NRL close to finalising new draw, with details coming Friday
NRL fans, stay by your screens – details of the new draw are set to be released on Friday, with an absolute blockbuster first up. PLUS, why Josh Reynolds will have to wait for Belmore return.
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The NRL were busy finalising the draw on Thursday night with weeks of uncertainty to end — at least in the short-term — with the announcement of at least the next two rounds on Friday.
NRL officials were locked in late night conversations with the game’s broadcasters as they moved to give coaches and players some clarity about who they will play when the competition resumes from round three on May 28.
Latrell Mitchell’s clash against his former side the Roosters is expected to feature on the return round – most likely on the Friday night. While a plan to play Parramatta and Wests Tigers on Monday has been scrapped. The rest of the 20 round regular season is expected to be known next week.
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Chairman Peter V’landys confirmed round three and four of the competition will be made public on Friday.
“We will issue the draw for the first two rounds,” V’landys said. “The problem we have is the broadcasters. We are caught in the middle of it, we are trying to finalise it.
“I’ve discussed with (chief executive) Andrew (Abdo) and Andrew and I agree we should just do the first two rounds to get the coaches up and going again. I’ve been pushing management to have it done but to be fair it doesn’t rest with them.
“We will do the rest by next week. I’m frustrated like everyone else about the draw.”
Clubs were told by the NRL on Thursday they will be allocated a home venue for the remainder of the season. That could change if restrictions on crowd numbers ease.
Bankwest Stadium will be one venue while NetStrata Jubilee Stadium was also being considered. Queensland teams are expected to be cleared to play at their respective home grounds while Newcastle and Canberra are likely to have to travel to Sydney for their matches. Knights coach Adam O’Brien said he was unconcerned about any plans to play games away from Newcastle.
“There are bigger things in the world than the knights having to travel down to Sydney on a bus,” O’Brien said. “I don’t care who we play. I just need to know what day we play.
There was speculation Brisbane would resume the season on Thursday night against a Sydney club.
V’LANDYS’ CURVE BALL FOR COACHES
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has warned coaches that by removing a referee he has taken away their control by throwing them a “curve ball”.
A defiant V’landys shrugged off criticism for leading the charge for returning to one referee and insisted he didn’t go it alone despite a large cross-section of coaches wanting to stick with two referee policy.
“I respect the coaches but the coaches job is to give their team an edge,” V’landys said. “My job is to get them on a level playing field. If they are manipulating the rules, I have to make sure they don’t so naturally they are the ones that are going to be against any such move. They’ve worked out how to get the edge, now there is a curve ball and that edge is not going to be there.
“Naturally at times the coaches and the commission are going to be in disagreement because at the end of it we are not trying to satisfy the coaches.
“We are determined to get rid of the wrestle and the slowing of the ruck. A lot of coaches are against that.”
Referees boss Bernie Sutton spent Thursday speaking with match officials to work out a strategy on how best to implement the changes. Among the considerations is ensuring one touch judge is focused on the ruck or having a ruck spotter in the bunker. Sutton also needs to iron out exactly how the ruck rules will work.
V’landys said he brought the rule in because if you “ignore your customer you do it at your own peril”.
“You have to talk to the fans,” V’landys said. “You have to consider the customer. The customer who is the fan pays the revenue to the game. Sometimes when we consult we just consult the participants.
“I talk to people all the time. Before this decision was made, I sought people’s views. I seek the fans’ views. Unfortunately everyone is listening to the loudest voice and that’s why I am deterred from the loudest voice.”
Wests Tigers coach Michel Maguire was part of a committee which met last Monday to decide if the game should stick with two refs. He was adamant he wanted it left alone.
“They have made the change,” Maguire said. “We have to go with it. We are going to have to adapt and change with it. Hopefully we work out how they are going to judge it from ruck to ruck and if we can take the two points or if it’s play on.
“I spoke to the boys straight away and said we have to accept it. We are going into the unknown.
“What does a six again look like? There are so many things that go on in the ruck. It will be a difference. We are going to have to change and move with it.”
FIFITA A GOOD FIT
CRONULLA big man Andrew Fifita is on restricted training duties because of his history of knee injuries, but he remains one of the club’s best trainers.
Sharks fitness freaks like Chad Townsend, Connor Tracey and Blayke Brailey have stood out, but trainer/football manager Mark Noakes says there have been a few surprises.
“Someone like Andrew Fifita has a massive engine for a big bloke,” Noakes said. “Andrew is also a bit different. He has to watch what he does because of his injuries. Some guys like him are on modified programs, so he plans his load, so he isn’t training every day.”
Meantime, Cronulla has claimed an off-field scalp by enticing Canterbury’s long-term chief financial officer Vince Costa to the club.
Costa spent 15 years at the Bulldogs and will help guide the Sharks during the development of Woolooware Bay and their Kareela Golf Club acquisition.
LISTEN! The Daily Telegraph NRL podcast runs an eye over the NRL’s new rule changes, Monday night football and Buzz Rothfield’s relationship with Gus Gould.
