NRL: Warriors losers if Fien heads to UK

Nathan Fien is on the verge of signing a deal with UK club Huddersfield. Photo / Getty Images

Nathan Fien will leave the Warriors at the end of the season with the World Cup-winning Kiwis halfback on the verge of signing a three-year deal with Huddersfield.

The 29-year-old has been in the sights of the UK Super League club since last July, when Nathan Brown was recruited as coach soon after it was announced he would be replaced at the Dragons in 2009 by Wayne Bennett.

Fien was close to a deal last year before the Giants shifted their efforts to former Canberra bad boy Todd Carney and they doubled their efforts when Carney was denied a UK visa this year.

The Warriors refused to release Fien, saying it was too close to the start of the NRL season, but they seem powerless, or unwilling, to act now. "We are very close to do a three-year deal with Huddersfield," his agent Jim Banaghan said.

"Unless something miraculous comes from the Warriors in the next few days, I would say it's a given that Nathan will agree to the Huddersfield deal by the end of the week.

"Nathan Brown is determined to have Nathan Fien as part of his plans next year. He nearly had him last year but went for Todd Carney and, as Nathan Brown admits, that was a big mistake in a number of ways because Fien is a better player and, it appears, a better character.

"The Warriors would dearly love to have Nathan Fien as part of their plans, but they might not be in a position to do a three-year contract with him. They would like to wait until about May before making an offer, which is a little bit strange because they have seen him play for four years now and he did play in the World Cup and won it.

"I would have thought they were in a position to make a decision straight away but apparently they're not and, as a result, Nathan may be lost to them."

Fien has been a fixture of the Warriors since his arrival from the Cowboys in 2005, and is only three games short of bringing up his century of games for the Auckland-based club. He has spent time at hooker and five-eighth but was outstanding for the Warriors as a halfback in the back end of 2008 and carried that form through to the World Cup.

He started in the No 7 jersey against the Eels last night, with newcomer Joel Moon at five-eighth, but it's well documented the Warriors have considerable options in the halves for a change.

Stacey Jones wasn't considered because of a calf injury, while Liam Foran, Aaron Heremaia, Isaac John and Daniel O'Regan are waiting in the wings.

Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah said they would be disappointed to lose Fien but weren't in a position to counter the Huddersfield offer. "We're just not ready," he said.

"We haven't entered discussion with him. We have a new combination in the halves and we wanted to see how the season unravels first so, from our point of view, we weren't looking to make any offers until we had seen them play a bit.

"I suspect that if we did lose him, it was because of money we couldn't offer or we weren't prepared to make an offer. Nathan made it quite clear and we appreciate it that his priority is to look after his family [because he has three young children]. But he loves it here."

Banaghan said Fien loves Auckland so much that he intends settling here when his Huddersfield career ends and was hopeful of getting into coaching and player development.

The Warriors also look set to miss out on Kiwis utility Greg Eastwood in favour of a more lucrative offer from the Bulldogs.

Eastwood has appealed against a decision to deny him a visa to take up a three-year contract with Super League side Leeds and it looks increasingly likely Eastwood will play in the NRL.

The Doggies have significant room in their salary cap after the walkout of Sonny Bill Williams and departures of Reni Maitua and Willie Tonga and are believed to have tabled a higher offer than the Warriors, possibly in the vicinity of A$200,000 a season.