Hateful Eight: Fiery feuds, bitter rivalries, turf wars to ignite NRL’s Easter round
A Broncos exile’s revenge, a Rooster’s ominous warning, plus a Good Friday fixture notorious for bad behaviour. Welcome to the NRL’s grudge match round of fiery feuds, bitter rivalries and turf wars.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
From Tom Dearden, the Brisbane discard primed to make the Broncos pay, to spite night at Allianz Stadium where Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will turn one-man wrecking ball with Penrith’s big men in his sights.
Welcome to the NRL’s grudge match round of fiery feuds, bitter rivalries and turf wars.
ROOSTERS V PENRITH
Victor Radley has an ominous message for Penrith coach Ivan Cleary ahead of Thursday’s clash: “Waerea-Hargreaves has no off switch”.
Cleary accused the Roosters prop of “looking for trouble” the last time the two heavyweights met in Round 15 last year when water bottles were thrown, elbows were cocked and crazy eyes bulged.
Waerea-Hargreaves locked horns with Spencer Leniu as tensions boiled over after squirting water in his now teammate’s face, on a night when Moses Leota and Liam Martin went off the field for HIAs after collisions with the Roosters enforcer.
And Roosters coach Trent Robinson was right, it was “good theatre”.
Thursday’s forwards battle will be devoid of top dogs Lindsay Collins and James Fisher-Harris but that won’t stop Waerea-Hargreaves from putting a target on Leota once again to bully Penrith’s pack into submission.
But one thing is certain, Leota will take the fight right to the Roosters old bull and sparks will fly.
RABBITOHS V BULLDOGS
It might be Good Friday but this clash is notorious for bad behaviour.
Already, Canterbury hooker Reed Mahoney has warned fullback Blake Taaffe that his former South Sydney teammates will be coming for his head.
“Coming against your old club can be ‘iffy’, they were trying to take my head off when we took on Parramatta. I guess they’ll (target) him but we’ll look after him,” Mahoney said.
As well as losing heads, this fixture is notorious for emotions spilling over on and off the field.
Who can forget the 2015 clash? When James Graham conceded the penalty in the 78th minute that would hand South Sydney victory leaving the Bulldogs forward seething at referee Gerard Sutton.
Graham infamously pointed his knuckle at Sutton’s face as David Klemmer unleashed a tirade of abuse, leading to him getting put in the sin bin.
The drama didn’t end there, security was forced to escort Sutton from the field as the crowd pelted the referee with projectiles from the stands.
It begs the question, how many heads will be lost this Good Friday?
The Rabbitohs are desperate to silence detractors with a win and the outcome will likely hinge on the efforts of Latrell Mitchell.
Coach Jason Demetriou has also been left ruing the release of Liam Knight to the Bulldogs. With Jai Arrow sidelined and the Bunnies pack struggling for form, Knight’s punch and aggression is sorely missed and he will be out to show Souths what they are missing out on.
BRONCOS V COWBOYS
Tom Dearden has gone from Red Hill exile to Queensland Origin half and co-captain of the Cowboys.
The playmaker isn’t only laughing all the way to the bank, after signing a lucrative long-term contract, but to Suncorp Stadium on Friday night to take on a depleted Broncos side ripe for the picking.
The Cowboys are the last Queensland side to win an NRL premiership trumping ‘big brother’ Broncos in a grand final for the ages, when Johnathan Thurston broke Brisbane hearts with a golden-point field goal in 2015.
And right now, the Cowboys look like the only genuine 2024 title threat in the state.
Dearden is not only shaping as the architect of the club’s rise to the top but also as one of Brisbane’s biggest recruitment blunders.
DRAGONS V SEA EAGLES
It’s the battle of the beaches that has more recently turned into a battle over young guns.
Manly fought hard to keep Viliami Fifita and Alec Tuitavake but lost the rising duo to a player swap with Aaron Woods, who hasn’t played a game this season.
Shane Flanagan debuted Fifita in Round 1 and the promising prop is poised to become a key cog in Shane Flanagan’s rebuild of the Dragons engine room.
Jason Saab swapped the Illawarra coastline for the northern beaches, but not before complaining that the drive to Wollongong from western Sydney each was too arduous. The sea change worked wonders, however, with the speedy winger looking in fine form before being cruelly cut down with a hamstring injury during the season opener in Las Vegas.
Moses Suli was maligned at Manly, where the club struggled to get the best out of the centre, but under Flanagan’s tutelage he has started to reach his damaging potential.
TITANS V DOLPHINS
‘Desnyland’ has gone from the happiest place on the Gold Coast to a complete horror show for Des Hasler but don’t expect Wayne Bennett to show any mercy this weekend.
