Wests Tigers fullback Tim Moltzen not yet offered new contract by club
James Hooper
The Sunday Telegraph
June 03, 2012 12:00AM
THE future of Wests Tigers fullback Tim Moltzen remains uncertain, with his agent sounding a warning about the club's failure to table a new contract.
The tug-of-war between the Tigers and Dragons over Moltzen became the biggest contract saga of the summer.
Moltzen knocked back a three-year contract with the Dragons on the grounds he was "depressed" about leaving Concord and carrying a serious shoulder injury.
Now six months on, the fullback remains unsigned at the Tigers beyond October.
"It's a major concern. With all the kerfuffle that went on last year, I'd thought we'd have something sorted by now," his agent Martin Tauber said.
"Have the decency to let the boy know what's going on. No wonder he's had uncertainty his entire career.
"The club have a lot to answer for that debacle last year. There's no point hanging the kid out to dry for somebody else's mistakes."
Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens and chief executive Stephen Humphreys confirmed that the club was in discussions to extend Moltzen's contract.
But Tauber told The Sunday Telegraph he had opened negotiations before the start of the season and was becoming increasingly concerned at the club's failure to submit a formal contract.
"That's with the club and the manager at the moment. I haven't spoken to Warren (McDonnell, Tigers recruitment manager) about it in the past few days, but the last instruction was to sit down to try to sort it out," Sheens said.
"It's not an issue from the point of view of having to be done today or tomorrow, but it's certainly something that we want to sort out soon."
After turning their season around, the last thing the Tigers need is any form of off-field distraction, especially after all the upheaval at Concord over player movement months ago.
Humphreys remained confident the club and Moltzen could come to an agreement.