one that could have been done easily at the Bulls expense in the UK.

[url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/qantas-drama-grounds-stars/story-e6freye0-1225950500178Mimis grounded[/url

[i"SFX hotshot George Mimis has spent the past two days stuck in Los Angeles and was last night desperately sweating on a return flight. Several clubs are keenly waiting for Mimis to return, none more so than the Eels, who want to know if they have nabbed Mimis's client Matt Orford."[/i

Complete this phrase;

George Mimis is a.....

(I'd like to just put a line of ****'s but I suspect I'd have to put, ...good agent for his clients, and his clients only....)