NRL: Fien seeking new club for 2010

Nathan Fien will look to regain his first grade spot, but won't be with the Warriors in 2010. Photo / Getty Images

Nathan Fien will not be at the Warriors next season, the club instead banking on development of its juniors and waiting to see if Stacey Jones will go around another year.

Fien was yesterday dropped from the starting 17 for the trip to Canberra this weekend and was told by coach Ivan Cleary that his contract will not be extended beyond the end of this season.

"It's disappointing for Nathan but the coaches are looking at going forward. We told Nathan we would give him some clarity in May and we've done that," club chief executive Wayne Scurrah said yesterday.

Of Jones, Scurrah said: "We have an open mind."

Jones said when he made his comeback that he wanted to review his form and desire mid-season and the club was happy with that situation, he said.

They have cover with Isaac John, who has graduated out of the under-20s side, and exciting prospect Shaun Johnson, 18. They have just had their contracts extended, plus Aaron Heremaia who played in reserve grade for North Sydney and Balmain, and in England.

Fien's manager Jim Banaghan said he was told that the club could not afford two class halfbacks and was going to stick with Jones. "Nathan understands where the club is at, they have to make some tough salary cap decisions and he thanks them for their honesty.

"He has the highest regard for the kids coming through and he is a big supporter of the club producing players from its backyard."

Fien, 29, played 91 games for North Queensland from 2000 before shifting to Auckland in 2004.

He has 105 appearances for the Warriors and though his preference was to stay, he was in demand and would have another contract in the NRL within two to three weeks, Banaghan said.

In the meantime, he wanted to regain his first-grade spot and after eight tests, again prove his worth for Kiwis selection.

"He's taken this on the chin. He sees himself very much as part of the fabric of Warriors and the New Zealand rugby league scene," Banaghan said.

* The Cronulla Sharks held a crisis meeting yesterday with their major sponsor LG Electronics which has backed the club for nine years and has agreed to provide A$700,000 ($896,000) this season.

LG is nervous about the impact of revelations about the sex scandal involving Matty Johns and others in Christchurch in 2002. NRL boss David Gallop also attended but no news was made public afterwards.

Meanwhile, the club has off-loaded A$350,000 buy Karl Filiga (previously known as McNichol) who played just one game in 2008 then suffered a pectoral muscle tear. The Wellington-born centre/backrower is yet to live up to his hyped tag as "the next Sonny Bill Williams".

The NRL was buoyed by news that the Johns scandal had not impacted on crowd numbers, which averaged 20,584 at the weekend, up from 17,402 for round 10 last year.