Canberra offered Hudson Young a four-year, $4.4 million deal, later proposing a fifth year, but he remained noncommittal.
At some stage, deep into negotiations with Hudson Young, Canberra officials spoke to the NSW backrower about adding a fifth year to what was already a remarkable offer.
And still Young and his management were noncommittal. As far as Canberra were concerned, the process had gone on too long.
They had tabled a four-year deal worth $4.4m, the richest in their history.
To make sure Young put pen to paper, they threw in a fifth year, which would have kept him in the nation's capital until 2032, by which time he would have been 34.