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How Todd Carney almost became Dragon
* EXCLUSIVE by Josh Massoud
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* August 07, 2010 12:00AM
Secret meeting ... Todd Carney. Source: The Daily Telegraph
MAN-of-the-moment Todd Carney has revealed how a private meeting with Wayne Bennett almost convinced him to revive his career at St George Illawarra.
As he prepares to face Bennett's Dragons in tomorrow's SCG blockbuster, the Roosters talisman last night told The Daily Telegraph how the master coach offered him a possible lifeline in Wollongong last year.
Banned from playing NRL after his sacking from Canberra in mid-2008, Carney met with Bennett a few months later to discuss a return in the Red V this season. During their meeting, Bennett even offered Carney the chance to play halfback - but further negotiations collapsed when the exiled star was also prevented from playing for St George Illawarra's NSWRL feeder club, Shellharbour, in 2009.
"I met with Wayne and that was great," Carney recalled. "There were a few clubs interested and I was close to going [to St George Illawara].
"I went down to Wollongong, to my manager's [David Riolo's] house, and that's where we met.
"I've never been so nervous before meeting someone before. After all the things I'd heard and read about Wayne Bennett, I didn't know what to expect.
"But he was completely different to the person you see in the media. He was cracking jokes and made me feel really comfortable.
"I really enjoyed the talk we had.
"Like [Roosters coach Brian Smith], Wayne made it clear that he wasn't worried about the past as long as it was behind me.
"What we spoke about was really appealing, because we discussed the opportunity to play in the No. 7 at the Dragons.
"The problem was they couldn't get me into their reserve grade [Shellharbour] because Canberra and the NSWRL blocked me. St George Illawarra wanted to wait until the end of the year.
"But if I was going to come back to the NRL, I wanted to know a long way beforehand so I could prepare mentally for that team."
That team ended up being the Roosters, who offered Carney a handsome three-year contract that - unlike offers from elsewhere - wasn't incentive-based.
The 24-year-old also revealed that he had "verbally agreed" to join the Roosters before moving to Atherton last April, and had to contend with plenty of locals trying to persuade him to backflip as the Tricolours endured their most traumatic season on record in 2009.
"People kept asking me why I didn't go to St George Illawarra because they were going so well under Wayne. But it's strange - the way the Roosters finished was probably a good thing for me. As a club they were at the point where they needed to prove something - just like myself."
this was certainly unexpected...
thankgod this didnt happen!!! we would have been getting ready for mad monday instead of the finals now!!
carney army!!
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