Not sure about that, he was being courted by the Bulldogs and Eels well before Bluey signed on the dotted line.
...add Tigers, Broncos and Manly to that as well bro but ultimately it did come down to Bluey not wanting him. Bluey said he'd get little 1st grade time with the 4 prop rotation they have. That decision was supported by Iro too. He wasn't even on the market when Bluey informed him. Sydney clubs are astounded we let him go!
Mid-2011 it was Parra, Manley and Tigers who wanted him; at the end of the season Parra withdrew interest after securing Tim Mannah's bro and themselves having to move one of their promising juniors up. Des was extremely interested at that time and unbeknownst to all (well us plebes anyway) he would eventually end up at the Dogs.
Biggest surprise though was getting rid of 4 of their second tier props (Poching, Houma and Lattimore). Lattimore was always leaving but Poching, Gavet and Houma were part of Ivan's development programme and had Cleary served out his original contract Poching and Gavet would probably still be here.
Big interest in him in Sydney right now and Des is now even more of fan. Don't expect a debut any earlier than end of March/early April though. An injury sustained early last year not picked up properly by Warriors management & medical staff left the Doggies getting a metal plate put into his ankle - fans across the ditch are aware of that and not impressed with Warriors management's inability to get it sorted.
Now the next cab(s) off the rank will be either second row converts (Lousi, Taái, Stevie Raps), returning props (Retzlaff), Vulcans or NYC players untried at open-age level and not necessarily in that order.
PL
