Talking Footy

Rogers cuts his cash in half
By Daniel Pace
September 13, 2006 DUAL international Mat Rogers's pay packet will be more than halved when he returns to rugby league with Gold Coast Titans after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Rogers, 31, today confirmed he had accepted a two-year deal with the new NRL franchise for 2008 and 2009.

It's understood Rogers will receive $300,000 a year from the Titans - a big drop from the $650,000 the Wallabies utility gets from the Australian Rugby Union.

Rogers said he wanted a fresh challenge and, while he had yet to achieve all his goals since switching to rugby in 2002, he hoped to do so with a Wallabies win at the Rugby World Cup in France next year.

Rogers hinted the sudden death of his father, former Test rugby league centre Steve Rogers, at the start of the year had been been a factor in his decision.

"It's great opportunity to start afresh," Rogers told a brief press conference on the Gold Coast.

"It's been a tough 18 months for me and this is a great way to kick off a new part of my life."

He was looking forward to returning to live on the Gold Coast with his young family, having spent much of his teenage life there.

"I spent my formative years on the Gold Coast and it was the best days of my life," Rogers said.

However, he remained committed to the cause of achieving triumph for the Wallabies at the World Cup in a year's time, having played on the team which lost the 2003 World Cup final to England in Sydney.

"I'm certainly looking forward to the next 12 months in rugby," said Rogers.

"It'd be good to finish with a bang and I can move on knowing that I have achieved everything. By no means do I feel I have achieved everything in rugby (yet), there's still a lot to go."

Gold Coast chief executive Michael Searle said he wasn't concerned about Rogers being on the wrong side of 30.

"He's an athlete," Searle said.

"He's an absolute freak of a player and it's fantastic to get him back in our game."