Parramatta playmaker Corey Norman insists he hasn’t spoken to his manager about leaving the Eels at the end of the NRL season.
Norman is off contract at Parramatta at the end of next season, however he and halfback Mitchell Moses have struggled to find cohesion at the last-placed Eels this year.
The five-eighth previously denied suggestions he was unhappy at the club this year, and his name has recently been mentioned in reports as potential options for both Manly and Newcastle as early as 2019.
But Norman said he had no knowledge of plans about the departure.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard of it,” he said.
“I’m more worried about getting us off the bottom of the table and worrying about the team and playing some good football.
“That’s football. It happens all the time. I can only control what I’m doing out on the paddock. That’s all I can do.”
Asked if he’d been in any discussions with his manager this year about his future, Norman said he had not.
“Not really. It’s all been tossed up in the media but I’m worried about getting this team off the bottom of the ladder and having a good back half of the year,” Norman said.
“Your guess is as good as mine (where it’s come from) to be honest.”
Norman will be reunited with Moses in the halves on Thursday night against St George Illawarra, after he was moved to fullback last month and then returned to the halves when Moses was injured.
However that experiment is now definitely over, with Norman set to keep the No.7 jersey after he guided the Eels to a win over North Queensland before the representative round and Moses to wear the No.6 on return.
“I’ll be playing in the halves,” Norman said.
“I play where Brad put me and he thought that (fullback) was the best position for me that week.”
Meanwhile the Eels remain uncertain on how long they will be without forward Manu Ma’u.
Ma’u fractured his cheekbone in Tonga’s defeat of Samoa on Saturday night, and is still awaiting scans.