If losing Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (ACL) for the season wasn’t bad enough the Titans, under Hasler, have conceded 60 points and only scored four.
Ironically, former coach Justin Holbrook, who was unceremoniously replaced by Hasler within hours of his axing, is being credited as the mastermind behind the Roosters’ lethal attack.
Holbrook’s Roosters success, and the uncertain future of Bennett, is heaping pressure on Hasler to deliver.
Remember, Bennett privately approached Titans bosses back in 2018 to help rebuild the club but was sensationally snubbed.
Now, the Titans are embattled yet again and Bennett is looking for a job next year.
Hasler and Bennett are good mates. But Bennett didn’t survive almost four decades in one of sport’s most cut throat jobs without being a shrewd operator.
All bets are off between the veteran coaches this weekend, and potentially again at season’s end if the Titans slump to a wooden spoon.
WARRIORS v KNIGHTS
The Knights will be looking to ease some of the heartbreak from the dagger that the Warriors delivered in last year’s finals series to end the fairy-tale run of 10-straight wins for the Novocastrians.
In the early days, it was Newcastle legend and halfback Andrew Johns who toyed with the Warriors, piling on 155 points in clashes against a fledgling Warriors outfit.
But Warriors general Shaun Johnson flipped the script in week two of the finals in 2023 to orchestrate a ‘Johns like’ victory, setting up three tries in the 40-10 romp.
Adding insult to injury was the powerhouse performance of former Knight Mitch Barnett, who was released to the Warriors last season.
SHARKS V RAIDERS
The heated personal feud between Royce Hunt and Corey Horsburgh reignited the fire between the two clubs and don’t be fooled into thinking there won’t be venom in this clash because these two fiery chargers aren’t playing.
An injury crisis for Cronulla will see the barnstorming Siosifa Talakai line-up on the right edge opposite Hudson Young, who like Horsburgh isn’t afraid of the niggle and getting physical. Queue the fireworks.
Tension will continue to simmer between the clubs into the future after Ricky Stuart snatched Sharks local junior Chevy Stuart from under Cronulla’s nose.
Stuart famously dumped former Sharks player turned Cronulla assistant Josh Hannay to the Gymea Gorillas during his time in charge at the club. It took years for the pair, who go head to head in the coach’s box on Sunday, to bury the hatchet.
More recently Michael Ennis rubbed salt into the Raiders’ wounds in 2016 mocking the viking the clap after the Sharks sealed an upset finals victory at GIO Stadium.
The sides go around again in Round 8 and Horsburgh is already licking his lips at the prospect of responding, in person, to Hunt labelling him a ‘weak gutted dog’ after their running battle ended with the Sharks prop being sin-binned for a punch 12 months ago.
“He likes a bit of drama. Hopefully we can but heads again and have a fun day. I love playing footy when there is a bit of tension on the field,” Horsburgh said.
EELS V TIGERS
These local derby rivals don’t need a reason to dislike each other, it comes with the territory – literally.
The disdain hit fever point when Mitchell Moses walked out on the Tigers mid-season in 2017 to join the Eels. Not even the rise of Lachlan Galvin, who started his league journey as an Eels junior, has turned those sour grapes sweet at Concord.
Ryan Matterson’s bitter exit from Concord, one year into a three-year deal, only to land at the Eels has added fuel to the fire.
Parramatta officials spent years talking up the exploits of Stefano Utoikamanu only for the Tigers to poach the boom prop on a lucrative deal before he had played a single NRL game.
It was a similar story for Alex Twal, who was a Parramatta junior before the Tigers swooped in.
After turning Isaiah Papali’i into an elite back rower, the Eels were blown out of the water, unable to match the $1.9 million thrown at the Kiwi by the Tigers.
The list of incestuous relationships goes on. Joe Ofahengaue and Kelma Tuilagi had stints at the Tigers only to find themselves in the blue and gold of Parramatta.
Passionate Tigers have also been taking jabs at the Eels for weeks now – even urging each other to formally complain to the NRL – after accusing the western Sydney powerhouse of price gouging. A family pass to Easter Monday’s clash is $259.
It sounds steep, but not as steep as the mountain the Tigers have to climb to find the same Easter miracle a Jackson Hastings field goal delivered in 2022.
More Coverage
Originally published as Hateful Eight: Fiery feuds, bitter rivalries, turf wars to ignite NRL’s Easter round
NRL pull late schedule change because of AFL
The NRL has reportedly pulled a late finals scheduling switch to avoid a clash with the AFL, leaving two clubs hard done by.
Why Broncos review must be an open book for fans
The analysis of Brisbane’s horror finish to the 2024 season needs to be an open book. And no, it’s not as unfair as players would have you believe, writes PAMELA WHALEY.