Andrew McCullough’s season-ending injury to plunge Broncos into salary cap crisis
He’s a much-loved former Broncos teammate but Knights hooker Andrew McCullough’s season-ending injury, combined with a bizarre contractual situation, could have dire consequences for the club.
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Sacked Cowboys mentor Paul Green is firming as the next coach of the Broncos or the Queensland Origin team in a puzzle that includes Brisbane legend Kevin Walters.
Sports Confidential can reveal Green and Walters are firmly intertwined in the NRL’s coaching merry-go-round circus with the movement of one likely to dictate the future of the other.
Contrary to speculation, Green has had no formal approaches so far and is so relaxed about his future he has taken a well-earned break with his family, going deep-sea fishing with wife Amanda.
Green has every reason to be content because he will be coaching in some fashion in the NRL industry next year.
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There are two jobs premiership-winner Green has always held in great esteem - the Broncos’ head-coaching position and the Queensland Origin gig.
Now, both are tantalisingly within reach.
Broncos coach Anthony Seibold is effectively on borrowed time at Red Hill and unless he can orchestrate a form miracle in the next two months, he will not survive an end-of-season review with Brisbane’s board.
The Broncos’ executive cannot say it publicly but they are acutely aware of Green’s availability and if things don’t work out with Seibold, they have two immediate options in the former Cowboys coach and Walters.
If Seibold departs, Brisbane can make a decisive move for Green, who has close ties with Broncos board member Darren Lockyer and previously worked at Red Hill as an assistant coach to Ivan Henjak in 2009.
Alternatively, if the Broncos decide to opt for a favourite son in club legend Walters, Green can slot seamlessly into the Queensland Origin post he was initially offered in 2016, only to knock it back because of his Cowboys commitments.
Walters has been Queensland’s coach for the past four seasons and is contracted until the end of 2021, but either way, Green has a couple of attractive bases covered.
STORM ALERT FOR COWBOY
The Melbourne Storm are eyeing off Cowboys centre Tom Opacic to bolster their backline stocks.
Sports Confidential understands the Storm have made an inquiry in the last 24 hours with Opacic, who is off-contract at season’s end at North Queensland.
Storm centre Justin Olam has been battling some injury niggles and Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy is looking for three-quarter options with his side stranded on the Sunshine Coast during the COVID crisis.
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The 25-year-old Opacic offers some experience, having played 40 games for the Broncos and Cowboys since his NRL debut in 2016.
The versatile Opacic can play centre, wing or in the back-row and his rugged defensive style would suit the hard-nosed Storm. He has played just two NRL games this season due to injury and Paul Green’s preference for Esan Marsters in the centres.
ROBBO’S BOARD WARNING
Roosters coach Trent Robinson has delivered a brilliant analysis that should serve as an uppercut to the Broncos board over their handling of the Anthony Seibold affair at Red Hill.
Robinson was asked by NRL 360 host Ben Ikin to provide some advice to club boards at a time when a number of NRL coaches are either fighting for their jobs or have been sacked, including Dean Pay and Paul Green.
Robinson wasn’t specifically criticising the Broncos, but his critique of the role of a club board should make Brisbane chairman Karl Morris sit up and take notice as Seibold comes under searing scrutiny.
“Every board member has to look at their own situation before they look at their coach or who they are going to (appoint) as a coach,” said Robinson, a three-time premiership winner.
“Are you in a window where you think you can win the comp in the next year or two or will you hold your cool and develop over the next three or four seasons?
“There is only one team who is going to win the comp each year.
“Then there are five, six or seven who can actually win the comp.
“Then there’s nine or 10 teams who won’t win the comp in a season.
“So are you just focusing year-to-year?
“The pressure back on the board members is - what’s your plan?
“If you are deciding who the coach is, what’s your plan about the way the next two, three or five seasons will go? What are you putting in place? If you sacked the coach, why didn’t you put something in place that was going to ensure that this was going to grow over the course of your tenure as well.
“People forget to ask questions of the board as well, they put it on the coach and we assume that responsibility, but also (as a board) have look at yourselves.”
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SMITH
The NRL rumour mill went into overdrive in recent days following revelations Cameron Smith’s three children are going to school in Queensland.
That triggered speculation the Storm champion is considering a swansong campaign at the Broncos next season, especially after Smith almost joined Brisbane for family reasons back in 2015.
But Storm officials have set the record straight with Sport Confidential. Melbourne relocated to the Sunshine Coast last month because of a spike in COVID infection rates in Victoria and that prompted Smith to also move his kids for education purposes.
Several other partners and children of Storm players have recently shifted to Queensland to keep their family units intact.
MAC ATTACK FOR BRONCOS CAP
Andrew McCullough’s season-ending injury at Newcastle has become a $600,000 salary cap nightmare for the Broncos.
In a bizarre contractual situation, McCullough was released to the Knights in May despite still having a 12-month option in his favour for the 2021 season with the Broncos.
That means if McCullough fails to sign another deal at the Knights, or any other NRL rival, he has the power to return to play for the Broncos next year.
The Broncos were hopeful McCullough’s good form at Newcastle would convince the Knights to keep him for a longer-term, but his injury has thrown a major spanner in the works.
McCullough’s 2021 Broncos deal is worth around $600,000 and at 31 next season, he would be a major burden on their salary cap.
“Macca has a contract with us for next year so depending on his physical shape, and whether he wants to come back, that’s up to Macca,” Broncos board member Darren Lockyer said.
“He has a contract with the Broncos next year. His main focus right now is to overcome another tough injury.”
COWBOYS’ KNIGHT-MARE
Paul Green is not the only departure from the Cowboys. It is understood recruitment chief Clint Zammit, one of the best talent spotters in the code, is on the verge of leaving Townsville. The Knights are going hard for Zammit, who is tipped to head up Newcastle’s recruitment next season. Zammit is the man who spotted Kalyn Ponga and Jason Taumalolo and is highly-regarded by Knights coach Adam O’Brien.
SECRET WEAPON IN FIFITA DEAL
Titans recruit Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was the secret weapon in David Fifita’s decision to join the Gold Coast.
While money was an obvious factor in Fifita’s Broncos bombshell, don’t discount the role of Big Tino. The Storm monster, who will join the Titans next year, was on the phone to Fifita several times a week, urging the Origin star to take a leap of faith with him to the Gold Coast.
The duo have been good mates for the past five years, having played in several Queensland junior rep teams, and Fa’asuamaleaui assured Fifita they could turn the Titans into a finals force next season.
MAL’S BORDER WAR
Titans culture boss Mal Meninga has a COVID dilemma with the NRL Immortal to decide this week whether he will continue at Fox Sports.
The Queensland government’s decision to close borders from Saturday to Greater Sydney residents means Meninga will not be able to work at the Titans if he stops into Fox Sports’ studios in Sydney.
Meninga resides in Canberra and has been able to travel freely to the Gold Coast, but the Queensland border crackdown could freeze him out of the Titans for the time being.
“I have to make a decision in the next week,” said Meninga, a regular member of Fox’s NRL weekend coverage.
“If I continue with my media work, I won’t be able to go into the Titans.
“The borders are shutting on Saturday so the following week if I go to Fox, it means I have to go into isolation for two weeks if I go to Queensland.
“I was up on the Gold Coast last week but I probably won’t be able to go back if I keep going to Sydney.
“I can go from Canberra to the Gold Coast because I’m not in a hotspot, but if I go to Sydney to work at Fox, I have to go into self-isolation.”