LUKE GALE is now a Keighley Cougars player for 2023, but a big deal elsewhere was 75% completed before it fell through, according to the halfback’s agent Craig Harrison of Show Me The Money UK.
Gale, who had left Hull FC at the end of the 2022 Super League season following a season at the MKM Stadium, was announced as a Keighley player earlier this week.
However, the 35-year-old had attracted numerous interest from both Super League and even the NRL, with a deal for the latter falling through.
“We spoke to quite a few clubs in Super league and in the NRL. The NRL gamble was to take him as a number three and finish his career. We got 75% of doing the deal with a club and it never came through,” Harrison said on Show Me The Money Rugby League TV podcast.
“That left us a little bit empty because we had spoken to a number of Super League clubs and everyone had done their recruiting.
“Everybody we spoke to said they would have taken him but that they didn’t have the cap space.
“Then we are looking for injuries and teams coming in for Luke at a late date. We rolled that for six weeks, Luke wanted to do the process of getting himself ready.”
It was as the weeks went by and clubs began gearing up for pre-season friendlies that Gale and Harrison wanted to get a deal done for next season, with both being impressed with the set-up at Cougar Park.
“As the weeks have gone by, it started to get a little bit nervous. I said to ‘Luke if you want to take a deal we would look in the Championship’. He had really enjoyed doing the one on ones with Driven Athlete and they worked at Keighley.
“I went with Luke ten ays ago to meet Rhys and the lads and it was vey enjoyable with loads of ambition. I spoke with two or three other Championship teams and they seemed keen but didn’t have the space.”
