Edinburgh Monarchs are considering paying a club record fee of up to £30,000 to transfer Ross Brady from Peterborough. Brady has proved a major hit with Edinburgh while on loan this season and the Monarchs promotion have made no secret of their interest in buying his contract. The fact that Edinburgh asset, Jan Andersen, has been on loan at Peterborough for the last two years could act as a bargaining counter. John Campbell said:
"We are obviously interested in buying his contract, we'd be fools not to. The story came about in a jokey sort of way at the British Grand Prix. Our chairman Alex Harkess said to Peterborough boss Jim Lynch 'we'll give you Jan Andersen and £1,000 for Ross'. Jim came up to me later in the night and asked what I thought. I replied £1,000 was too much!"
"We met again at the rained-off National Fours and Jim told me the price had gone up to £1,100! That's as far as it goes. Jim knows we are interested in Ross. However there has been no serious discussion, because now is not the time to discuss the boy's future."
"It's impossible to think ahead at the moment because Jan may not figure in Peterborough's plans for next year. While £2,000 or £3,000 plus Jan may might be a selling price, if you remove Jan from the equation, the price may go out of our reach."
"And of course, Ross will want his say. He may wish to remain on Peterborough's books and he may not wish to be on Edinburgh's books."
"We are too far apart distance-wise to knw how popular Jan is at Peterborough. And Jim won't know how popular Ross is up here. So I cannot say Jan is the most crucial member of Peterborough's side. However I wouldn't have any thoughts about using Jan again in our team, he is not the most valuble rider to us in Edinburgh."
"But if £30,000 is the price to have Ross on the Edinburgh's books for the rest of his career, some hard decisions will have to be made. Let's just say that he's one of the most sought-after riders in the country."
Brady who appears likely to stay with Monarchs next season as a heat leader, was reluctant to comment about his contract:
"I had heard rumours that Edinburgh had tried to buy it. But I don't want to say anything on the subject until something concrete happens. However, I think I am worth more than £1,100!"
[This news item was added on September 1st 1999]