R L Winger

100% Agree

RESULT Australian Indigenous All-Stars 34...Deafeated...New Zealand Maori Kiwis 14

Corey Norman wanted to ensure his new teammates were comfortable with him joining the club before finalising a move from Parramatta, so it was frustrating he had to apologise for the fallout from a leaked video in his first week of training with the Dragons. The St George Illawarra club is known to perform extensive due diligence before signing players, with club stalwart Craig Young – an ex-detective – in charge of integrity, so officials were aware of the video’s existence and Norman had already been punished by the NRL three years ago. After serving an eight-match ban and being hit with a $20,000 fine in 2016, Norman has steered clear of off-field trouble and was seeking a fresh start with the Dragons after a horror 2018 season with the Eels, in which they finished last and it was made clear he had no future at the club. “I didn’t want to bring that drama here,” Norman said. “That was three years ago, my punishment was eight games and a fine so it has been dealt with and I have moved on. For it to pop up like that, I just felt sorry for the boys, the coaching staff and the fans. “I rang the club straight away, I gave Mary [coach Paul McGregor] and the team management a heads-up and I gave the boys a heads-up as well. I guess that’s the world we live in these days, as we can see now. As players, we have just got to be careful.” The release of the video in mid-January meant it wasn’t until Norman’s fourth week of training at WIN Stadium before the star playmaker was introduced to the media as a St George Illawarra player. In between, he has been focused on building relationships with a new group of players, trying to determine where he will fit into one of the strongest spines in the Telstra Premiership and regaining the form that him in consideration for Queensland Origin selection in 2017. Backing from Hunt and Widdop Norman had played alongside Ben Hunt in Brisbane’s 2009 under 20s team and at NRL level before his departure for Parramatta in 2014, but besides the halfback he knew only a handful of Dragons players. However, the 28-year-old was aware St George Illawarra had developed into a tight-knit group under McGregor so he felt it was crucial to gain the endorsement of Hunt and captain Gareth Widdop before quitting the final year of his contract with the Eels. “I didn’t want to come down here and step on anyone’s toes or make people uncomfortable,” Norman said. “Getting the OK from the boys made it easier. That’s just what I felt was right. “When I got the approval of Benny that he’d be keen and I spoke to Mary, and he spoke to Gaz and Gaz was keen to get me down here as well, that was a relief and sped up the process a bit. “They’re a good bunch of blokes down here and they are pretty tight, I noticed that straight away. I am just trying to find my role in the team.” Five-eighth or fullback? Hunt and Widdop were one of the leading halves pairings in the NRL last season, McGregor rates Cameron McInnes as the game’s No.1 hooker and fullback Matt Dufty was a revelation in his first full season of first grade but there will be a reshuffle to accommodate Norman. McGregor asked him about playing fullback before he signed but he has also spoken to Widdop about making a positional switch from five-eighth in a move that suggests Dufty could find himself on the bench or in the Intrust Super Premiership. Hunt can also play hooker if McInnes is unavailable or needs a spell. “I asked where I was going to play and told them that my preferred position would be five-eighth, and they said would you be open to playing fullback as well,” Norman said. “I said whatever is good for the team and I think they spoke to Gareth and he was the same - he’d prefer to play five-eighth but is open to playing fullback as well so we will just see what happens. You will probably see me and Gaz at the back at some stage. “We’ve all been swapping around at training and there is just so much depth there. I think that is the exciting thing, with the depth and the variation of how we can move everyone around. Expectations of fans Norman’s three-year deal ensures that St George Illawarra already have a long-term replacement for Widdop, who is returning home to England to play for Warrington in 2020. However, as Hunt found in his first season with the club last year, Dragons fans can be demanding and the club’s playmakers are under constant pressure and scrutiny. “It’s a bit harsher down in Sydney compared to up in Brisbane,” Norman said. “I thought it was a bit unnecessary and Benny copped a bit of flak when he shouldn’t have but he has dealt with that and it is a new season so no doubt he will have a cracker this year. “I have played with Benny at the Broncos in under 20s and first grade. We played plenty of good games together when Locky [Darren Lockyer] and Wal [Peter Wallace] were out. I think we just complement each other’s games a lot. “I can help him out organising and he will start running, and he will do the same for me. I think Benny really helps my running game so that will be good. You have got Gaz there as well and he is a world class player so we are trying to get that balance. “I’m coming into a quality side so I don’t have to do anything spectacular or anything like that. I have just got to do my role and do it well within the team. When you have got a quality side like this your role simplifies within the team and that makes it a lot easier.” What went wrong at Parramatta Norman no longer wants to dwell on how things turned so bad for him and the Eels team last season as he has now moved on. However, Norman admits he had been on the outer since early last season and the constant struggle to win a game took its toll. “It definitely wasn’t a season that was up to scratch for me or the Parramatta Eels as well, so I definitely want to come out and have a lot better year than I did last year. “Only winning four games last year was pretty bad and I think you don’t realise how tough it is mentally until you step away. Looking back, it was really draining and one of the toughest seasons I have had. “As a player, I am still stumped. Sometimes you can try too hard and it gets even worse. That was probably the case with a lot of us but that is behind me now. “From early in the season it was no secret that I wasn’t in their plans after this year. I am glad we could all get it sorted out so Brad and the boys can get on with their season, and I am down here gelling with a new team so it worked out well.”

