NRL 2021: Dragons set to poach Will Hopoate from Bulldogs | Saint, Sinner, Shoosh
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St George Illawarra are chasing Canterbury Bulldogs veteran Will Hopoate for an immediate transfer.
Coach Anthony Griffin and recruitment boss Ian Millward want the 29-year-old fullback or centre for the remainder of this season and next year.
It was looking promising for the Dragons until Nick Cotric broke down at training during the week with a season-ending foot injury. The Dogs have also released Dallin Watene Zelezniak to the Warriors, leaving them short on back-five experience.
The Dragons would become Hopoate’s fourth NRL club following Manly, where he started in 2010, the Parramatta Eels and the Bulldogs.
All the latest NRL chatter and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.
SAINTS
More than 500 NRL stars (outside of a handful of boofheads) are again living under enormous restrictions and making huge family sacrifices to ensure the competition continues, giving us something to cheer about over lockdown. Thank you all.
SINNER
Surely the NRL can better co-ordinate starting times for matches that follow golden point cliffhangers. In a rare Friday night thriller, the Dragons and Warriors was decided by a Corey Norman field goal late into golden point. While the game was still in progress, Penrith and Parramatta kicked off at Panthers Stadium. It could easily have been delayed for a couple of minutes. Lucky Fox Sports showed the Eels v Panthers in the corner of the screen.
SINNER II
Boxer Michael Zerafa’s late withdrawal from the Tim Tszyu fight despite being offered a corporate jet from Melbourne, a clearance from NSW Health and a dozen hotel rooms for his minders. He should now stick to bashing up old men like Anthony Mundine.
SHOOSH
The Sunday 4pm game is a huge one for Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire against his old club the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Despite recent assurances from chairman Lee Hagipantelis that Maguire’s job is safe, we’re hearing the Wests Tigers board is not fully united on this issue after the last-start 50-point shellacking from Melbourne Storm. Another big loss against Souths will leave directors under enormous pressure to take action.
SHOOSH
The NRL has been working quietly behind the scenes on an inquiry into the Canberra Raiders’ 18th man fiasco against St George-Illawarra in Wollongong two weeks ago. We’re told the ground manager plus the HIA and interchange officials have been stood down. The Raiders are also facing a $10,000 fine.
SHOOSH
Which winger and centre are barely on talking terms at an NRL club? And it doesn’t help that they both play on the same side of the field.
SHOOSH
Even the NSW Waratahs have rejected interest in unwanted St George-Illawarra Dragons fullback Matt Dufty after a recent approach from a third party.
SPOTTED
It’s been a massive season for Dally M champion Jack Wighton despite the Raiders dramas. He’s not only won an Origin series for the NSW Blues but his wife Monisha gave birth last week to their first son. They have two daughters, Aaliyah and Ariah.
SPOTTED
Parramatta Eels star Dylan Brown at a 21st birthday party at Mooseheads nightclub in Canberra last Saturday night. No, this was NOT a Covid breach because he was outside of Sydney before the lockdown. He returned to Sydney on Sunday morning to enter the Eels bubble.
SHARKS ON ATTACK OVER RELOCATION CALL
Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher has been forced to make a grovelling apology to the Cronulla Sharks after claiming the club should be relocated to Brisbane.
Sharks chief executive Dino Mezzatesta fired off a letter to Hatcher after his quotes appeared on the back page of The Daily Telegraph under the headline “BRISBANE SHARKS” last Tuesday.
The letter, of which The Sunday Telegraph has a copy, says: “Bruce, what is of concern is that you as an official of the game and in a senior position continue to create harm and damage to our club with your comments.
“I have fielded questions from our sponsors, our members and our fans continue to be outraged at your throwaway lines.
“We suggest you retract your comments and apologise to our sponsors, our members and fans.”
Both independent commission chairman Peter V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo were copied in on the letter from the Sharks boss.
To Hatcher’s credit he quickly replied in an email to Mezzatesta.
“I undertake to make no references detrimental to your club in the future and I apologise for any damage that has been caused to Cronulla, its members, stakeholders and sponsors with my recent comments,” Hatcher wrote.
“The views expressed were my own views. They were not meant to discriminate or damage your club. My point was purely aimed to create a mature argument to ensure that the best solution can be found for an NRL game to be played in Brisbane each weekend and for the expansion of the game.”
The Sharks claim they are now in a more powerful and secure financial position than most of their rivals.
They own a golf club, their home ground in Woolooware, their leagues club and have $20 million cash in the bank. The club made a profit last year, despite Covid-19, and has no debt.
FLETCH’S DRY RUN
After all these years, Fox Sports star Bryan Fletcher finally has an understanding of responsible alcohol consumption.
As part of a segment that was planned for The Matty Johns Show, Fletch was to work a shift behind the bar in NSW Blues colours at the famous Caxton Hotel in Brisbane on the afternoon of Origin II.
Legal requirements meant he needed an RSA certificate. We’re not sure how Fletch passed any test that required him to be even remotely responsible but on this occasion he did.
But it was all to no avail as Covid-19 forced the border closure. Instead Fletch got plastered watching the Blues victory from home.
BELMORE BUNGLING
Someone needs to explain to the Canterbury Bulldogs that winning starts in the front office.
This season the Bulldogs have a new chairman, new CEO and new coach … but still no general manager of football since club legend Steve Price was sacked.
