RYAN Cross is still set to become Newcastle Falcons' marquee summer signing, despite reports that the Australian international is considering a switch back to rugby league.
The 32-year-old was spotted with Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens in a Sydney café over the weekend, fuelling speculation of a return to the 13-man game.
Cross told an Australian newspaper: “Rugby league has always been close to my heart. It was never really something that I considered I would go back to, but now that I’ve been back in Sydney for 12 months [with New South Wales Waratahs’ rugby union side], it’s a big possibility. I do still want to continue playing football – the body feels good. My dad played at the Tigers.”
Those words were not music to the ears of perplexed Newcastle officials, who had been diligently working through the red tape to finalise a deal for the 6 foot 3 midfield man who has scored six tries in his 18 tests for the Wallabies.
The last of those internationals fell six weeks outside of the 18-month window required to secure a UK work permit, but The Journal can reveal that at a Rugby Football Union hearing last week, the game’s governing body gave their official written endorsement to his application.
That backing, based on past experience, has invariably led to a swift green light from the Department of Employment, and the noises from Whitehall are that Cross’s papers will not be a stumbling block despite taking two or three weeks to work through the system. Of more concern to the Kingston Park hierarchy was the player’s public assertion that a return to rugby league had reared its head as a late possibility, but The Journal understands that Cross was merely keeping his options open for a Plan B scenario should his Falcons switch hit an unexpected snag.
After a frantic day of phone calls between Newcastle officials and the player’s agent yesterday, the club sent over a formal contract for Cross, which he was due to sign last night.
Barring any unexpected late glitches, head coach Alan Tait will have finally landed his biggest signing since taking the reins just over a year ago – beating French big spenders Lyon to get his man. An undoubted top class performer, Cross’s 64 Super 15 appearances have yielded 19 tries for both Western Force and New South Wales, after leaving rugby league as the sixth-highest all-time try-scorer at the famous Sydney City Roosters club.
Set to form a mouth-watering midfield partnership with Samoan international Jamie Helleur, the arrival of the big Aussie will go some way to re-igniting the fire of the Kingston Park faithful after a season of struggle last time round. Meanwhile, Newcastle back-row target Taiasina Tu’ifua did his prospects of a move to England no harm at all over the weekend, as he helped Samoa to a first ever test victory over Australia. The 26-year-old flanker played the full 80 minutes as a fired-up Samoan side provided the shock of the year so far, producing a well-deserved 32-23 triumph in Sydney.
The Falcons’ negotiations are understood to be at an advanced stage but, if anything, Sunday’s historic result could have nudged Tu’ifua’s price tag up even further.
Elsewhere in the Newcastle back-row, uncertainty still surrounds the future of England Under-20s captain Alex Gray.
The 19-year-old is out of contract with the Kingston Park club, but his five years in the Falcons academy mean that his signature carries a hefty compensation bill for whichever club he eventually joins. Leicester Tigers are understood to be the front runners but, with the Falcons and the RFU insistent over the compensation issue, the messy saga looks like rumbling on for some time yet.
