England winger Jermaine McGillvary has ruled out a move to the NRL after signing a new four-year contract with home-town club Huddersfield.
The 30-year-old was already tied to the Giants for the next two years but is now set to end his career in Super League after committing his future to the club to the end of 2022.
McGillvary earned rave reviews in Australia after playing a starring role in England’s run to the 2017 World Cup final and Huddersfield were keen to make sure he did not follow the national team’s other first-choice winger Ryan Hall to the NRL.
Huddersfield say their appeal to the Rugby Football League for financial assistance to help retain the player fell on deaf ears and they were forced to find the extra cash for McGillvary’s new and improved deal.
Giants managing director Richard Thewlis said: “Jermaine was without a doubt the star of the World Cup from an England perspective and came back to us with an enormous profile.
“We were aware that NRL clubs had been sniffing around and we all understand the salary cap differentials in play can make retaining players difficult.
“Our budgets and cap had been fixed by this point so we did approach the RFL to help Jermaine by making him one of their centrally-funded players which seemed to us an obvious fit as he was the face of England.
“The request for financial support was not forthcoming and so the burden fell solely upon us and we were able to both improve and extend Jermaine’s contract with us, which is great news for all concerned.”
McGillvary has scored 12 tries in 13 appearances for England and is expected to be named in head coach Wayne Bennett’s squad for the autumn Tests against France and New Zealand on Tuesday.
He has also recorded 151 tries in 202 games for the Giants and is delighted to extend his stay.
“I’m over the moon to re-sign with the club,” he said. “The club and supporters mean everything to me. It’s my home-town club and I’ve never wanted to leave as long as everything is in the right place.
“They’ve always treated me well and that’s why I play so hard. As long as I feel loved, I’ll do anything for the club.
“It’s the same with the fans, they’ve always shown a huge amount of support and love.
“It just makes my time here a lot more enjoyable and it makes me want to stay here for the remainder of my career and even after that if there’s an opportunity.”
