NRL: House for sale, but Price plans to stay

Retiring Warriors prop Steve Price. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Steve Price has put his Auckland house up for sale, but the former Warriors captain says he isn't about to quit New Zealand.

Price's $1.2 million Balmoral villa will feature on the front cover of Saturday's Herald Homes. But Price - who retires at the end of the season and is unlikely to play again because of a recurring heal injury - dismissed suggestions the move foreshadowed an imminent return to Australia.

"We are planning on staying," he said. "My wife is doing her teaching degree and the kids are going good at school."

Price and his family plan to shift into a larger house they already own in the Balmoral area.

He said he was pursuing a number of corporate and media job opportunities in New Zealand and Australia but the family would remain in Auckland for the foreseeable future.

"We will go back [to Australia] at some stage, just not in the short term."

Whether that means Price remains with the Warriors in some capacity remains to be seen.

The club is keen to talk to him about potential roles, however salary cap rules prevent it from offering him a job while he is still a contracted player, chief executive Wayne Scurrah said.

With just 12 weeks remaining in the NRL regular season the chances of Price playing again appear slim.

He admitted the prospect that he might have played his last game had dawned on him. "It is probably becoming a bit more of a reality than what it was but I am still hanging in there trying to be as positive as I can and hoping that we can find something that is going to sort [the injury]."

Centre Brent Tate - Price's brother-in-law - appears set to leave the Warriors after the club failed to match a three-year, A$750,000 deal tabled by the North Queensland Cowboys.

The Herald understands the Warriors have offered Tate a two-year deal worth more money per season but have refused to budge on the length of the contract.

An Australian Sunday newspaper report suggested Tate would this week accept the Cowboys' offer.

"The appealing thing [about the Cowboys] is that it would bring me back to Queensland," Tate reportedly told the Sunday Mail.

Tate (broken jaw) is set to be out of action for another three weeks.

Coach Ivan Cleary has named the same side that beat Newcastle in round 14 to face the Roosters in Christchurch on Sunday. He had been hopeful playmaker Brett Seymour (fractured leg) would return, but a club spokesman said the halfback would not.

Warriors
Lance Hohaia, Kevin Locke, Joel Moon, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, James Maloney, Isaac John, Jeremy Latimore, Aaron Heremaia, Russell Packer, Simon Mannering (capt), Lewis Brown, Micheal Luck.

Interchange: Ian Henderson, Ben Matulino, Jesse Royal, Ukuma Taai, Sione Lousi (one to be omitted).

Roosters
Anthony Minichiello, Phil Graham, Kane Linnett, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Sam Perrett, Todd Carney, Mitchell Pearce, Jason Ryles, Jake Friend, Nate Myles, Frank - Paul Nuuausala, Mitchell Aubusson, Braith Anasta (capt).

Interchange: Nick Kouparitsas, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Mose Masoe, BJ Leilua.