Eels tell Mateo he's staying put - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Eels tell Mateo he's staying put

By Adrian Warren 19/08/2009 03:38:12 PM Comments (0)

Parramatta has told star utility Feleti Mateo he should banish any thoughts of leaving the club and are confident of re-signing top gun Jarryd Hayne in the coming weeks.

Mateo returns from a bicep injury this weekend, but has been named for NSW Cup side Wentworthville, rather than the red-hot Parramatta side for their crunch game against Wests Tigers.

Parramatta chief executive Paul Osborne said while Mateo was obviously disappointed at not playing in first grade he was under contract to the club for next year.

Osborne said Mateo hadn't asked for a release, but the CEO told the 25-year-old over coffee during the week that he was a required member for 2010.

"(I) made it abundantly clear that he's wanted and any ideas he has of leaving he should remove immediately from his mind," Osborne told reporters on Wednesday.

"At the end of the day we've won five in a row and conceded zero points and scored 4000, so it's very difficult to break into a side like that.

"Obviously he's had a very difficult injury and it does take time to get the fitness levels up, but I know that (Parramatta coach) Daniel (Anderson) is looking at him and hopefully he gets a good run this weekend down at Wenty and I'm sure he will be in calculations should we progress past the normal season."

Osborne was optimistic of renewing the contract of fullback Hayne, who has been arguably the best player in the NRL in recent weeks.

"I spoke to his manager during the week and said to him `Mate hurry up, it's just costing me a fortune every time he plays'" Osborne joked.

"But he's been in wonderful form and the side is going wonderfully well and obviously it's a credit to Daniel (Anderson) and the team that we are even in the hunt."

Asked where the negotiations with Hayne currently stood Osborne said "I'm pretty relaxed ... hopefully we can get something done before the end of the season."

The Parramatta CEO said his club hoped to extend the current contract of promising young five-eighth Daniel Mortimer in the off season, but admitted they would struggle to retain some other players because of salary cap issues.

"It's obviously very tight. We do have some players I know that are looking (at other clubs) even though their managers haven't told me," Osborne said.

"We'd like to keep all of them, but obviously under the salary cap it's difficult.

"We've got some spots available, but they are only at the bare minimum and at the end of the day it will be a matter of whether they are prepared to stay for what we've got left, but hopefully they are because I think we've got a very bright future in front of us as a club."

Osborne said prize backline recruit and former Wallaby Timana Tahu had plaster removed from a hand injury and expected him to start training next week.

"He hasn't played much footy the last two years, it's been good for us, he'll probably play until he's 40, I would like to thank the ARU for that," Osborne joked.

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