KEY POINTS:
Steve Price will finish his Warriors career alongside propping partner Ruben Wiki after signing a one-year extension through to the end of 2008.
The pair are the grand-daddies of the NRL propping world and, if they finish their careers at the end of next season, will have a
combined age of 69. But they're still at the top of their games and the Warriors moved quickly to retain their skipper.
"We'd have to be the world's oldest front row, easily you'd think, but that doesn't matter to us," said Price, who turns 33 tomorrow. "I don't know what Rubes is planning, but I guess it would be a great way for us both to finish our playing careers together at the end of the 2008 season."
Price is a key member of the Warriors on and off the field. His leadership is a primary asset, particularly with such a young side and young props in Evarn Tuimavave (22), Sam Rapira (19) and Russell Packer (17), as is his ability to play as much as 60 minutes a game.
His form last year was good enough to appear for Queensland in all three State of Origin games, although he did miss out on a place in the Kangaroos for the Tri Nations.
"The thing about Pricey is that he's actually playing better than he was when he first came here," coach Ivan Cleary said. "Among NRL players, he's at the higher end of the pay scale but to me there's no one else out there who provides better value."
There had been suggestions that Price might be overlooked at the end of 2007 as a way to free up money for a marquee player like Sonny Bill Williams. Price is believed to be on close to $450,000.
The Warriors didn't table an offer for Williams. Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah said the fact they looked into buying Williams suggests money is available for 2008 but they wanted to become a club that retained before they recruited.
"We think we might have a couple of players in our squad who could develop into marquee players so we need to think about how we look after them," Scurrah said.
Some of those youngsters will appear for the Auckland Lions in the NSW Premier Grade this season. Scurrah announced that all players not selected for the first-grade team on a Tuesday would be available to train with the Lions.