NRL 2023: Broncos’ $600k Cory Paix salary cap headache, Dolphins sign Johnathan Thurston’s cousin Jahrel Iselin-Jansen | Sport Confidential
The Broncos are facing a $600k salary-cap headache, with an out-of-favour star digging his heels in despite being granted permission to look elsewhere. See the full SPORT CONFIDENTIAL.
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The Broncos are facing a $600,000 salary-cap headache over out-of-favour hooker Cory Paix.
Brisbane have given Paix permission to negotiate with rival clubs — just months after the Toowoomba product inked a new two-year extension to remain at Red Hill until the end of 2025.
Paix had informal talks with Roosters coach Trent Robinson in the lead-up to Brisbane’s grand-final charge, but the Bondi club has yet to table an offer and the nuggety No.9 is also reluctant to move to Sydney.
Paix is keen to remain in Brisbane for family reasons and that was a key factor in him signing an upgraded deal in February worth around $300,000 a season, despite interest at that time from Manly.
At the time he inked the deal, Paix was in a neck-and-neck tussle with Billy Walters for the hooking role, but by season’s end, Walters took a stranglehold on the No.9 jumper.
Paix was relegated to the bench and, by mid-season, he lost the No.14 utility slot to Tyson Smoothy, who featured in Brisbane’s top 17 for the NRL decider against Penrith.
With Paix settled off the field in Brisbane, the 23-year-old is digging his heels in and is prepared to honour his Broncos deal playing for an affiliate club in the Queensland Cup.
That will make Paix one of the Queensland Cup’s most expensive players, with his salary to eat into Brisbane’s salary cap at a time when the club is trying to retain Ezra Mam, Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds.
After signing his two-year upgrade on the eve of the 2023 premiership, Paix declared he was ready to challenge Walters as Brisbane’s main man at hooker.
“I now feel I belong in the NRL at hooker,” Paix said.
“There’s a bit of competitive tension there. We’re in a professional sport and Billy is a great bloke.
“At the end of the day, we both want the same thing. I am happy to be in the 17 each week but ultimately I want to be starting and I’m sure Billy feels the same way.”
EXCLUSIVE: DOLPHINS SECURE JT’S COUSIN IN SIGNING COUP
Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins have pulled off a recruitment coup by signing the cousin (once removed) of Cowboys legend Johnathan Thurston.
Sport Confidential can reveal boom halfback Jahrel Iselin-Jansen committed to the Dolphins on Tuesday, knocking back interest from Sydney NRL rivals to ink a one-year deal.
The 17-year-old playmaker is the grandson of Thurston’s uncle Phil, who is the brother of the Queensland Origin champion’s mum, Debbie.
And just like Thurston, Jahrel is proving a winner already.
The speedy Queensland young gun steered the Dolphins to a 36-18 drubbing of the Townsville Blackhawks in this year’s Mal Meninga Cup grand final.
Iselin-Jansen is still eligible to play in the under-19s Mal Meninga Cup for another two seasons and is being groomed for an NRL career at the Dolphins.
Super coach Bennett, who finishes up with the Dolphins next year, may not get to mentor Iselin-Jansen, but Redcliffe scouts see the same competitive instincts as his famous relative Thurston.
“This is a great opportunity for Jahrel,” said his manager Paul Sutton.
“He is not dissimilar in build to ‘JT’ at the same age.
“He is tallish and a bit of a string bean, but he will develop the physical components over the next few years as he fills out.
“Jahrel is related to JT. When he went to play in Townsville for the Met North team, he stayed at JT’s house and JT came to the footy with them, so they are genuine family members.
“There was a bit of interest in him from Sydney clubs but it was better for him to stay home.
“He has been playing for the Dolphins in the Mal Meninga Cup, so it made sense for him to stay with the club and continue his progression.”
Iselin-Jansen returned to rugby league last season after taking a two-year break to play touch football.
“Jahrel has the right attributes to make the NRL,” Sutton said.
“There are no guarantees at his age. With the Indigenous boys, they can be late developers physically, so we won’t see the best of Jahrel until he is 20 or 21.
“But he is a smart, clever halfback. Like JT, he is quick and has good vision, so he will only get better over the next few years.”
Iselin-Jansen may not enter the Dolphins NRL system until 2025 or 2026, by which time the competition for scrumbase spots could intensify.
Two of the Dolphins’ senior halves this season, Anthony Milford and Kodi Nikorima, both 29, are off-contract next year, while first-choice halfback Sean O’Sullivan, 25, is signed until the end of 2025.
Tongan Test ace Isaiya Katoa was a revelation this season in his rookie year at 19 and could form a halves pairing with Iselin-Jansen in the years to come.
TITANIC WAR BREWING
Friction is brewing inside the inner sanctum at the Gold Coast Titans between fullback candidates AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell.
New coach Des Hasler has a big decision to make in the lead-up to the 2024 NRL season around who will wear Gold Coast’s No.1 jersey.
