NRL 2023: Dragons set to be granted salary cap dispensation for Cody Ramsey | Sport Confidential
The Dragons have been left in recruitment limbo after submitting a request for salary cap dispensation for Cody Ramsey. See the full SPORT CONFIDENTIAL.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
St George Illawarra are hopeful the NRL will grant the club salary cap exemption for the career-threatening injury to fullback Cody Ramsey.
The Dragons first submitted a request for salary cap dispensation in January and despite the protracted wait are now hopeful a decision will be reached next week.
The delay has hamstrung the Dragons potential recruitment for this year with the club effectively operating one short on their 28-man roster as they remain in limbo.
Ramsey was ruled out for the entire season early in the new year after he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis before Christmas.
The club has stuck by Ramsey and are fully committed to his rehabilitation with the 23-year-old refusing to give up hope of an NRL return.
Had Ramsey been medically retired the Dragons would have received cap exemption. Clubs are also given cap relief if a player is charged with a serious off-field offence or is injured during representative commitments.
However, so far there has been no allowance for a life-threatening illness such as Ramsey’s condition.
The club want to support Ramsey’s path back to the NRL and will honour the final year of his contract next season.
Ramsey has maintained a presence at the Dragons when he has been medically able to.
He spent several weeks in hospital and has undergone multiple operations since November.
The condition causes inflammation and ulcers on the bowel and digestive tract. It is a disease most often caused by an immune system malfunction that can lead to life-threatening complications.
EX-NRL STAR’S COACHING CAREER
The coaching career of former NRL star Tony ‘T Rex’ Williams is over before it started.
Williams was due to make his coaching debut after signing up to take charge of South West Goannas in the Macarthur region as captain/coach of the club.
He even tried to get his mate Jarryd Hayne to play.
And then he went missing.
Williams failed to turn up to a number of training sessions. And then he didn’t attend the club’s first two games of the season.
South West Goannas president Mark Baird confirmed T Rex had been released by mutual agreement.
ENGLISH STAR BOUNCING BACK FROM SHOCK AXING
Dom Young admits his confidence was dented but showed why he was in such demand after bouncing back to score four tries for the Knights last Saturday.
Young was axed from the top grade after a horror showing against the Dolphins last month just weeks after signing with the Roosters on a long-term deal.
Instead of dragging his feet he was Newcastle’s best player in NSW Cup and was given a call-up to take on the Sea Eagles last week after winger Hymel Hunt succumbed to a rib injury.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Young said. “I wanted to come here and prove what I’m about. I am an NRL player. I thought I did that. Hopefully I can keep that position for the year.
“It takes a little dent. I’m a confident player. I like to express myself out there. When I go out there I wasn’t nervous. I knew what I needed to do.”
Young retuned with a bang clinching the try which drew the scores level in the dying stages of the match.
He pounced on a cross-field kick from Phoenix Crossland and towered above opposite Reuben Garrick.
“I was calling for it,” Young said. “It was a great kick by Phoenix. Lucky I got it and touched it down
It was frantic.”
FLASHBACK
The Dragons were making headlines for all the right reasons on this day five years ago. St George Illawarra were well into of what would become a six game winning streak to start the season after beating South Sydney 16-12 in round five. Euan Aitken and Matt Dufty scored for the home side.
EDDIE EYES NEXT TARGET
Manly centre Tolu Koula has been tipped by some to become the next major target for the Australian Rugby Union now that they have Sydney Roosters star Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i locked up from 2025.
Koula played schoolboys union alongside Sua’ali’i. The pair are mates and the street corner tip is that Wallabies coach Eddie Jones and his acolytes in the ARU have their eyes on Koula, who is off contract with the Sea Eagles at the end of 2024.
Giddy figures of up to $800,000 a season have been tossed around. As this column revealed some weeks ago, Manly are in the process of tabling an extension and Koula seems unaffected by all the talk about his future.
