Quote: Dave K. "If it is 150k I can totally see why the club have sold him, gives us money to help the club and big piece of salary cap to play with, ok we lose a decent player on his day, but we have plenty of cover.
My main concern is when or how we use the money, no quota places and lack of quality British players available. I like us to try and use the money to sign an outside back or hooker. Who could we make a bid for that would realistically sign for us or their club release him. If only we hadn't kept Micheals and we could have tried to sign Carney or another winger from the NRL.
We could keep the money for a mid season signing?'"
It looks as though Westerman was always going to go this off-season. From what I was told, Pearson made the decision to cash in on his two most saleable assets midway through last season.
This would explain why the club suddenly changed tact and signed Sika Manu, withdrawing a contract offer to Jordan Rankin in the process.
It's fairly obvious that a chunk of his Westerman's salary has long been accounted for.
But, by not revealing his true hand too early, Pearson has been able to push a "no squad is stronger narrative" to feed pass sales.
He's even managed to suppress the news coming out before the shirt launch.
Good PR or cynical PR? Either way, I think he's surpassed himself with the vehemence of his recent denials, even having the audacity to claim "Joe is a big part of the club's plans moving forward."
The news of Westerman's move to Warrington will break next week.
The only question is, whether Pearson will attempt to cushion the blow with a "too good an offer to turn down" response, or pin another guilt-trip on fans, blaming sluggish pass sales!
