CANBERRA Raiders chief executive Don Furner has ruled out a mid-season trade of players that would potentially have fast-tracked James Schiller's arrival at the Newcastle Knights.
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The Knights signed Schiller, the Canberra outside back, to a three-year deal in April and he is set to join them at season's end.
But as revealed by the Newcastle Herald on Thursday, the Raiders have subsequently signed highly rated Knights tyro Myles Martin for the next three years, raising the possibility of an exchange before this year's June 30 transfer deadline.
But Furner said Canberra coach Ricky Stuart had not even broached the subject of granting Schiller an early release.
"That hasn't even been discussed, so as far as I'm aware it definitely won't be happening," Furner told the Herald. "That's my view, and I'd be very surprised if anything was to change there."
Schiller, a 22-year-old flyer, has played in 15 NRL games, scoring five tries in five appearances earlier in this campaign.
But he was dropped to reserve grade after Canberra's 40-0 loss to Cronulla in round eight and replaced by former NSW Origin flanker Nick Cotric, who has helped the Green Machine post consecutive wins against Manly and Canterbury.
Schiller has been named in the centres for Canberra's NSW Cup clash with Sydney Roosters, but Furner said he could easily win a top-grade recall before the end of the season.
"Murphy's law is that if we were to let him go, we'd lose a couple of outside backs to injuries and then we might be struggling," Furner said.
"He was playing well earlier in the season, he's capable of playing centre or wing, and we could need him.
"There's a long way to go in the season and anything could happen."
The Knights still have a vacancy in their top-30 roster that they hope to fill with an outside back, but Furner said Schiller was a "good lad" who was content to see out his deal in the national capital.
Martin, who represented NSW under-19s last year, is yet to debut in the NRL but has been regarded as one of Newcastle's brightest prospects.
The towering 20-year-old middle forward will captain the Knights' Jersey Flegg (under-21) team this weekend.
The Raiders already have eight ex-Knights in their squad and Furner was confident Bathurst-born Martin would fit right in.
"A lot of our players are country kids and they love it in Canberra," Furner said.