In professional sport this is unacceptable.
The five Bulldogs players who breached the NRL’s Covid protocols at the Royal Hotel in Bondi are victims in this case.
On June 17, the 16 NRL clubs received emails and had a phone hook-up with Andrew Abdo to explain the Covid crackdown.
The Dogs didn’t tell the players until the next day and only briefly mentioned it at a team meeting. No emails, no WhatsApp messages to the playing group.
The Dogs have tried to sign Peter Parr and Phil Gould as general manager of football. They need to find the right person quickly.
MISSING LINKS IN NRL ‘GOWER-GATE’
There are still serious question marks about the NRL’s recent probe into the Dally M award in 2003 — the year Penrith star Craig Gower was robbed of the game’s most prestigious honour.
The independent lawyer assigned by the NRL to investigate the award did not interview two crucial witnesses — the person who tallied the votes or the judge for Gower’s round-26 game.
News Corp executive Tony Thomas still has a spreadsheet of every vote tallied that year but was not interviewed or even contacted by the investigating lawyer. Going into the final round, Gower was one point ahead of Roosters star Brad Fittler and two in advance of Canberra Raiders fullback Clinton Schifcofske.
Colleague Dean Ritchie was assigned to cover and judge Gower’s last game of the season (Penrith versus Parramatta at Panthers Stadium).
Ritchie, too, was not interviewed by the investigator.
No points were awarded after the game because of industrial action that led to the award boycott. However, Ritchie last year watched a Fox Sports replay and confirmed Gower would have received three points to give him the award.
RLPA chief executive Clint Newton said he would press the NRL for more information.
“To bring about closure there needs to be more transparency on how they’ve landed on this decision,” Newton said. “There is some level of obligation to let Craig and his family know.”
DALLY M TOP 10, 2003
24 Craig Gower
23 Brad Fittler
22 Clinton Schifcofske
20 Craig Wing
19 Shaun Berrigan
19 Andrew Johns
19 Darren Lockyer
17 Brett Firman
17 Nathan Hindmarsh
17 Steve Price
SLATER TO SELL MARADONA’S 2003 JERSEY
Former Socceroo and EPL star Robbie Slater is selling one of his most prized possessions.
The jersey he was given by Argentina legend Diego Maradona after a World Cup qualifier way back in 1993 at the Sydney Football Stadium is for sale at Julien’s auctions, a Californian company that specialises in the most lucrative sporting memorabilia from around the world.
It is expected to fetch up to $100,000. The jersey had been kept in the Sydney Cricket Ground museum until Slater decided he would auction the jersey and donate part of the proceeds to charity.
It follows Maradona’s death from a heart attack in November last year, aged 60.
“I’ve been thinking about it for some time,” Slater explained. “It was such a privilege to have it. When I saw Maradona’s funeral, I thought there’s some mad Argentinians out there who would probably prefer to have it.
“I’ve had it so long and didn’t want to give it away. This way I’ll be able to help out a good charity.”
Slater still clearly recalls the moment he got the jersey from the world’s greatest player.
“Maradona always gave it away to the player he thought was the best in the opposition,” Slater said.
“Well this night I had the game of my life, my best for the Socceroos. Everything clicked.
“I got into the sheds at full-time and there’s a knock on the door.
“The Argentina manager invited me into their room and introduces me to the great man we referred to as God. And he gave me the jersey. It was unbelievable.”
HARPER’S TOKYO SCORE
Channel 7 has scored an Olympics coup by signing former Fox Sports commentator and analyst Andy Harper to cover the soccer in Tokyo. Your columnist has been to the past two World Cups in Brazil and Russia with Harper, who is a walking encyclopaedia on the round-ball game.
Australia has qualified among 16 teams for the Olympics in a tough group that includes Spain, Argentina and Egypt.
STEVIE COULD SPARK AN UPSET
Some good boxing judges are predicting Tim Tszyu’s rescheduled fight against power-punching Toowoomba fighter Stevie Spark will be a tougher assignment than his original opponent, Michael Zerafa.
Spark, 24, has had 13 super-welterweight bouts for 12 wins, 11 by knockout.
Australia’s greatest fighter Jeff Fenech was in the opposite corner when Spark beat his man, Jack Brubaker, in Wollongong on the Paul Gallen-Lucas Browne undercard.
“From what I saw, this is a more dangerous fight for Tim Tszyu,” Fenech said, “This kid is very sharp, very strong and tough. It will be a good fight.”
Even Fox Sports boss Steve Crawley is not complaining about Zerafa pulling out.
“They make movies around fights like this one,” Crawley said. “This kid’s not hopeless. It’s a wonderful story.”
THIEF’S DUMMY RUN
You’d have to be a dumb burglar to try to rob an NRL star, even more so while they are at home almost 24/7 during the Covid lockdown.
It didn’t stop one idiot from trying to rob the home of South Sydney Rabbitohs forward Jacob Host.
Host even mentioned it on social media on Friday: “Whoever tried to break into my house last night I can’t let you in I’m in a bubble. But feel free to mow my lawns xoxo.”
KING HIT BY VIRUS
It’s been tough going at the NRL for all senior management and staff working ridiculously long hours to keep the competition up and running around Covid.
Especially so for Jason King, the former Manly Sea Eagles front-rower, who is now general manager of competitions. King took ill early in the week and needed time off work.
In fact so ill that he was admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia.
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