ROYCE Simmons has expressed his happiness at Chris Flannery’s contract extension.
The 31-year-old former State of Origin star signed for an additional year this week – and that’s reaped praise from his boss.
“I’m very glad Flanno has stayed on,” Simmons said. “He is a great player and very versatile. He can play anywhere in the back row and sometimes during matches you’ll see him on both sides of the field depending on what happens with Sia Soliola and Jon Wilkin.
“He can cover in the backs, can play centre for you as well and at 5/8 if needed to.
“He’s the sort of player that plays good every week and he carries the ball over the line a lot too. He’s low maintenance and I like that in a player. He’s good for the young blokes to have around as they see how a real professional operates.
“And the blokes like playing with him too – there’s a lot of ticks for him and I was glad he decided to have another year with us.”
Flannery’s signing means Saints quota is now full for next season and Simmons admits it is now a case of signing up the Club’s youngsters before looking at the Salary Cap and potentially entering the market.
“It’s now down to the Chairman really to close up a few young players and then we’ll see,” Simmons added. “You work hard to develop kids and if you don’t keep them then you are a mug. Let them do and buy a big name… you are a mug again!
“We will let the Chairman finish off with the young boys we think highly of and then from there look at the situation financially and then move on to the next step.”
