Titans teammate could oust Fifita from Maroons, Dolphins to cash in on Storm salary cap pain
David Fifita’s Origin spot under threat from a club teammate, Storm star Cameron Munster’s loyalties to be tested and more in Sport Confidential.
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Forget David Fifita. There is another Titan who could play State of Origin this season — his back-row teammate Beau Fermor.
While Fifita has struggled in the opening two rounds, Fermor has been a revelation, scoring a try, running for 145 metres and amassing four tackle busts in the Titans’ defeat of the Warriors last week.
Fifita has featured in Queensland’s back row in the past two seasons but the 23-year-old Fermor could be a bolter for this year’s series if he keeps up his form.
The powerful forward underwent a knee reconstruction in 2019 but it hasn’t affected his pace, with Fermor winning a 1.2km time trial in the Titans’ pre-season.
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BENETT’S BIG BID TO NAB MUNSTER
Wayne Bennett is prepared to pay $1 million to lure Queensland Origin star Cameron Munster out of Melbourne and lead expansion newcomers the Dolphins to premiership credibility in their embryonic years.
Sport Confidential can reveal Munster is facing a $400,000 pay cut to stay at the Storm — opening the door for Dolphins super coach Bennett to wield the chequebook to bring the Maroons pivot to Queensland.
The Storm are closing in on multimillion-dollar extensions for Storm superstars Harry Grant and Jahrome Hughes, leaving Munster on shaky ground as Melbourne try to juggle salary-cap pressures with retaining their Big Four.
Munster is on $1.1 million this season and his Storm salary rises to $1.2 million next year, when he comes off-contract. Melbourne are keen to extend the 27-year-old for a further two seasons, but it is understood the deal will be capped at $800,000 annually due to salary-cap restrictions.
With Grant and Hughes set to join Ryan Papenhuyzen on long-term deals, Melbourne’s money is drying up — and Munster is in danger of being squeezed out.
Bennett is ready to pounce. The 72-year-old needs a marquee signing to bring some genuine star power to the Dolphins brand and he will fork out the big bucks to secure Munster for the 2024 season – or sooner if the Storm ace sought an early release.
Munster’s new manager Braith Anasta has rejected Melbourne’s latest offer. Anasta is a shrewd operator and knows Munster could easily command $1 million if he tested his value on the open market tomorrow.
The Storm wanted an answer from Munster this week but Anasta had advised Melbourne bosses they will not rush into a decision when the playmaker has 18 months left to run on his current deal.
Anasta will not allow Munster to be undervalued. That is music to the ears of Bennett, who forged a strong bond with Munster during Queensland’s epic Origin series win in 2020 and believes he can get the best out of the troubled star following his stint in rehab last year.
“We haven’t spoken to the Dolphins, but I’ve heard noise there is interest in Cameron and why wouldn’t there be?” Anasta said.
“The deadline (on Munster signing) has been extended.
“For Cameron to stay ... he is off-contract until the end of next year, so there is no real hurry for Cameron to sign anything.
“He is in a great head space at the moment, physically and mentally he is the best he has ever felt. If he does stay, he will have to take a big pay cut so that’s for us to decide in the short term, but we won’t be hurrying into anything at the moment.”
ANOTHER WALTERS HEADED FOR BRONCOS?
Billy Walters isn’t the only child of Broncos coach Kevin Walters that’s making waves on the playing field.
Walters’ daughter Ava has taken up rugby league and is playing well above her age group.
At 16, Ava Walters is playing in the under-19s competition for Norths Devils after some initial hesitation from her family.
“Ava is 16 and playing in the under-19s at Norths,” Billy told Sport Confidential.
“We were all a bit hesitant at first for her to play because we know how physical it is. But she is tough and handles her own.
“My younger brother Harry is in the Colts at Norths. My older brother Jack is still playing for Wests in the BRL.
“My younger brother Jett drifted between all sports. He wasn’t too fussed on playing NRL.”
With Brisbane boasting an NRLW team, Ava could follow in her father and brother’s footsteps and play for the Broncos one day.
That would make the Walters’ the first father-son-daughter trio to represent the Broncos.
BRISBANE’S TOUCHING GESTURE
The Broncos have reached out to offer support to a Queensland family devastated by the tragic loss of their son.
Toowoomba parents Mick and Tracey Clayton will be special spectators at Sunday’s Broncos-Cowboys derby at Suncorp Stadium.
The Claytons earlier this month opened up to Sunday Mail reporter Stephanie Bennett about the heartbreak of losing their son Zaeden, who took his life following online “catfishing” and bullying.
Zaeden was a big Broncos supporter and Mick was wearing a Broncos polo shirt when photographed for the story. The Broncos reached out to the Claytons and invited them to one of the biggest games on the calendar.
It’s a nice gesture to a family that has been through unimaginable devastation.
BABY BRONCO BOUNCES BACK
Boom forward Brendan Piakura is the unluckiest man at the Broncos.
Just days after returning to competition football last Sunday for feeder club Norths Devils, Piakura has suffered a fresh breakdown, injuring his hamstring at Broncos training on Thursday.
Piakura is tipped for big things at the Broncos but his latest setback follows knee surgery and suspension last season.
“It’s been a rough trot for Brendan but he is still growing into his body and these injuries can happen,” Broncos coach Kevin Walters said.
The teenage back-rower racked up an impressive 80-minute stint with defending premiers Norths Devils in the Hostplus Cup last week.
Piakura did it the hard way as the temperature hit 32 degrees at kick-off before the Devils demolished the Blackhawks in Townsville. And there were no drinks breaks in the game.