FLASHBACK: TODAY IN 1995
NSW were the unbackable favourites for the 1995 State of Origin series. Queensland went into the series severely understrength because of Super League, prompting the Blues to be the shortest-priced favourites in Origin history. Queensland coach Paul Vautin would only say: “What else is new. We have been underdogs for the past 15 years.” His NSW counterpart Phil Gould said: “Underdogs are usually decided by the press.” Gould was proved right when the Maroons won the series 3-0.
REMOTE CONTROL
THE NRL judiciary will have its first fully remote hearing next week in what could be the way it‘s run from now on. You could be forgiven for forgetting Titan Moeaki Fotuaika has a pending date with the NRL judiciary. That will happen on Tuesday night when he challenges his grade one dangerous contact charge. He will appear via conference call, which is common among interstate teams and the Warriors. Judiciary chairman Geoff Bellew will take his normal place at Moore Park HQ, while judiciary panel members could also follow the case by video link. Media are generally allowed to sit in but will now watch a stream from an adjacent room.
IRONY RULES OUT REYNOLDS
A BIT like the man himself, rumours Josh Reynolds is heading back to Canterbury will not quit.
Reynolds is long odds to return to Belmore and, despite the ongoing speculation, it seems only a surge of injuries in the halves would make a return possible.
It’s a sign of the costly irony of the big contract in the NRL. Reynolds was offered a massive deal to go to Wests Tigers, one so big it has effectively priced him out of a return to Belmore.
For that to happen, it might be all about timing.
Clubs are still waiting to see when the new June 30 deadline for player transfers will be as well as when final roster tallies have to be fulfilled.
So far, the noise from League Central has been one of silence.
EELS COACH HAPPY WITH GOLDEN BOY
SOME coaches, including Wayne Bennett, have told their players in no uncertain terms that they need to get rid of the bleached blond hair that has sprouted during the league lockdown. So Parramatta young gun Dylan Brown was fearing the worst when coach Brad Arthur approached him about his new golden top when the Eels returned to training.
“Two days ago Brad said to me, ‘Are you going to keep that hair colour?’” Brown said. “I said, ‘Yeah, why? Is there a problem’? Brad said, ‘No, I love it’. He actually likes it.”
ACCC ON CASE OVER MEMBER REFUNDS
MONTHS after Collingwood bossEddie McGuire sparked the debate over clubs refunding memberships, the ACCC has poked its head into the NRL and AFL to see what’s doing.
Officially, the ACCC is seeking information. More specifically, the body is looking to see if clubs are refunding annual memberships or, if not, how members, or if members, are being compensated
Given the financial difficulties, some clubs like the Broncos have offered to make good on this year’s commitment next season.
It would provide clubs with valuable cash to get through this tough period, something McGuire alluded to when he refused to say if Pies fans would get their memberships refunded, adding some clubs could go broke if forced to refund them all.
Gillon McLachlan, the AFL boss, later confirmed members would get full refunds if they asked.
The implications could be costly. NRL clubs are set to lose between $1 million and $4 million each, depending on the size of the club, after refunding memberships.
The hidden cost is that memberships transferred to next season will affect next year’s budget.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Corey Hughes, 234 games (Canterbury — 234, Cronulla — 21) from 1998-2009
JUST weeks before facing off against legends Allan Langer and Kevin Walters in the 1998 grand final, Corey Hughes was a part-time footballer who balanced playing with his carpentry apprenticeship.
Hughes was just 20 when he was part of the Canterbury side which lost 38-12 to Brisbane, having made his top grade debut earlier that season.
“I was just a kid with nothing to lose,” Hughes said. “The media hype was huge … I just wish the game finished at halftime because we had them on toast leading 12-10.”
The Hughes family is Bulldogs royalty with Corey the last of six family members to play for the club. He featured in the top grade alongside brothers Steven and Glen, while dad Garry and uncles Mark and Graeme were stars in the 1970s and 1980s.
Corey was soon a premiership winner, starting off the bench in the 2004 win over the Roosters, having made the switch from the halves to hooker.
“When I got to my early 20s the writing was on the wall for me to play hooker,” Hughes said. “The transition was easy as enjoyed it in the middle of the field.
“The (2004) grand final happened really quickly. It wasn’t the greatest game on earth but all that mattered was the result.”
While always a Bulldog, Hughes played his final NRL season with Cronulla in 2009. He revealed being tempted to leave Belmore only once before — as part of a package deal with his brothers to join an English club in the early 2000s. But Steven and Glen opted to stay to help Corey’s career blossom.
Hughes, who is a stevedore at Port Botany, said he spoke with his family before becoming the first Hughes to play for another team.
“You can stay in places too long,” Hughes said. “I’ve got no regrets going to another club. I spoke to my brothers, my uncles and my old man about it. I didn’t need any clarification from them, “I just wanted them to know my position. I just needed a change and to get out of Canterbury.
“I have a soft spot for the Sharks but I am a Canterbury man.”
Originally published as NRL close to finalising new draw, with details coming Friday