League: 'The Man' hits town talking a good game - as usual

Anthony Mundine

Wannabe come-again league star Anthony Mundine has again pledged his interest in joining the Warriors following his June world title fight.

Mundine said there was "definitely" still a chance he would join the club, despite them hardly looking like the premiership contenders he has said he wants to join.

"Yeah definitely," he told the Herald on Sunday at Auckland's Crowne Plaza, where Warriors owners Cullen Sports have hosted Mundine and his management team over the past three days.

Mundine said he and his manager Khoder Nasser were hoping to come to an arrangement with an NRL club this week, and "the Warriors are definitely on our radar".

Mundine's father Tony senior said yesterday the Roosters were favourites to grab his signature, despite his reluctance for his son to take up league again and despite coach Ricky Stuart dismissing the speculation.

While Mundine was here ostensibly to cast his eye over Cullen's boxing operations, there has been speculation linking Mundine to the Warriors since he announced he wanted to return for the latter part of the season.

Warriors chief Mick Watson told Herald on Sunday: "I'm not sure if we'd be interested. The landscape changes every day. When someone like a Mundine or a [Carlos] Spencer becomes available, your ears prick up but it doesn't mean you're going to sign him."

Watson indicated there would not be too many changes of personnel in the off-season.

"I'll lay the pieces of the jigsaw on the table and over the next two months I'll start putting them all together and start building for the next couple of years. But you won't see a lot of comings and goings."

Warriors coach Tony Kemp was equally non-committal last week, but if flattery is the best form of courting talent, then he hit the mark with his "he could pick up a cricket bat and play for his country" comment.

Added Mundine: "It's great. I'm just lucky I've been gifted with a natural talent for sport and have used it to the best of my ability.

"With that comes a strong, determined, dedicated mentality. And that's what makes a champion. You can have the talent, but if you don't have the head to go with it you won't get too far, but if you've got both you can go places where no one's ever been."

There has been a reluctance on the part of the NRL clubs to get involved with Mundine following revelations he only wanted to play until the end of the season, but the man called The Man wants to clear up that once and for all.

He said he only wanted to sign initially until the end of the season, assess where he's at, and then make a decision whether he wants to continue for a season or two more.

Mundine has no boxing plans beyond his mid-June WBA super-middleweight fight with injured Dane Mikkel Kessler.

Despite some in the league community turning against him, particularly Ben Elias who said clubs would be mad to pick Mundine up, the man himself says there are still "a lot" of clubs interested.

He denies any inference his return to league is a publicity stunt. "I'm a man of my word. It's no publicity stunt. No ploy."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY, additional reporting Michael Brown