The NRL’s leading women’s adviser says that Dragons superstar Jack de Belin should be benched until a rape charge against him is ­finalised in court. Professor Catharine Lumby’s call came as NRL ­officials, including boss Todd Greenberg, and club chief ­executives prepare to meet in Melbourne tonight to thrash out a plan to fine players up to $250,000 for misbehaviour. De Belin, 27, was back training with St George Illawarra in Wollongong yesterday as the outrage intensified after an ugly off-season involving a string of alleged violent acts against women. “If he does not stand himself aside, I believe the NRL and the club need to make that happen,” Prof Lumby said. “Potentially on full pay, but he should not be on the field.” Prof Lumby’s stance is supported by an overwhelming majority of fans who voted in The Daily Telegraph sports editor-at-large Phil Rothfield’s social media poll asking whether de Belin should be allowed to continue to take the field. De Belin has pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman in a Wollongong apartment in December. The matter has been adjourned until April 17, but it could take 18 months before a verdict is delivered. So far the NRL has publicly supported the Dragons’ decision to let their Origin forward play on, and that position was backed yesterday by league legends Mark Coyne and Graeme Hughes. But while Prof Lumby said it would be reasonable to continue paying de Belin, he should not be allowed to play. “While innocent until proven guilty is an important principle, overridingly, there is also the question of the message that allowing someone who has been charged with a very serious sexual assault on to the field sends,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “I think in the balance, not just to the game but for society, that should not happen. “He should not be on the field. It is very important that we do not prejudge the outcome of this trial. “However, when you are in a position of being a role model, and let’s imagine that a teacher at a high school was charged with sexual assault, or let’s imagine a priest was, would we want them standing up before high school students or their congregation?” Prof Lumby’s message comes in direct opposition to a warning from former District Court judge Paul Conlon, who told the Telegraph de Belin’s legal rights to a ­presumption of innocence would be dramatically influenced if the NRL took action before the case was settled. Mr Conlon, a former NRL judiciary chairman, noted that already in the player code of conduct there was a provision that when a player is charged with a criminal offence, the NRL would not seek to impose any sanction until the court process has been completed. “It would be a rather extraordinary proposition for the rugby league to say, in effect, that we know every citizen in our community has the right to the presumption of innocence except for rugby league players, who are going to be deemed guilty until they can prove themselves innocent,” Mr Conlon said. “To suggest that you are not inferring guilt is a little hard to accept when the effect on the public hearing that a player has been suspended will be that they assume that the NRL has made its determination. Jack de Belin returns to Dragons training at WIN Stadium. “The thing is, from the point of view of a criminal judge, it would take a very strong direction to a jury that they must disregard any suspension action taken by the NRL and not allow it to influence their impartial adjudication of the facts.” Coyne, a Dragons great who is now on the Australian Rugby League Commission, supported the game’s decision to follow the laws of the land. “You have to give him the benefit of innocence before he is proven guilty,” Coyne said. “I know it is causing a lot of disharmony in the fans’ eyes. But what happens if the trial lasts for two years and he is found innocent and he has had two years of what is a very short career out of the game?” Coyne said, if proven, the allegations “are terrible and there is no place in our game for behaviour like that”. Hughes referred to past cases where NRL stars were wrongly accused. “What, are we going to change the laws of our country?” he said. “I have thought long about it and I have learnt a hell of a lot from the Bulldogs’ saga (in 2004), Brett Stewart and Shaun Kenny-Dowall. And the thing is the initial reaction cannot be to turn yourselves into a hanging party.”

