Wednesday, September 13 2006 15:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Sydney: Australian rugby great Mat Rogers is set to return to rugby league in a deal reputed to be worth 600,000 dollars on a two-year contract, it was reported on Tuesday (12 Sep, 2006).

The 30-year-old is to join the Gold Coast Titans after the rugby union World Cup next year, when his contract is finished with the Australian Rugby Union, according to the Australian paper the Daily Telegraph.

The move is set to be confirmed on Wednesday (13 Sep, 2006) at a press conference.

Rogers built his sporting reputation in rugby league where he was rated as one of the finest fullbacks of his generation playing seven Tests for Australia (1998-2000), scoring 98 points but then switched codes to the astonishment of many in 2002.

Unlike fellow rugby league convert Wendell Sailor, who is now serving a ban from the sport for taking cocaine, Rogers made a successful transition and was a key member of the Wallaby side that reached the 2003 World Cup final where they lost to England metronome Johnny Wilkinson's drop goal in the last minute of extra-time.

The ARU says they accept his decision.

"I respect his right to make a decision about his future," chief executive Gary Flowers tells sources.

"It's in the best interests of himself and his family. It is post-World Cup." "He has been a great Wallaby and I wish him all the best for the future."

Rogers, who has recently undergone knee surgery, has had a traumatic year on the personal front with his father Steve, himself a rugby league star in his day, committing suicide in January and he missed three Super 14 matches as he found it difficult to cope with it.