Sport Confidential: Brisbane Broncos hand lifeline to Nathan Cleary understudy Kurt Falls
One of Penrith superstar Nathan Cleary’s understudies will join the Broncos for the upcoming pre-season. Check out the latest whispers in Sport Confidential.
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The Broncos have handed an NRL lifeline to one of Penrith superstar Nathan Cleary’s understudies.
Panthers playmaker Kurt Falls will join the Broncos for the upcoming pre-season on a train-and-trial contract.
Falls, 27, is set to join Wynnum-Manly for next year’s Hostplus Cup after playing three NRL games for the Panthers in 2022.
As part of the Broncos’ affiliate arrangement with the Seagulls, Wynnum-Manly can nominate players to join the NRL club for the pre-season.
Falls will be one of those players to spend the summer at Red Hill where he will get the chance to press his claims for a fulltime NRL deal with the Broncos.
CARRIGAN, NOT WALSH, FACE OF LAS VEGAS
Queensland Origin star Pat Carrigan has been anointed as Brisbane’s ambassador for Las Vegas after the NRL’s hopes of selling Broncos heart-throb Reece Walsh to American fans fell over.
Sport Confidential can reveal Carrigan will be Brisbane’s chosen one for the NRL’s historic American double header, with the Broncos ironman to join an NRL delegation next month to spruik the code in Sin City.
It is understood the NRL sent correspondence to their four Vegas pioneers - the Broncos, South Sydney, Roosters and Manly - asking for a player from each club to fly to America to promote the March 3 double header.
The NRL tabled a preferred hit list of four names to the clubs. Some names suggested to Broncos hierarchy were Carrigan, skipper Adam Reynolds, star prop Payne Haas and, of course, Walsh, the fullback whiz-kid who has claims to being the NRL’s version of David Beckham.
In the lead-up to this year’s NRL grand final, ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys hailed Walsh as the code’s most marketable face since Andrew Ettingshausen and wanted to plug the Broncos glamour boy to 330 million Americans.
But the Broncos have opted for Carrigan, who is being groomed as Brisbane’s next captain when veteran skipper Adam Reynolds eventually pulls the pin on his glittering career.
Walsh has been subjected to massive exposure this season. He recently spoke of seeking the help of a sports psychologist to help with emotional control after being suspended in June by the NRL for abusing a referee.
Walsh is currently holidaying with family in New Zealand, while Reynolds is in Fiji, prompting the Broncos to select Carrigan, who remains on active duty with the Australian Test side.
Carrigan will complete his commitments with the Kangaroos in the Pacific Championships final against New Zealand on November 4 before flying to the US to fly the flag for the Broncos.
Fitness permitting, Walsh will eventually lob in Sin City. He will be part of the Brisbane side to take on the Roosters to launch the 2024 season next year at Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, with the Broncos to spend a week in camp at the facility of the Los Angeles Rams.
V’landys recently lauded Walsh’s star power and believed the 21-year-old could become the NRL’s first international brand.
“If marketed right, Reece Walsh can become one of the best-known Australian sportsmen in America,” V’landys said.
“Reece is only young but he can certainly be the face of the game.
“He reminds me of Andrew Ettingshausen.
“Walsh has the looks and he has the charisma, but most importantly, he has the brilliance and it’s something other players would love to have.
“Someone like him comes along once in a generation.
“Every time he touches the ball, people stand up out of their seats.
“We’re taking rugby league to Vegas next year and Reece Walsh can certainly become well known to an international audience.”
Asked before this year’s NRL grand final if he is the most popular Bronco, Walsh said with a laugh: “No, it’s Patty Carrigan.
“It (the adulation) is all a bit different from where I come from (growing up in Nerang on the Gold Coast).
“My name wasn’t getting called too much when I was younger in the right ways, so it is pretty pleasing and I am honoured to hear the kids calling my name and looking up to someone like me.
“It’s pretty cool to see the position I’m in.
