James Horwill comments on Iain Henderson make his current situation baffling

Contracts have been signed, deals have been rebuffed, broad agreements have been reached. More importantly, progress is being made.

At present, heading into 2018, we know Simon Zebo is leaving next summer and all the talk is about Racing 92. Connacht are losing Jake Heenan and Ulster will say goodbye to Charles Piutau. There will still be foreign players arriving in the hopes of one day being Irish qualified but anyone that touches down in the country next summer will have to wait until 2023 before they satisfy World Rugby's new eligibility rules. The IRFU took some flak in late November and early December as some contract talks appeared to be stalling and first-up offers from the union were, in some cases, underwhelming. However, as on December 31st 2017 here are the Ireland players that have signed new deals:

• CJ Stander
• Peter O'Mahony
• Tadhg Furlong
• Kieran Marmion
• Kieran Treadwell
• Rob Herring
• Luke Marshall

Added to that, Jordi Murphy and Marty Moore have signed new deals and ones that will see them line out for Ulster next season. The currently uncapped Tadhg Beirne is joining Munster from Scarlets next summer. Here are the other players not officially announced yet but who SportsJOE understands have signed contract extensions:

• Rory Best
• Garry Ringrose
• Sean Cronin
• Rob Kearney

That leaves four major names without new deals done yet. Ulster fans must be concerned that three of them concern their players. Tommy Bowe is unlikely to be offered a central contract by the IRFU so is mulling over a provincial deal with the prospect of seeing out his career elsewhere. Jacob Stockdale's agents could probably argue that he is worth a central contract but, like Ringrose, he may have to settle for a well-paid provincial deal. Andrew Conway is flying it for Munster and Ireland but there is, as yet, no word on whether he has signed a new, provincial deal. That leaves Iain Henderson. Talking to The Hard Yards on December 21, Henderson commented:

"Hopefully there will be a decision made soon, or some pen will go to paper over the next couple of weeks."

There has been no update on Henderson's contract since then. The player himself led Ulster for a sixth time this season, in the December 23 loss to Connacht, but has been rested from the New Years' Day clash with Munster at Kingspan Stadium. James Horwill can relate to Henderson on a lot of levels. The Australian star plays in the same position as the Ulsterman, had captaincy thrust upon him in his mid 20s and watched him in action against his Harlequins team twice in December. Horwill told The Hard Yards:

"Henderson is a guy who is a real work-horse. In the Lions Series, he was unlucky not to get Test caps. I thought he played exceptionally well. He's a guy that has that ability to just drive his legs through contact. You might not think he is going to get through but, eventually, he just pumps his legs and makes yards. "You saw [at The Stoop] that he just rolled his sleeves up and worked hard in some pretty awful conditions and took the game by the scruff of his neck. You can see he's a player that guys like to play with as he is pretty unassuming. Not too flashy - gets in, gets his ead down and gets the job done. He's a great asset to Ulster but also to Ireland.  "He's definitely, I'd imagine, a key guy for Ireland going forward to the World Cup in 2019."

Game obviously respects game. We are still waiting on good news regarding that Henderson contract but it is surely only a matter of time before he gets the deal he wants, and deserves. It is baffling and, for Ulster fans, frustrating that it has been allowed to drag beyond Christmas and into 2018. You can listen to the full James Horwill interview on The Hard Yards from 35:30 below: