NRL: Finch snubs big pay day

The Storm half Brett Finch. Photo / Getty Images

The Warriors have missed out on Melbourne half Brett Finch, despite offering him a lucrative deal.

Finch looks destined to remain in Melbourne where he has said he is prepared to take a pay cut in the hope of achieving success with a club that has played in the last three grand finals.

The Warriors tabled a multi-year deal, believed to be for at least two seasons and worth about $300,000 a year, but were knocked back. The 27-year-old was also being chased by a handful of UK Super League clubs, reportedly including Wigan, Warrington and Huddersfield.

"We made a play for Brett Finch but that's not going anywhere," Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah confirmed. "We understand he's going to stay with the Storm."

Wigan halfback Tim Smith was another on the Warriors' radar but is also looking unlikely because they are not confident of his form, meaning Stacey Jones remains the key experienced halfback in the Warriors' line-up.

The Warriors haven't had much luck luring a top-line halfback to Auckland with enquiries over the past 12 months to Cooper Cronk, Scott Prince and Brett Kimmorley not getting much past first base.

Top halves are a rare commodity and few come close to being off contract as clubs tie them down to long-term deals.

Jones' form in his comeback year has been sporadic but he has been first-choice since taking over the No 7 jersey in round four and consigning Kiwis halfback Nathan Fien to the Auckland Vulcans.

"We are not panicking," Scurrah said. "There are some options but, if we can't find anyone better than what we have got at the club, we are not going to pay above the odds. We have got some good young players coming through with players like Isaac John, Shaun Johnson and Aaron Heremaia.

"We have been comfortable with how Stacey has been playing. We have got to find someone to beat him and no one is doing that at this stage but we also have to be mindful that he might not want to play [next season] and opt to retire.

"We would like to look at a couple more games to see how he's going and the team is going. We haven't had any formal discussions with him but wouldn't want it to go to the end of the season."

There is a chance the Warriors won't recruit anyone in any position for 2010. Scurrah said they were encouraged by the form and development of a number of their junior players, headed by Kevin Locke, and would become more picky about signing Australians.

They had already signed under-20s second-rower Sione Lousi to next year's top 25 and expected big things from the likes of winger Bill Tupou, second-rower Elijah Taylor and Johnson.

"We are going to focus on quality rather than quantity and also invest in the future," he said. "More and more we are trying to build a team around very good imported players with very good junior players. We could get to the point where we don't get anyone else [for next season]."

The club are still waiting to see whether prop Evarn Tuimavave recovers sufficiently from a long-term neck injury before considering talks but have released Leeson Ah Mau.

Liam Foran, who was released by the Warriors to play the rest of the season with the Newtown Jets, is close to playing for the Roosters.

The Sydney club has registered the halfback's contract with the NRL and he has been called up as a replacement for injured captain Braith Anasta.