“At the moment I am focused on what we have going on here at Manly,” Koula told Sports Confidential.
“My manager and family are taking care of all that other stuff. My main focus is moving forward into the season.
“I have played all my junior reps here and stuff. I love it here at Manly. Right now I am a leaguey - I am playing league and enjoying my time at Manly.”
Koula remains close to Sua’ali’i. The pair speak often and there is every chance they will directly oppose each other later in the year when Manly meet the Roosters.
“We played schoolboys together,” Koula said.
“I am still pretty close to Joey. He is killing it at the moment. We played them in the trials., We were on the same side.
“They made a change early in the game so we didn’t really play against each other for too long. It would be a challenge - it would be good to go against him.”
Koula is expected to miss a month of football with a knee injury.
SPOTTED
Penrith prop Moses Leota was forced to change his jumper mid-game after he started the match against the Raiders in an old jersey! Leota can clearly be seen starting the game with the Oak sponsorship above his number on while the rest of his teammates had KFC written on their back of jerseys. The sleeves on this year’s jerseys also have a red, yellow and green stripe compared to an all-black sleeve last year.
The jersey mix-up was quickly rectified with Leota starting his second stint in no.24 – complete with Penrith’s 2023 jersey.
INSIDE TIGERS ‘CRISIS’ MEETING
As is the case with struggling teams – the NRL rumour mill went into overdrive about a “crisis” board meeting at the Tigers on Monday night.
Yes Tim Sheens fronted the board and gave an update on all things related to the first grade side but we’re told this was a formality. Sheens keeps the board up to monthly on a range of matters including recruitment and retention.
The Tigers know that given the performances to start the season their every move has the potential to blow up big time.
TONGA SCRAPS HISTORIC UK TOUR
Tonga was on the verge of committing to an historic tour of the UK at the end of the season – but will now delay that decision after the NRL’s plans to stage a four-nations tournament in New Zealand and Australia.
The planned three-Test series against England is still on the cards which would make Tonga the first tier-two nation to commit to a northern hemisphere tour. Tonga are in advanced discussions to make it a reality but they have been thrown a curve-ball with a mooted fo ur-nations which would involve Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia in New Zealand at the end of the season.
Tonga is now a major attraction out of the four nations so it would be unclear if the tournament would go ahead without them. Fiji or PNG would be obvious replacements.
Tonga had strong support from its players to travel to England but will now spend the next few weeks canvassing the playing group again before making a decision.
The delayed collective bargaining negotiations between the NRL and RLPA has also stopped the announcement of a long-term international calendar.
SPOTTED
About 900 metres down the road from the entrance to Augusta National is a Hooters restaurant. The same Hooters where John Daly sets up for the week of the US Masters to cash in on the tournament. Daly is in the parking lot every day from 10am-7pm. He has become a Masters institution
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Former world No.1 Jason Day has revealed that he is reluctant to ask Augusta National for permission to spread his father’s ashes on the course because he doesn’t want to place them in a difficult position.
Day was 12 when his father Alvyn passed away from cancer. News Corp revealed 12 years ago that when he was on his deathbed, Alvyn asked Jason to spread his ashes on Augusta.
Day told Sports Confidential he was yet to ask for permission because he was reluctant to place officials in a difficult position.
“To be honest, I never really asked,” Day saud.
“I don’t want to disrespect them by asking - it would put them in a bad position if I did.”
NRL PUT TO SHAME BY MASTERS ‘TIME WARP’ PRICES
Ticket prices for a day at Augusta are selling on the black market for $5,000 or more but the cost of getting a feed is ridiculously cheap compared to grounds in Australia.
If you are one of the lucky punters who manage to get their hands on one, you can take solace in the price of food and drinks once you make it inside the hallowed arena.
Augusta in many respects is trapped in a time warp. A pimento sandwich, one of the local delicacies, goes for $US1.50, or about $A2.20.
