Experienced Eels centre Michael Jennings has agreed to a new two-year deal with Parramatta, which he will finalise later this week.
Jennings, who has been at the Eels since the 2016 season, has been keen to extend his contract for a few months now, and is delighted to be able to continue his tenure until at least the end of the 2021 NRL season.
Jennings was not lacking options though, with the 31-year-old revealing that he had attracted some late interest from Canterbury.
The Bulldogs were interested in Jennings, who would have bolstered their outside back stocks significantly.
They were only prepared to offer Jennings a one-year deal, however, which the Eels eventually surpassed with a two-year offer.
"I've wanted to get it done for a long time. I guess I had to weigh up some options with what was best for my family moving forward, but we've got the two years so it's good now,'' Jennings told the Herald.
"Hopefully this week I'll sign the contract and that's it.
"I definitely didn't want to go anywhere else. I've found a home here now and settled in. Things are going well.
"The Doggies were close. They weren't too far away."After a disappointing year last year and to now turn it around this year, there's a lot of belief here and everyone is buying into what [coach] Brad [Arthur] and the staff are doing here.
"We're still building, but it's looking good.''
The two-year extension provides Jennings with the very realistic prospect of reaching the 300-game milestone.
The veteran will play his 276th game against Manly on Friday night, with more than 25,000 tipped to attend Bankwest Stadium for the occasion.
A win by the Eels could pit Parramatta against the Wests Tigers in week one of the finals, with a Tigers win over Cronulla this weekend also needed to produce a finals showdown against their western rivals.
Jennings is massively excited by the prospect of that occurring, and the Eels would certainly fancy their chances in that potential match-up, having thrashed the Tigers earlier in the year.
"It would be great to play the Tigers at home and hopefully put in a performance like we did when we first played them on Easter Monday,'' said Jennings.
Why?
Me thinks Jennings is now way past it, Parra wanted a one year deal , Jennings a two year deal, I am of the opinion he won’t be selected all that much next year, hopefully they have not overspent here.
He must have exercised the option in his favour. Does that mean his is still getting $800 000 A year?
My understanding is, and it’s only my understanding, he’d already excersied the option which took him to the end of 2019 (he is/was off contract at the end of this year).
I’m broadly happy we’ve retained/re-signed him, but am concerned about his age/potential injuries and the 2 year extension.
One thing about Jennings is he’s defence is very good, and he helps M Sivo in that department a lot. Ethan Parry will be the back up centre.