Moves, Rumours,Judiciary, Injuries ...

[Graham]

10 minutes ago, DavidM said:

I always  find things like this rather bizarre . Robinson is an articulate , reasoned , well spoken guy . He rarely if ever just rants , and even here when he must have been really angry and upset he made his points in a pointed but cogent way ... and he was absolutely right . He pointed out facts , as accepted by the refs bosses ,and he gets a  fine for it .  And he must stop reoffending , which I presume means say it how it is . 

Yes and they are bolstering their approach to gagging him with the suspended $10,000 fine while Graham Annesley himself was critical of those same match officials and sacked those bunkermen for the rest of the round.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Graham

[Graham]

Peter V'landys 'Racing boss' and chair of ARL Commission

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9578555/Racing-boss-Peter-Vlandys-LOSES-defamation-case-against-ABC-explosive-expose.html

[Graham]

Craig Bellamy is set to set to stay at Storm until the end of 2022.
Apparently he  “is poised to commit to coaching Melbourne again next year, extending his association with the club to a 20th season.
And in a further boost for the Storm, Ryan Papenhuyzen is close to agreeing to a new two-year extension that will result in him staying put until the end of 2024" - Sydney Morning Herald
 

[Graham]

Parramatta’s chief playmaker Mitchell Moses has reporedly taken up the option in his contract for 2022 — and in an even bigger boost for the club he’s set to extend for a further three seasons beyond that.

Moses had until this round to make a call on whether he’d take up the option or not. The Australian’s Brent Read is reporting the 26-year-old has taken up that option and will also sign a new deal with the club.

[Graham]

Construction of a $16.9m rugby league hub is underway in Broadmeadows, a development which will benefit grassroots rugby league in Victoria and become the new home for NRL Victoria and Touch Football Victoria.

The development has been made possible due to a $12 million investment by the Victorian Government, with contributions from the NRL, Melbourne Storm and the City of Hume to develop facilities for local club Northern Thunder as part of the project.

[Graham]

Former Canberra playmaker Blake Austin has been linked to a return to the NRL, with the Gold Coast Titans understood to be leading the chase for the off-contract veteran.

Austin, who has also previously featured with the Wests Tigers and Penrith Panthers, has recently come out-of-favour with English Super League outfit Warrington.

As reported by League Express, the Titans are one of several clubs keeping close tabs on the 30-year-old, who is yet to decide his future past this season.

[DavidM]

3 hours ago, Graham said:

Former Canberra playmaker Blake Austin has been linked to a return to the NRL, with the Gold Coast Titans understood to be leading the chase for the off-contract veteran.

Austin, who has also previously featured with the Wests Tigers and Penrith Panthers, has recently come out-of-favour with English Super League outfit Warrington.

As reported by League Express, the Titans are one of several clubs keeping close tabs on the 30-year-old, who is yet to decide his future past this season.

He’d have fell on his feet there 

[DoubleD]

28 minutes ago, DavidM said:

He’d have fell on his feet there 

His form has really dropped off and he looks a weakness in the defensive line now, which I never noticed before. I don't see him being a NRL starter...........he's not even a Warrington starter anymore if everyone is fit!

[Graham]

Quote

 

A three-way player swap could be on the cards with the Broncos, Cowboys and Tigers all involved and possible movement coming as early as next week.

That is according to The Australian’s Brent Read who told Triple M on Thursday night that he expects the Cowboys will once again approach the Broncos about letting Tom Dearden join the club early.

Dearden is set to switch to North Queensland next season but Read believes the Cowboys want him now and would be happy to let Jake Clifford move to Newcastle, where he will land in 2022.

That then could see the Tigers release Billy Walters early to join Brisbane, who he has been heavily linked to.

“I think the next month is going to be a frenzy of player movement and the Broncos will be at the heart of it,” Read said.

“Tom Dearden has not been sighted for a month or so. I think this is going to be a domino effect. I think next week the Cowboys will ask the question again about Tom Dearden, I suspect they will get him early.

 

Could, may, possibly ...

[Graham]

Round 11 carries on where R10 finished off:

On reports and binnings are the order of the day:

Sharks trio Mawene Hiroti, Josh Dugan and Teig Wiltonand Dragons forward Josh Kerr are facing suspensions following a review of Friday's matches.

Hiroti is facing a 1-2 week ban for a grade 2 careless high tackle on Dragon fullback Cody Ramsey and Wilton a similar sanction after being charged for a crusher tackle on St George Illawarra prop Paul Vaughan.

Dugan was handed the same charge as Hiroti but a discount for seven years of incident-free play means he faces a one-week ban for either an early guilty plea or an unsuccessful trip to the judiciary.

Kerr is facing a 1-2 week ban after being charged with a shoulder charge offence.

Two other players were charged following the review of Friday's games, with Paul Vaughan and Warriors second-rower Eliesa Katoa both attracting fines.

Cowboys star Jason Taumalolo and fellow forward Lachlan Burr are facing two-match bans after being charged with careless high tackles.

