BY CURTIS WOODWARD 

@woodward_curtis 

The powerful Cabramatta Rugby League Club are still shooting for a place at the Intrust Super Premiership table for season 2019 despite 12 months of negotiations recently breaking down with the Cronulla Sharks which led to the Sharks recommitting to their partnership with the Newtown Jets.

We understand former Sharks CEO Lyall Gorman had agreed to link with Cabramatta before leaving for Manly only for the agreement to be knocked on the head by incoming CEO Barry Russell. The Newtown/Cronulla deal will run for another five years and leaves Cabramatta without an affiliation at this stage.

Cabramatta’s Football Manager David Norman has exclusively revealed to The81stMinute that the deal between North Sydney and the Sydney Roosters was in fact not over the line and Cabramatta were still in the fight to join up with the Tricolours and that they were also open to negotiating with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

“We are 100% committed to entering into an ISP arrangement for 2019,” Norman told The81stMinute.com.

“It’s our centenary year (2019) as well. We’ve spent this year putting together our programs to make us an attractive proposition. We’ve spent a lot of money on coaches and equipment and processes. We’re just waiting to secure a partner basically.”

Cabramatta is one of the strongest clubs in Sydney and sits geographically between three junior competitions – Parramatta, Canterbury and Western Suburbs.

Former players include Jarryd Hayne, Geoff Gerard, David Riolo and Pat Richards.

@woodward_curtis