That wasn’t the only tough part of the trip north. Due to Covid restrictions, Piakura and the Devils gathered at Bishop Park at 8am Sunday and did not return until 2am Monday.
Rated a future Queensland Origin star, the 19-year-old back-rower played one NRL game last season and will be putting pressure on Broncos teammate Jordan Riki this season.
Piakura’s Norths coach Rohan Smith continues to enhance his NRL prospects - the Devils have won 20 of their last 22 matches including last year’s grand final when they didn’t have a Broncos player from their NRL affiliation.
PVL TIPS DOLPHINS FOR FINALS
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has come out swinging at critics of the Dolphins and says coach Wayne Bennett will prove his critics wrong by steering the NRL’s expansion team to the finals in their debut season.
The Dolphins have come under fire for struggling to sign a marquee player and missing a string of big-name targets, including Christian Welch, Harry Grant, Jahrome Hughes, Reed Mahoney and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
V’landys was the driving force behind the code’s decision to expand to 17 teams and he dismissed concerns over the Dolphins’ competitiveness, declaring Bennett will deliver a top-eight berth in 2023.
“The people who are writing off the Dolphins, I say this, write off Wayne Bennett at your peril,” V’landys said. “I have so much confidence in Wayne getting results at the Dolphins.
“I am prepared to say it now — Wayne Bennett will get the Dolphins to the finals in their first year. He has already signed three very good players from Melbourne (Kenny and Jesse Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi) and he will make sure he has the right mixture of youth and experience.
“We’re very happy with the progress of the Dolphins — they will be a great addition to the competition.”
TROUBLED TIMES FOR YOUNG GUN
One of rugby league’s hottest stars is at breaking point. He has hit the big time and extended family members are suddenly putting their hand out looking to cash-in on the young gun’s rise to NRL stardom. The youngster’s NRL club is aware of his problems and is doing everything possible to help him cope with an off-field situation he doesn’t need.
FLOOD OF CONCERN FOR QRL
The Queensland Rugby League is on the lookout for a temporary home after being left with a crippling $500,000 repair bill in the wake of the recent Brisbane floods.
The QRL’s headquarters is situated across the road from Suncorp Stadium and staffers were left shocked by the sight of floodwaters ripping through the offices on Castlemaine Street at Milton.
Floodwaters were so high it buried the reception desk and destroyed the entire first floor, which included the QRL’s boardroom and a memorabilia section paying tribute to some of Queensland’s finest rugby league moments.
QRL chief executive Rohan Sawyer is exploring contingencies while their headquarters undergoes costly renovations.
“The rebuild is probably around the $500,000 mark, possibly more,” Sawyer said.
“There’s 1000sqm that needs to be rebuilt, so there’s a lot of stuff that has to be replaced.
“The whole first level has been damaged so it will have to be rebuilt. Once we get a timeline on the repairs we will have to find a temporary premises to keep working.”
QUIET BEFORE STORM
The NRL Integrity Unit had one of its quietest moments last week before George Burgess was charged with sexual touching.
For one of the rare times, the NRL had no outstanding integrity matters needing to be finalised.
Apart from Anthony Milford’s impending court case, the players had been mostly well behaved over Christmas and there were no scandals on the eve of the season that had to be investigated.
That changed in the space of a few days when the Burgess incident surfaced, leaving the NRL scrambling to make a decision on his availability for the Dragons.
BRIMSON SWEATS IT OUT
Titans five-eighth AJ Brimson lost a stunning 4kg during last Saturday’s sweltering match against the Warriors.
The 2pm kick-off was a shocking timeslot for a March game on the Gold Coast, with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees.
Warriors prop Matt Lodge left the field vomiting after 20 minutes and was clearly affected by the heat, even though he carried an illness into the game.
And Brimson weighed 4kg less at fulltime than he did before kick-off, losing around five per cent of his body weight.
While extra drinks breaks were called because of the conditions, the NRL might want to think twice about scheduling such early games in Queensland at this time of the year.
Even worse, the Titans and Broncos NRLW teams had to play right through the hottest part of the day with their 11.45am kick-off.
FORMER BRONCO EYES RETURN HOME
Former Queensland Cup sensation Matt Parcell has been shopped to the Broncos as he eyes a return to the NRL.
Parcell was a member of the Ipswich Jets team which made history by becoming the first side in the club’s history to win the premiership with their defeat of Townsville in the 2015 Intrust Super Cup grand final.
The speedy hooker went on to play six games for the Broncos that season and 15 for Manly in 2016 before moving overseas to ply his trade in the English Super League.
Parcell has been a smash hit in the UK, scoring 45 tries in 117 games for Leeds and Hull KR, but with the qualified engineer off-contract this year, he is keen for a return home to have another crack at the NRL.
Still only 29, Parcell has Damien Cook-style speed out of dummy half and could flourish in the NRL in the six-again era.
Parcell has been offered to the Broncos, but Brisbane recruitment chiefs are happy with hookers Jake Turpin and Cory Paix, although they may have to go shopping if Turpin joins the Dolphins next season.
TITANS HIRE ‘COACH WHISPERER’
The Titans have got a coach whisperer of sorts working with the club.
Leadership guru Wayne Goldsmith was spotted at Parkwood this week sprinkling some of his magic dust over the club.
Based on the Gold Coast, Goldsmith is a performance consultant who was invited to the Titans by coach Justin Holbrook.
His methods aren’t as extreme as the self-proclaimed coach whisperer Bradley Stubbs, but Goldsmith has been around sport for a long time.
He’s worked in swimming, rugby union, triathlon and Aussie rules.
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