“It’s pretty crazy getting this attention, but this club and the people in our four walls, we all keep each other accountable, myself included.
“The Broncos make it easier for me to focus on footy and try and be the best footballer I can be.
“I am pleased to now be in a fortunate spot where I can be that light for kids.”
TRIPLE M OUT OF THE SIN BIN
Triple M’s controversial Sin Bin show has climbed out of the dust bin in one of the greatest fightbacks in rugby league radio history.
The Sunday Sin Bin program has sensationally broken the 30-year dominance of 2GB’s Continuous Call team covering rugby league – just 18 months after the show was seemingly in crisis.
Long-time host Anthony Maroon stunned listeners in May 2022 when he walked off mid-program following an on-air argument, then later tendered his resignation.
But the new team of Gorden Tallis, James Graham, James Hooper and Maroon’s hosting successor Ben ‘Dobbo’ Dobbin have not only righted a sinking ship – they are rattling the cage of mighty 2GB in the process.
While 2GB smashes the competition on Friday nights, Triple M’s Sin Bin claimed consecutive ratings victories on Sunday in the lead-up to this year’s NRL grand final.
Dobbin lauded the chemistry of NRL legends Tallis and Graham and award-winning Fox Sports journalist Hooper, whose grilling of RLPA boss Clint Newton during this year’s CBA saga underlined Sin Bin’s mix of fun and hard-hitting analysis.
“I was very lucky to be asked to host a show with three legends,” Dobbin said.
“It’s not hard to have success when you have three of the best in the business, two former greats like James Graham and Gorden Tallis and a leading journalist in ‘Hoops’.
“The Sunday Sin Bin is just four blokes who love the game of rugby league and love talking about it.
“From the serious stuff to the banter, we tackle every issue like four mates at the pub.
“That’s the beauty of the show. It’s inclusive. Although I’m the punching bag, I love the laughs we have along the way and the peerless insights as well that James, Gordie and James provide.”
TITANS YOUNG GUN CAN RULE WORLD
This is the Titans teenage monster who is rated a future heavyweight boxing world champion.
At just 17, Alex Leapai Jnr has signed a three-year contract with the Titans, but the son of Australian heavyweight boxing legend Alex ‘Lionheart’ Leapai is tipped for bigger things in the fight game.
Standing 193cm and weighing 115kg, Leapai Jnr is already as big as superstar Broncos prop Payne Haas and hits so hard in the ring, opponents are running a mile from fighting him.
On Friday week, the Titans forward will return to the ring for an amateur bout with Matthew Lester, a 38-year-old prison officer at Gatton jail.
Such is his talent, Leapai Jnr is also a front-row sensation in rugby league.
The Titans won a seven-club bidding war for the Mabel Park product and while the Gold Coast believe it’s only a matter of time before he graduates to the NRL, his boxing trainer, Noel Thornberry, is adamant Leapai Jnr can be the best heavyweight in the world.
Thornberry was in Leapai Snr’s corner when he lost his world-title fight against Wladimir Klitschko in 2014 and the legendary trainer says Alex Jnr has the potential to be even better.
“Alex is a phenomenon. He is a man child,” Thornberry said.
“Normally, any young man that has the ability to play in the NRL, I’d say to him, ‘Go out there and grab it with both hands while you can’.
“But in the case of Alex Leapai Jnr, I would suggest he play NRL for a little while, but then get serious about boxing because he has the potential to win the heavyweight championship of the world.
“If he doesn’t win a heavyweight world championship one day, he certainly can challenge for one.”
The reality is Leapai Jnr will have to make a firm call on his sporting career sooner rather than later.
The former Sydney Roosters scholarship holder is passionate about rugby league, but juggling NRL and professional boxing commitments is next to impossible.
The Titans rising star is eligible to become a pro boxer on November 26, when he celebrates his 18th birthday.
“Tyson Fury considered Alex Snr as the hardest punching heavyweight in the world and young Alex hits as hard as his dad,” Thornberry said.