They were each sin-binned in North Queensland's win over Newcastle on Thursday night. 

That’s just Thursday and Friday games.

Taumalolo has been charged with a grade-two careless high tackle for a shot on Knights forward Tyson Frizell in the 25th minute while Burr received a grade-one offence for his 30th-minute hit on Jayden Brailey.

They can each halve their suspension to one match if they submit an early guilty plea.

 

 

[Graham]

Newcastle Knights will bolster their roster with mid-season recruit Jake Clifford joining the club next week.

The halfback is expected to play one final game for the North Queensland Cowboys before joining the Knights ahead of Round 13. (Signed up for two seasons)

ALSO...

Club officials are reportedly moving closer to finalising a deal for the controversial Brisbane Bronco Matthew Lodge, the Newcastle Herald reports. Once completed, the prop will join the club immediately.

The deal is expected to be signed in the upcoming week and would allow him to also debut against the Eels. The Broncos will still be paying half of Lodge’s $800,000-a-year salary.

[DavidM]

On 22/05/2021 at 20:53, Graham said:

Dugan was handed the same charge as Hiroti but a discount for seven years of incident-free play

I nearly fell over there thinking that said 7 years of injury free play

[Futtocks]

In the face of fierce opposition from Officer Dibble...

 

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Jarryd Hayne Update - No FOXTEL in Jail and potentially stripped of his two Dally M awards...

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/haynes-new-home-revealed-after-prison-switch/news-story/7ad3caeea8b817d0975751495bb24c5b

[DavidM]

After just 987 days in the wilderness , during the prime of his career , Jack De Belin is named to play this weekend . No hard feelings eh ?

[Futtocks]

 

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

After just 987 days in the wilderness , during the prime of his career , Jack De Belin is named to play this weekend . No hard feelings eh ?

Just posted this in De Belin trial thread. Cannot imagine how the guy is looking feeling.  Surely he has been punished preemptively and unfairly if he is not convicted of any offence.

[DavidM]

43 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

 

Outstanding signing for them 

[DoubleD]

55 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

 

Does that suggest he will be starting FB instead of Kennedy next season? He wanted to leave Melbourne for more regular footy so you'd have thought he'd have got assurances from the Sharks before he put pen to paper. I don't think there's much in it between the 2 of them personally, Kennedy has come on a lot over the past year. Still suspect defensively mind

[DavidM]

51 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Does that suggest he will be starting FB instead of Kennedy next season? He wanted to leave Melbourne for more regular footy so you'd have thought he'd have got assurances from the Sharks before he put pen to paper. I don't think there's much in it between the 2 of them personally, Kennedy has come on a lot over the past year. Still suspect defensively mind

It was interesting that I read something saying he’d played most of his second grade rugby at 6 . I didn’t know that , he looks such a natural fullback

[DoubleD]

5 minutes ago, DavidM said:

It was interesting that I read something saying he’d played most of his second grade rugby at 6 . I didn’t know that , he looks such a natural fullback

Yes I did wonder if that was another option for them. I wasn't convinced by him at first but his rate of improvement has been significant and don't think he'd be wanting to sit out of first grade

[Clogiron]

52 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Does that suggest he will be starting FB instead of Kennedy next season? He wanted to leave Melbourne for more regular footy so you'd have thought he'd have got assurances from the Sharks before he put pen to paper. I don't think there's much in it between the 2 of them personally, Kennedy has come on a lot over the past year. Still suspect defensively mind

I think it's a terrible move for him personally, the Shark's want to play him in the halves and the Storm wouldn't match the money being offered more fool them. There's a awful lot of ageing dead wood at Cronulla that needs replacing for them to be a challenger so I hope he's been given some assurances that's going to happen.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Man of the people, and super coach, Phil Gould squashes talk of moving to the Bulldogs.

Another Buzz "bomb" in the Sydney Daily Telegraph

Quote

@PhilGould15

 

Bulldogs did approach me some weeks ago regarding a possible role with the club. I informed Bulldog Chairman John Khoury early last week that I could not accept the very kind offer. I’m very committed to my role with @NZWarriors and the long term vision we share. Thank you.

https://twitter.com/PhilGould15?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

[Graham]

5 hours ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Man of the people, and super coach, Phil Gould squashes talk of moving to the Bulldogs.

Another Buzz "bomb" in the Sydney Daily Telegraph

https://twitter.com/PhilGould15?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

I’m not on Twitter. Following that link I had to laugh. The twitterings I saw in his name were so polite with pleases and thank yous, general politeness and consideration. Are we sure it really is his account? 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Graham

[DavidM]

21 hours ago, Clogiron said:

I think it's a terrible move for him personally, the Shark's want to play him in the halves and the Storm wouldn't match the money being offered more fool them. There's a awful lot of ageing dead wood at Cronulla that needs replacing for them to be a challenger so I hope he's been given some assurances that's going to happen.

Agreed , he should have gone to the Dragons