Melbourne Storm CEO Dave Donaghy has rubbished reports that skipper Cameron Smith held up the club for a bigger deal and prolonged teammate Cameron Munster's contract extension.
The club boss told SEN on Thursday morning that the NRL veteran is looking forward to playing on in 2020 but has been on extended leave over the preseason and is due to holiday overseas, while coach Craig Bellamy is returning from Europe and Donaghy has just landed from a trip to the United States.
Due to travels, he said it has been hard to find time to talk thoroughly talk through Smith's contract and the club has not baulked at the idea of signing the 35-year old skipper for a further two seasons.
"No, not at all," Donaghy told SEN Breakfast.
"If anyone has seen Cam's form, he's been outstanding. He's 35 but he seems to be the Benjamin Button of sport at the moment. He had one of the greatest years of all time last year at 34 and this year wasn't too far off, leading the team to the grand final."
"There's many factors that go into decision making around signing a player, whether it's a one-year, two-year, three-year deal or beyond. You've got to weigh up our list balance and salary cap."
"The reality is you're just paying players on what they're delivering into the future, not what they've delivered."
"It's not a case of Cam walking in and saying 'I want two years or I'm walking out'. It's not the club's case either of saying 'here's two years and would you like a foot rub as well?'. We've got good people in here who make smart decisions and for us it's about the decisions we make into the future are for the best interests of the football club."
There were rumours circulating that the on-going discussions with Smith had put a halt on negotiations with Munster, who is believed to have already come to an agreement with Storm that is yet to be formalised.
In accordance with NRL rules, clubs cannot announce a player signing until the contract has been approved by the games administration.
Although he could not confirm Munster's contract, Donaghy hinted the announcement is coming.
"That's certainly fake news," he said when asked whether Munster's contract will be affected by Smith's deal.
"They're not intertwined at all in any point. For all of our members and fans I'm sure there will be some good news soon."
Munster's contract expires at the end of 2019, meaning he is free to negotiation with other clubs for 2020 until he is re-signed.
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