Same for an egg salad sandwich or a muffin. Bottled water and coke are only $A3. A beer will set you back $7.50. A sandwich and beer combo will cost you less than $US10. At the newly minted Allianz Stadium it’ll cost you $18 for fried chicken and chips. A meat pie at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne costs $4.50.
They even have their own signature brew - Crow’s Nest, which shares its name with the property on the golf course where amateurs stay during the tournament.
Aussie Harrison Crowe is staying there at the moment. One of the most renowned rules at Augusta surrounds the use - or lack thereof - of mobile phones.
They are banned on the courses, even for the media. There are no exceptions. If you are caught with a phone in your hand, your ticket gets torn up and you get ushered out the gates.
Our man Brent Read has so far survived the cut.
NRL ISSUES SURPRISE HIGHSHOT ‘CRACKDOWN’ EDICT
Outside backs have been warned by the NRL to fix their tackling technique or face being rubbed out of matches after a stern notice was issued to clubs ahead of round six.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley made a point that the edict sent to club bosses was not a “crackdown” but players have now been given a formal warning.
While much of the focus has been around the hip-drop tackle which resulted in three players banned this week, the NRL is also concerned about defending players who rush ‘up and in’ to shutdown attacking raids. Generally it is the winger at fault when he notices the opposition team has an overlap on his outside.
Annesley issued the warning on Wednesday just a day before the start of round six.
Three wingers were charged by the match review committee last week with Parramatta’s Bailey Simonsson suspended for two games for his grade three careless high tackle shot on Roosters fullback James Tedesco. Tedesco was ruled out of the rest of the game and won’t play for the Roosters against Melbourne on Thursday night.
St George Illawarra’s Mikaele Ravalawa (grade one careless high tackle) and Tigers’ Junior Tupou (grade one shoulder charge) were fined for their respective offences after they rushed in to try and shut the opposition attack down.
“When these tackles do go wrong it usually involves a collision at high speed intended to shut down the play,” Annesley wrote to clubs.
“However, due to the way these tackles are being approached in some instances even the slightest misjudgment may result in arm or shoulder contact with the head or neck of opponent. In most cases the defender also turns his body just before impact increasing the risk of shoulder to head contact.
It is obviously not my role or intent to advise anyone how to defend or how to coach defence. Coaching staff are the experts who are best qualified to consider how to defend effectively while also minimising the risk of unintended illegal contact with opponents.
“I am simply pointing out that tackles of this type appear to be increasing and going wrong on a more regular basis.”
Seven players have been charged for high tackles or shoulder chargers “where defending players have attempted high velocity tackles with a target zone that has a small margin of error” already this year.
Canberra’s Jordan Rapana was rubbed out for three games for his tackle on North Queensland’s Scott Drinkwater.
Justin Olam was fined $750 for a high tackle in round three while Valentine Holmes and Kyle Feldt are among the players to have been charged but avoid suspension this year.
The incidents are all almost identical where the defender has rushed out of the line to try and shut the play down.
Annesley wrote that he raised the concerns in the interest of “player safety”.
“This memo does not signal any sort of crackdown on these types of tackles,” Annesley said. “The simple facts are these incidents are already occurring and being dealt with by referees and the match review committee on their merits.
“Further incidents will continue to be dealt with on their merits. Our objective in raising these matters is only to hopefully see a reduction in the number and frequency of offences.”
More Coverage
Originally published as NRL 2023: Dragons set to be granted salary cap dispensation for Cody Ramsey | Sport Confidential
Gus’ ‘doctored’ claim ignites NRL conspiracy
The NRL Grand Final’s controversial no try scandal has taken a wild turn despite the game releasing the angle the decision was based on.
Kangaroos selection shocks: NRL legends’ Test careers appear over
Mal Meninga has dropped a major selection bombshell by overlooking both James Tedesco and Kalyn Ponga for Kangaroos selection, with the list of surprise omissions and debutants not ending there. See the full squad.