NRL 2024: Maroons legend walks away from Channel 7, Mitchell Moses’ camp stay silent on Eels exit rumours | Saint, Sinner, Shoosh
A Broncos legend is standing down from his role as sports presenter on Channel 7’s nightly news bulletins after 18 years. Plus Mitchell Moses’ camp responds to contract rumours, the latest Wests Tigers dramas and the RLPA’s ideas on a judiciary overhaul in Saint, Sinner, Shoosh.
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Player manager Isaac Moses is refusing to publicly guarantee his superstar halfback Mitchell Moses will see out his two-year contract at Parramatta Eels.
On Friday, we exchanged a number of text messages and chatted on the phone to Moses about speculation the Origin halfback was seeking a release from the club.
I kept asking him … “Can you guarantee Mitchell will stay for two years?”
At no stage would he confirm Moses would see out his contract, even on or off the record.
On Thursday, Eels CEO Jim Sarantinos addressed the rumours.
“There are a number of people at the club that have spoken to Mitch, and there is nothing to suggest he is anything but committed to the club,” Sarantinos said.
Still, until the player or his manager speaks, the speculation will continue.
SAINT
The North Sydney Bears are back and with them comes tens of thousands of supporters who walked away from rugby league 25 years ago. Combine these old fans with a growing market in Perth and the Western Bears have the potential to break membership records and become a premiership heavyweight over the next decade.
SINNER
Former St George Illawarra star Junior Amone has been charged with allegedly spitting at a woman in a Wollongong pub last weekend. He has pleaded not guilty. The court heard he was already serving a two-year intensive corrections order for using a hammer in an assault on a building site last year. If found guilty of the spitting charge, the 22-year-old should be banned from the NRL for life.
SHOOSH
It’s not all bad news at the Parramatta Eels. Their very talented centre/winger Bailey Simonsson is on the verge of signing a new three-year contract.
SHOOSH
Which high-ranking official was blowing up on Wednesday about not getting a start in The Daily Telegraph’s 50 most powerful people in rugby league?
SPOTTED
Benji Marshall is struggling in his first year of NRL coaching, but he’s on fire on the golf course. The Wests Tigers coach had a hole-in-one at Concord last week with a wedge on the 110m 14th hole. Roosters skipper James Tedesco was playing on the course at the same time in a different group.
SPOTTED
We continue to be bombarded with selfies from 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley. This week the great man sent us a photo of himself doing his washing at a Paris laundromat. Now that will sell a lot of newspapers.
SPOTTED
League legends Les Boyd, Ian Thomson, Noel ‘Crusher’ Cleal, Ray Brown and Charlie Haggett at Forster Tuncurry races on Friday with the great Dennis ‘Bullfrog’ Ritchie.
ULTRA-IMPRESSIVE BUHRER
Former State of Origin forward Jamie Buhrer quit the NRL in 2019. Five years later, at 34 years of age, he’s a lot fitter than when he played.
Last weekend the ex-Manly and Knights forward ran a 100km ultra-marathon in Canberra in 15 hours and 58 minutes.
WEBCKE WALKS FROM SEVEN
Broncos legend Shane Webcke is standing down from his role as sports presenter on Channel 7’s nightly news bulletins in Brisbane after 18 years.
It’s the latest in a series of high-profile exits under the new leadership of newsroom boss Anthony De Ceglie.
However, in this case Webcke is not being shown the door. He sent us the following statement on Friday.
“After 18 years presenting sport, I’ve made the decision to take a slightly new direction, and from January I’ll be stepping back from the newsdesk,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, to allow me greater flexibility and more time to pursue my family agricultural interests.”
AGE OLD PROBLEM
RLPA boss Clint Newton has called on the NRL to use more recently retired players on the judiciary and match review panels as statistics reveal the number of fines for foul play and professional fouls have increased by 20 per cent this season.
While diligent and highly respected, it has been more than three decades since some members of the panels actually played the game; in an era when the rules and style of play was so vastly different to today.
The NRL has handed out 189 fines this year compared to 158 last season, collecting more than $270,000 that goes into a hardship fund for past players. These figures do not include State of Origin and the 11 players fined in the third match in Brisbane.
The RLPA will be part of a review at the end of the season into the NRL’s football operations and Newton says it’s time for recently retired players to be recruited.
The judiciary’s Bob Lindner retired way back in 1993 and Tony Puletua in 2008.
Match review members Stuart Raper retired in 1989, Luke Patten in 2010, Anthony Quinn in 2013 and Michael Hodgson in 2011.
“There needs to be a pathway for recently retired players to join the judiciary, maybe after three to five years,” Newton said.
“The game has evolved and changed a lot, I say this respectfully to the guys who are doing the job now. The way in which players are trained, coached and the tackling techniques are a lot different to when they played.
“The more recent players would have a greater level of awareness of the modern game.”
Long-retired referees Steve Clark, Sean Hampstead, Henry Perenara, Greg McCallum and Paul Simpkins are also part of the judicial process.
The NRL is under huge pressure to make significant changes to the bunker, judiciary, match review and refereeing at its end-of-season review.
