Big Wednesday deadline to secure NRL's best

Rugby League's silly season is about to get underway on November 1 as clubs allowed to negotiate with players on the open market with some of the NRL's brightest and best coming under the spotlight.

Clubs and players were previously only allowed to negotiate after June 30, but the new move should allow players to concentrate on their football during the season rather than be distrated by trade talks.

Under the new rules, players will not be able to be registered with their new club and the NRL until round thirteen 2008, unless the player's current club allows.

Parramatta pair Jarryd Hayne and Krisnan Inu are expected to create a bidding frenzy if not secured by the Eels prior to next Wednesday.

The same goes for Melbourne star Israel Folau, who has been compared to the great Mal Meninga and is widely recognised as the future of the game having made his debut for Australia at just eighteen years of age.

The other big names on the market are: Braith Anasta, Matt Bowen, Danny Buderus, Matt Cooper, Brett Finch, Dallas Johnson, Luke Lewis, Benji Marshall, Nathan Merritt, Brett Stewart, Willie Tonga, Taniela Tuiaki, Anthony Tupou, Trent Waterhouse, and Carl Webb.

Parramatta didn't spend at all for season 2008 and it's thought the plan was to keep as much cash possible in the coffers given the calibre of players off contract.

Hayne's manager Wayne Beavis could have had his young charge re-signed to the Eels on a long-term deal mid-season but opted to wait on the basis that his worth would increase as the season went on.

At the time, Beavis said Hayne's worth was equal to that of Greg Inglis who earns $400,000 a year at the Melbourne Storm.

"Jarryd is an exceptional talent," Beavis told Fairfax newspapers in July.

"You only had to see the two tries he scored in the Origin series to know that. Parramatta have flagged to us that they would like to negotiate a new contract, but there's no gamble in Jarryd waiting, because he's just going to get better.

"Jarryd's happy at Parramatta and the club has been very supportive of him, but I've got to do the best for the kid. His earning capacity was going to go up even if he stayed on the wing, but his value has got the potential to go through the roof if he shows what he can do at fullback. I see a clear parallel between Jarryd and Greg Inglis, in that Inglis rose very quickly through his club and then through representative football, and Jarryd, who is 12 months younger than the other bloke, is doing the same."

If the Eels are fortunate enough to retain the services of both Hayne and Inu, it is highly unlikely that Brett Finch will remain at the club, despite encouraging signs of a combination developing between he and halfback Tim Smith towards the back end of this season.

It was rumoured that Finch could be on the move to St. George-Illawarra who would be in the position to let him play in his preferred role of halfback, despite buying Jamie Soward.

Yesterday, the North Queensland Cowboys began discussions with fullback Matt Bowen with an eye to securing his services until the end of 2011.

Bowen is also managed by Beavis but it's thought that re-sgning the Townsville crowd-favourite will be a no-brainer given Bowen's reluctance to leave far north Queensland.

"Today was the first step in a long process," Cowboys boss Peter Parr told News Limited.

"It was a good, positive meeting. Wayne will go back and talk to Matty and we will go from there." "We didn't discuss dates or time limits," Parr said.

"As you do every season, we have a few guys coming off-contract, but at the moment Matty is our priority."

Also in the easy-basket is Brett Stewart who is believe to be close to agreeing to terms with the Sea-Eagles.