GEORGE DELANEY is one of the most talked-about young players in Super League.
At just 20 years of age, the barnstorming front-rower has already played almost 50 games in St Helens’ first-team, and was rewarded with an England Knights call up in 2022.
Despite having two years left on his contract with Saints, the Merseyside club decided to extend his deal for a further four seasons, giving Delaney a deal until the end of 2028.
The deal was considered a coup for Saints considering the interest from NRL clubs, so just how was the deal concluded? – Delaney’s agent Craig Harrison, of Show Me The Money UK, has explained it all.
“A young player like George where he is in his career, he is probably the best up-and-coming prop in Super League,” Harrison said on The Full Eighty Minutes podcast.
“Imagine the outside interest in George was immense. The problem was he had two years left of his contract so Saints came to the table and asked for talks.
“George is such a lovely kid who is pretty laidback and to be given the money he was on in the first place, the pressure was on Saints.
“You can’t legally talk to other people but the drums were banging. You only get interest in good players.”
Harrison explained further that Delaney’s contract is now performance-based, something which the former thinks is different to almost all contracts in Super League.
“We eventually got round the table five or six different times and we found a deal which I think will be unique in Super League with how we did the clauses etc.
“For me, it ticks every box. I made sure that if George continues to go up, his contract follows him. If he stays at the same level he is at then he would get a small increase.
“He will be rewarded with performance. A kid would usually explode at a top level club and be on sh*t money and you couldn’t do anything about it.
“Mike Rush (Saints’ chief executive) is a delight to work with, there is a friendship there. I don’t feel bad putting it on Mike, if you like someone you can be really honest.”
