Eastwood ready to join Rhinos
Greg Eastwood (pictured, number 14) is set to join Leeds Rhinos
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Thursday, 08, Jan 2009 01:06
New Zealand international Greg Eastwood is all set to join his new Leeds Rhinos team-mates for their Florida training camp after being cleared for a move to the UK.
Eastwood, who was part of the Kiwis side who won the Rugby League World Cup last November, is awaiting final confirmation from Canberra over his application for a British passport.
And once this is approved, Eastwood - whose father was born in Huddersfield – will be free to link up with his new club following his transfer from NRL side Brisbane Broncos.
Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington said: "It has been quite a drawn out process, but I'm delighted to say that Greg has now received his certificate and that has now been sent off to complete the process at Canberra.
"Greg has spoken to directly to the authorities and they have him they will give his application their stamp of approval and return it immediately.
"He is expecting to be in possession of that by the end of the week, which will enable him to jump on a plane and join us."
Leeds leave for their warm-weather camp in the United States this weekend and even if Eastwood has failed to make it to Britain in time to fly out with the squad, Hetherington revealed they have made provision for him to jet straight to Florida from his Brisbane home.
"We have a number of provisional bookings on flights for him so he can set off as soon as he has his passport," the chief executive continued.
"That includes arriving here at the weekend before joining up with the team on Monday morning and flying to America.
"Alternatively, he could fly from Brisbane straight to Jacksonville. That would mean a round-the-world trip from Brisbane to Los Angeles, Chicago and then Jacksonville, where he'd meet up with the team coming from the other direction."
"It is a complex process and trying to deal with government agencies 12,000 miles away is not straightforward.
"However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel now. We have been in daily contact with Greg and I know he can not wait to get here and start his new life with the Rhinos and we can’t wait to have him here."