Friday February 15 Indigenous All Stars v Maori All Stars: at AAMI Park Women's game 5.20pm (Broadcast live on Gem, Fox League & NRL Pass) Men's game 8pm (Broadcast live on Nine, Fox League & NRL Pass) Eels v Raiders: 7pm at St Marys Leagues Stadium Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, parraeels.com.au Saturday February 16 Broncos v Souths Logan: 6pm (7pm AEDT) at Father Ranger Oval, Warwick Monday February 18 Wigan Warriors v Sydney Roosters: Monday, February 18, 6.05am AEDT, DW Stadium, Wigan (Broadcast live on Gem, Fox League & NRL Live Pass) Friday February 22 Storm v Warriors: 7.30pm (AEDT) at Kardinia Park, Geelong Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, melbournestorm.com.au, warriors.kiwi Saturday February 23 Titans v Cowboys: 5pm (6pm AEDT) at Sunshine Coast Stadium Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, cowboys.com.au, titans.com.au Rabbitohs v Panthers: 6pm at Redfern Oval Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, rabbitohs.com.au, penrithpanthers.com.au Raiders v Bulldogs: 6pm at Bega Recreation Ground Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, raiders.com.au, bulldogs.com.au Dragons v Knights: 6.30pm at Jubilee Stadium Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, dragons.com.au, newcastleknights.com.au Broncos v Wynnum Seagulls: 7pm (8pm AEDT) at Kougari Oval, Wynnum Sea Eagles v Sharks: 7:30pm at Lottoland Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com Saturday March 2 Warriors v Wests Tigers: 5pm (3pm AEDT) at Northland Events Centre, Whangarei, NZ Knights v Sharks: 5.30pm at Maitland No. 1 Sportsground Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, newcastleknights.com.au, sharks.com.au Titans v Broncos: 6:30pm (7.30pm AEDT) at Cbus Super Stadium Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, titans.com.au, broncos.com.au Cowboys v Storm: 7pm (8pm AEDT) at Mackay Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, cowboys.com.au Panthers v Eels: 7pm at Panthers Stadium Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com, penrithpanthers.com.au Sea Eagles v Roosters: 7pm Central Coast Stadium Live stream with free NRL Account on NRL.com Dragons v Rabbitohs Charity Shield: 7.30pm at Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee

My Pick.....Sydney Roosters

Wigan Warriors v Sydney Roosters

MY PICK...Australian Indigenous All-Stars

Australian Indigenous All-Stars VS New Zealand Maori Kiwis

A few nicknames by HG & Roy Given To Players Sniffer Wilson - Scott Wilson Deborah Kerr - Alf Langer The Brick With Eyes - Glen Lazarus The Cumquat - Kevvy Walters The Quince - Steve Walter Three Knees - Michael Hancock. The Burning Map - John Cartwright The Tap - Mark Geyer Dishhead - Greg Dowling Chicken George - Mal Meninga Sir Constable, Knighted For His Services To Rugby League - Craig Young. The Underpant - Dan Stains Chock Full Of The Angry Pills - Trevor Gillmeister The Blanket - Scott Gale Snakey Substances - Gary Belcher Two Tries A Game Never Been Picked For A Test Match - John Ferguson Totally - Ian Roberts Tee Hee - Terry Lamb King Of The Kids - Terry Hill The Datsun 180B - Dale Shearer Chili Con Carne - Willie Carne The Poo In The Shoe - Julian ONeill Inaction Jackson - Peter Jackson Susan Renouf - Steve Renouf The Clip-Clop Club - Paul Hauff The Squirrel Gripper - Martin Bella The $2 Quote - Gary Coyne Captain In A Cab - Brad Fittler Back Door Benny - Benny Ellias

http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?assoc=2120&name=Tasmania Rugby League&client=%40%40%40%40%40%40%40%40%40%407%40

That is why the NRL don't play games on the Moon.

There is that word 'If' a very undecided word me thinks.

If Paul McGregor is 100% up to the job of coach and mentor and the Players stay as close to 100% fit, as possible. As well as getting Jack De Belin back innocent of charges against him before the start of the season. This will be the Dragons season and the scoreline they ran up against the Broncos in the semis in season 2018 will become a common sight....GO THE MIGHTY ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS IN 2019.

Today in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph Pill Buzz Rothfield predicts. The St George Illawarra Dragons will take out the 2019 NRL Premiership.