Supercoach Wayne Bennett has led an avalanche of criticism of the NRL in recent weeks.
“If I was a punter, I couldn’t bet a penny on rugby league at the moment,” Bennett told Fox Sports.
“What I want is fairness for every team. I am not trying to belt anyone up. I just want to be constructive.
“We can’t hide and pretend it is not a problem because it is a problem. And it is causing massive frustration, not just with the players and coaches but the fans.”
EVERYWHERE ELOISE
They don’t come more versatile than reporter Eloise Sohier at Fox Sports.
Last week Sohier hosted Fox Sports News on Friday, travelled to Adelaide to host the netball on Saturday, and then was on the sideline for Fox League at Belmore on Sunday afternoon for the Bulldogs-Raiders game.
CONCRETE CALL ON TIGERS
Wests Tigers have lost their third sponsor this year as they head towards a wooden spoon treble.
MAS Structures & Co (formerly MAS Concrete) has been a sponsor for more than 10 years, but will not continue next season.
The company joins Brydens Lawyers and FAB Industrial Logistics on the outer. All up
they contributed around the $1.5 million mark each year.
However, CEO Shane Richardson is not panicking.
“We’ve got every sponsorship filled on the jersey, bar the major,” Richardson said. “I hope to have something there in the next few weeks. There is interest from three parties.
“We’re actually above our targets. We’ve sold out all our corporates for the last three games. People see it as a new beginning, and that we’re moving forward.”
BENJI’S LEAD ROLE DILEMMA
Benji Marshall has some huge decisions to make at the Tigers.
None more so than the appointment of a long-term captain.
Api Koroisau has done a nice job, but the arrival of Panthers and NSW star Jarome Luai gives Benji another very good option.
“That will be a decision for Benji,” CEO Shane Richardson said. “Api has done a really good job.
“We haven’t had any discussions about it. Both are outstanding leaders.”
Luai has shown great leadership skills and an improved temperament for the NSW Blues and the Penrith Panthers this year, while Nathan Cleary has been sidelined.
He might not have the ‘C’ next to his name, but he has stepped up as a true leader.
JERSEY GESTURE GPS GAFF
St George-Illawarra winger Christian Tuipulotu did a wonderful thing after last week’s upset win over Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park when he gave away his jersey to a fan.
It wasn’t until he got back to the dressing shed that he realised he hadn’t removed the very expensive GPS device from a sealed pocket at the back of the jersey.
The Dragons’ high-performance staff were not impressed.
Tuipulotu then put out an appeal on his social media after the game.
The next morning the fan returned the device to the Dragons’ team hotel in Melbourne.
KHOURY GETS DOGS GOING
Former chairman John Khoury is the forgotten man in Canterbury’s revival.
He became chair at Belmore in 2020, hired Phil Gould the following year, and convinced hotel billionaire Arthur Laundy to tip in as major sponsor.
It was also Khoury’s idea to invest in the development programs that have led to the Dogs emerging as a force in Harold Matthews, SG Ball and other pathways.
POLLIES PARITY ON PNG
The soon-to-be-announced introduction of a Papua New Guinea team to the NRL will have long-term federal government financial support even if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is kicked out of office at the next election.
The Labor government has pledged $600m over the next decade to establish the team in Port Moresby, in a move to fend off growing concerns around China’s potential influence in PNG.
However, there were concerns about what might happen if Labor loses the election.
Your columnist can now reveal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is also backing the funding program. Sources from within his office said the Opposition Leader would publicly support the PNG team closer to the federal election.
Not that his chief of staff Nicole Grant or media adviser Adrian Barrett are necessarily on board. Rudely, neither would return our phone calls or text messages, obviously fearing some backlash in the electorate in the AFL states over handing out $60m a year to a rugby league team.
The PNG side is expected to enter the competition in 2028.
STAND UP FOR JOHNNY
Legendary boxing trainer Johnny Lewis will be honoured by having the grandstand at Erskineville Oval named after him.
A motion was unanimously passed at a City of Sydney council meeting last week to honour the man born and bred an ‘Erko’ local.
To this day, Lewis, 80, still runs fitness classes every morning at the oval.
He’s trained some of our most famous sporting types there, such as boxing greats Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu, old footy champs Graeme Langlands and Kiwi legend Mark Graham, and old sport identity Stan Lynch.
DOGS HOME IN ON JERSEYS
Canterbury Bulldogs have been saved from a merchandise sell-out in the run to the NRL finals.
We reported last week how all major suppliers were selling out of home jerseys because no one anticipated the excitement around the Bulldogs’ surge up the ladder at the beginning of the year.
Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton, who feared it would be impossible to turn around extra stock, had talks with their supplier.
“We’ve been working diligently with our apparel provider Classic Sportswear to ensure our fans can get their hands on home jerseys as soon as possible,” he said.
“Our partnership allows us to supply additional stock at short notice, especially as we look forward to our last two home games at Accor Stadium.
“We are proud to announce that the Bulldogs have hit a club record for total merchandise sold to fans in 2024.”
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