NRL 2015 A-Z: From Blake Austin to DCE, Jarryd Hayne, Izzy Folau, Origin, TV deals and Aaron Woods

BLAKE Austin and Wayne Bennett impress, deals are done, Tooves is hung out to dry, narcotics hit the headlines and Jarryd Hayne flies high. The NRL A-Z

THERE’S been dramas galore, deals done, deals undone, code swaps and plenty more.

Here’s our A-Z of the 2015 NRL season.

A

Austin: He’s called Blake but for those of us old enough to remember the Six Million Dollar Man, the former West Tiger played a bit like Steve. How long before he catches the not-particularly bionic eyes of the NSW’s selectors?

B

Bennett: He was putting his great legacy at risk. He was on a hiding to nothing. He had failed at the Knights. He was ... Wayne Bennett. Did you expect anything less?News_Image_File: The drama, the headlines, the deals, the upsets. NRL A to Z.

C

Crowds: Remember them? The people who used to sit in seats now conspicuously empty on TV screens when a bomb goes up. Improved stadiums in Sydney are one potential solution. But the new rights agreement that will see many of the best games played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and promoted as a TV product might prove counter-productive.

D

Deal: Or no deal in the case of Daly Cherry-Evans who flip-flopped on his agreement to play for the Gold Coast Titans. Which meant the still-Manly half-back might be the first Maroons player ever to buy his own drinks in a Queensland pub.

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E

Ennis: Still a menace to the opposition, but a blessing at Cronulla where his experience and leadership helped a once strife-torn club embrace the future.

F

Five-year plan: Penrith’s long-term venture under football director Phil Gould came to its conclusion this year with the Panthers placed — 11th. Chronic injuries haven’t helped and the Panthers juniors continue to excel. But the game needs more from a key franchise.

News_Image_File: Panther's coach Ivan Cleary and Phil Gould endure a tough season.

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G

Gag: The coaches stamped their feet. But the heavy fines applied to those who criticised referees were justified given the way some used the refs’ inevitable mistakes to deflect from their team’s shortcomings and the struggle to retain officials who are regularly abused in lower leagues.

H

Hayne: The former Parramatta superstar’s early success with the San Francisco 49ers is exciting — assuming it doesn’t prompt too many other champions to try their luck State-side. Hayne is proving that the very best NRL athletes are the equal of any.

News_Image_File: Jarryd Hayne showing the NRL is a top proving ground for athletes.

I

Izzy: By the way, Israel Folau was the best player in Australian rugby for the second year. Another reminder of the excellent athletes the NRL is producing — for other sports.

J

Judiciary: Where you got find out what punishment players will get for a shoulder charge — only to find out that the contact couldn’t have been more legitimate if the concussed player had been lightly tapped on the head with a velvet cushion. Don’t ask us what a shoulder charge is either.

K

Kiwis: Champions of Australasia and now a disturbingly high proportion of the NRL’s best talent. So good we’ve had to cancel the mid-season international in the next media rights deal to avoid humiliation.

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L

Loyalty: Just kidding. This ridiculously old-fashioned concept didn’t apply in the NRL much. Just ask the players kicked out by clubs, the clubs abandoned by players and — most of all — the fans sewing a new number on their jerseys.

M

Media rights: When is a five year $950 million deal with free-to-air television deal not quite the triumph it seems? When it inspires Foxtel to plough an extra $300 million into your chief rival. The jury is out on the NRL’s dealings until the pay TV and digital component of the deal is settled. Until then, AFL officials are lighting cigars with $100 bills.

N

Narcotics: The only silver lining in the Karmichael Hunt- Gold Coast Titans saga was that Hunt was associated with almost every other code so the NRL’s misery had some company.

News_Image_File: Karmichael Hunt has been associated with numerous codes.

O

Origin: Not since General Custer looked up and saw more feathers than a battery hen farmer at egg collecting time has there been a bigger ambush. As the Mal Meninga of the keyboard Elton John might say, I guess that’s why they call them the Blues.

P

Parramatta: A franchise slowly rebuilding under the astute coaching of Brad Arthur? Or a Sopranos spin-off series? Either way, running the Eels is more difficult than saying Radradra with a mouth full of peanuts.

Q

Queenslander: Say no more. Please.

R

Roger: Tuivasa Sheck has the snappiest feet since Fred Astaire. No wonder the Roosters were disappointed when another Kiwi acronym announced he was going home. But like SBW, RTS could delight before he departs.

News_Image_File: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in action against the Brisbane Broncos.

S

Smith: The venerable Cam played his 300th game for the Storm amid accusations aired on 60 Minutes he had behaved poorly on the night Alex McKinnon was injured. The allegations were grossly unfair, but the glowing reputation of the Australian, Queensland and Melbourne captain remains untainted.

T

Tooves: The great Manly servant was hung out to dry for most of the season before finally being put out of his misery. Toovey’s treatment seemed indicative of a club struggling to find its moral compass. There ought to be an investigation!

U

Up up: Cronulla cleaned house, yet retained the coach and captain who were punished for the drugs scandal and prospered. Not particularly heartwarming for those on the wrong end of the club’s vicious backlash but an impressive feat nonetheless.

V

Valentine’s Day: Not just celebrated on February 14 at Shark Park. Such has been Valentine Holmes’s impact the brilliant young winger was even mentioned as a potential Origin bolter in Queensland. There’s a lot of love for him in The Shire.

News_Image_File: Valentine Holmes and Jack Bird both popular in the Shire.

W

Woods: From the disappointment of the Blues State of Origin campaign and the shambolic West Tigers season, the relentless Aaron Woods provided some consolation. Looks like a highland warriors and attacks the line with the same reckless determination. Paul Gallen’s heir apparent.

X

X-rated: The conversation between Robbie Farah’s management and Wests Tigers officials when it was revealed they wanted to cut the long-standing captain. Regeneration or suicide? Watch this space.

Y

Yo: Bro? Bra? Waddup? Am I getting old or do young NRL players now speak a completely different language?

Z

Zzzzzzz: Wake me when the video ref has decided why that wasn’t a try. The delays for video refereeing decisions, and the determination to find technical issue with every possible four-pointer, remain blights on an otherwise fantastic spectacle.