“He is simply a bigger man than his dad, he is six foot four and 115kg, whereas his dad was shorter.
“That’s with next to body fat on him. He is just a giant of a kid.
“His power is incredible, but he is also switched on. He is a really good thinker, he thinks well under pressure, Alex is a smart kid.
“You should be in the room to feel the power of his punches. I’m the poor bastard catching them.
“Our biggest problem is we don’t have many people putting their hands up to fight Alex. He is a 17-year-old kid and he will fight adults, he will fight anybody basically.”
BUNKER SHARPENS UP
The NRL’s controversial Bunker is making moves to improve its speed and efficiency next season.
A number of changes have been made to the processes the Bunker uses to review plays following some lengthy decisions this year.
The fans can’t cop the Bunker taking an eternity to make a call.
The changes will be trialled during Saturday night’s Kangaroos-Kiwis Test match to see if they are having the desired effect.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley will be in the Bunker to assess the process changes and see if they are working in what will be one of the final matches of the year.
HUNI BACKS NRL BOXING TRIO
Australia’s No.1 heavyweight Justis Huni has thrown his support behind the NRL’s boxing big boppers Junior Paulo, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Tevita Pangai Jnr.
Pangai Jnr stunned the NRL by quitting in August to become a professional boxer, while Asofa-Solomona and Paulo produced devastating wins during a fight night in Townsville three weeks ago.
Critics of Pangai Jnr say he has no hope of succeeding as a boxer, but Huni is adamant the former Broncos and Bulldogs forward has a future in the sport.
“It’s good to see Tevita going into boxing,” Huni said.
“As long as he has chosen something that makes him happy, that’s the main thing.
“I spoke to him on the Gold Coast recently and he said he was happy boxing, so I have nothing but support for him.
“I think he can do some good things. Look, he has a long way to go but hopefully he pulls off what Paul Gallen did and can fight for an Australian title.”
Huni also believes the 131kg Asofa-Solomona and Eels enforcer Paulo can make it as pro boxers.
“Nelson would go alright,” he said. “He has huge size.
“He might have to drop a few kilos, but he and Junior looked good in their fights.
“I think that’s what they are all chasing, to be the next Gallen. It takes a tremendous athlete to switch over from rugby league and challenge for an Australian boxing title.”
QUEENSLAND DUO SWEAT ON NEW DEALS
The Broncos and Cowboys insist star duo Corey Oates and Jordan McLean will not be lost to their respective clubs.
In a bizarre situation, Broncos winger Oates and Cowboys prop McLean are still sorting out their futures just days out from the new November 1 contracting period.
Technically, the off-contract duo will be unemployed – and thus not eligible to be paid – from next Wednesday unless new deals can be formalised by the Broncos and Cowboys.
Oates’ manager was in Brisbane this week for talks on a deal for 2024, while the Cowboys will finalise a 12-month extension with McLean when he returns from an overseas holiday.
HASLER’S STAR OF DAVID
New Titans coach Des Hasler has a pet project - taking David Fifita to another level of mass destruction.
When he signed with the Gold Coast, the first two players Hasler met with were Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Fifita, who both committed to the club on new deals in August.
Fifita has copped criticism for three rollercoaster seasons at the Titans, but Hasler is adamant the blockbusting Queensland Origin back-rower has only scratched the surface of his talent.
“They were really good, honest meetings,” Hasler said of his chat with Fa’asuamaleaui and Fifita.
“I came away from the meetings feeling like they never really wanted to leave the Titans.
“Dave is the best second-rower in the game at the moment.
“He got the Dally M back-rower of the year this year. He is a competitor. He is always going to get that pressure, but I thought his year this year was really good. He played Origin which is a high level and he won the Dally M award (for best back-rower) with Liam Martin.
“Dave is only 23, so he’s a baby. I’m looking forward to working with him and the whole squad.”
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