Rico yet to play in new gear

Rico Gear

The New Zealand Rugby Union signed it off as a clean deal, but Rico Gear's transfer from North Harbour to Nelson Bays is giving off a somewhat fishy smell.

Gear hasn't yet played for the second division province and is now thinking about invoking a clause in his contract that will allow him a transfer to Canterbury next season.

Gear is believed to have received a signing-on fee of about $100,000, plus an annual salary of $100,000, to move south. Nelson Bays have a maximum of four games left so if Gear does move at the end of the season, he will have effectively netted $50,000 per game.

When the Herald on Sunday broke the story about Gear's transfer from Harbour to Nelson Bays last year, it suggested the move was a clever negotiation of the transfer rules. Gear wanted to leave Harbour because he couldn't be sure of getting game time at the Blues.

The Crusaders could offer him a regular slot, but he couldn't transfer to Canterbury, because they had already signed Mose Tuiali'i - and unions can buy only one current All Black per season.

His options were to request he be left out of the Blues' protected 24 and enter the draft. That was risky because he may not necessarily have been picked up by the Crusaders.

Alternatively, he could transfer to Nelson Bays and be eligible to be named in the Crusaders' protected 24 without having to go through the draft. He opted to join Nelson Bays, which drew the ire of North Harbour, who went as far as ordering an investigation. Harbour were concerned that Gear had been lured to Nelson by the promise of a regular place in the Crusaders.

Super 14 teams are forbidden to make such promises as a means of persuading players to sign for a particular province. The NZRU found no rules had been breached, yet, less than a year since signing, Gear is looking at moving on.

Nelson Bays chief executive Lee Germon, who was not with the province when Gear signed, said: "In terms of the contractual side, I don't really want to go into what is in his contract and what isn't. It would be fair to say there obviously was a belief that Rico may wish to move to Canterbury at some stage. We just need to talk with him about that prospect and with Canterbury. I have had no official talks with Rico or with his agent about that possibility.

"We will probably wait until the end of the NPC campaign before we speak with Rico. He will be here in Nelson with us next week and play his first match for us on the Saturday [against Poverty Bay]. We would like for him to be in a position in which he can finish the season with Nelson Bays and then get all parties involved to talk about anything that might be on the table."

The other twist in this fascinating tale is that Canterbury are trying to sign Bay of Plenty halfback Kevin Senio - a current All Black.

The understanding here is that Canterbury are obliged to go to Gear first to see if he wants to move. If he does, Senio's transfer will be scuppered as Gear will be Canterbury's one allowable All Black transfer this season. Senio was not an All Black when Canterbury first made the approach.

Canterbury and Crusaders chief executive Hamish Riach didn't want to comment.

Harbour, meanwhile, hope to have more joy in retaining their star player this year, with Anthony Tuitavake contemplating a seriously good offer to re-sign at the end of this NPC.

Tuitavake, arguably the form centre of this NPC and a bolter for the All Black end-of-season tour, is thought to have been given strong messages that he will be in the Blues' Super 14 squad for next season.

He doesn't know, however, whether he will get much of a run with the franchise and is weighing up a shift to the Highlanders, where he will be guaranteed a start.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY