I think if he went on the open market there would be plenty of other clubs besides the Gold Coast who would look at him.

If he's interested in moving to the Gold Coast we'd be more than happy to discuss things.

The fact that he's from Cairns and the positions that he plays, it worked out a win-win situation for everyone.

I think it would be silly to not have a chat. He fits our criteria. He's just captained a grand final-winning side, he just won the Clive Churchill medal, he's been on a Kangaroo tour, he's a north Queenslander and he's played at our club before.

We're sad to have lost someone that's been very important to us here but are also delighted that he's been given an opportunity. We now have another big challenge in front of us to find two replacements for Billy (Johnstone) and Neil and that's going to be easier said than done.

North Queensland has always had a great pool of talent, but since Graham took over we have done a much better job of retaining those really top kids as well as being able to attract high quality young guys from other clubs.

My information is that he should be right for week one.