Brimson has been the Titans’ long-term fullback and wore the Queensland No.1 jersey in State of Origin last year, but the emergence of Campbell has given Hasler a selection headache.
The injury-prone Brimson has been linked with a move to centre or five-eighth, but the speedy sensation has been telling people his preference is to play fullback.
That has put Brimson on a collision course with Campbell, who is gunning for his position.
“We’ve got a new coach, so I have just got to come to training and do my best and try to prove to the coach that I’d love to play fullback,” Campbell said.
“I feel like that’s my best position, I feel like that’s where I play my best, so I’d love to try and lock that spot down.
“Growing up, fullback was my main position, so I think just over time, I learnt a lot more and I have gotten used to it.
“Competing with your teammates and your mates, it just makes you a better footy player. When you play different positions, you understand what that position needs from other positions, so I wouldn’t really say it stumped me, I’ve learnt a lot from it.
“For me, I’ve always said, wherever the team needs me, I’ll play. I’d like to play fullback, but wherever the team needs me, I’ll play there.
“I’d love to bring a premiership to the Gold Coast, so wherever they need me to play for that to happen, I’ll do it.”
BRONCO ON THE MOVE
The Broncos have lost key trio Herbie Farnworth, Tom Flegler and Keenan Palasia to rival clubs, but they have also suffered a blow off the field.
Alex Corvo, one of the NRL’s most decorated strength-and-conditioning coaches, has severed ties with the Broncos and will not return to Red Hill next season as he explores new opportunities.
Corvo was a key assistant to Brisbane high-performance chief Dave Ballard as part of the Broncos conditioning program that swept the club to this year’s grand final against the Panthers.
Corvo has more than two decades of experience in the code, having served at Melbourne under Craig Bellamy during the Storm’s golden reign. He was also Queensland’s high-performance boss under former Maroons coach Kevin Walters.
It’s been a busy off-season for the Broncos. Brisbane chief executive Dave Donaghy flew out to America on Tuesday on a fact-finding mission ahead of the Broncos’ historic clash against the Roosters in Sin City next March.
BRONCOS BACK ON DECK
The Broncos don’t officially kick off their 2024 pre-season until late next week but players have already hit the training paddock at Red Hill.
Recruits Fletcher Baker (Roosters) and Jaiyden Hunt (Dragons) have got a head start on their teammates after shifting north to Brisbane.
Baker and Hunt have been in the gym along with the likes of emerging prop Xavier Willison and some other players on the comeback from off-season surgery.
The first group of Broncos players are required to report for training next Thursday to begin the club’s premiership redemption quest after the heartbreaking grand final loss to Penrith.
STEADY EDDIE’S A CHEEKY DEVIL
He is the former Penrith Panther who has knocked back an NRL deal to work as a concreter.
Hulking Queenslander Eddie Blacker has rejected a development contract with the Cowboys to ink a deal as a semi-professional with Hostplus Cup side Norths Devils.
At 195cm and 116kg, Blacker is a man mountain who was part of Penrith’s NRL squad this year, playing one game for the Panthers against the Cowboys in round 25.
The Cowboys recently offered Blacker a chance to be part of their squad for the 2024 season, but the 23-year-old has opted to juggle work as a concrete with his football duties for the Devils.
Blacker, who has played two NRL games, including one for the Dragons in 2020, has not given up hope of playing NRL again and wants to fight his way back through the Queensland Cup system at Norths.
FOR CHRIST’S SAKE
The ARL Commission has been urged to expand to Christchurch amid calls from super coach Wayne Bennett to add a second NRL team to New Zealand.
Bennett believes New Zealand is ready for another NRL team to rival the Warriors, with the Wellington Orcas having previously expressed interest in joining the Telstra Premiership.
But former Kiwi Test forward Dean Lonergan is adamant the NRL must consider expansion to the south island of New Zealand.
Lonergan has an intimate understanding of the Kiwi league landscape, playing four NRL games for the Canberra Raiders in 1988 and 11 Tests for New Zealand after graduating to the ARL premiership from Auckland.
Christchurch is the south island’s biggest city with a population 380,000 and Lonergan, who created the NRL Nines in 2014, says the region can sustain an NRL team.
“Christchurch is the perfect place to go for the NRL’s 18th team,” Lonergan said.
“They have a rich history of rugby league there and they are getting a brand new, 25,000-seat stadium.
“It will be finished in two or three years and that would give the NRL a presence in the south island.
“Christchurch has a culture of excellence with the success of the Canterbury Crusaders in rugby union.
“A second franchise in NZ is inevitable. It’s a much better bet than trying to establish a team in Perth, which is strongly aligned with the AFL.”
Bennett said two NRL teams in New Zealand could takeover rugby union across the ditch.
“The Warriors were a great success story this season and the game in New Zealand can capitalise on that with a second team,” he said.
“I honestly would love to see a second team in New Zealand.
“We can have three teams over the next 10 years or so, it’s certainly do-able.”
MAROONS TOAST PARTICIPATION WIN
The Queensland Rugby League has celebrated a significant increase in participation by landing a new sponsor.
First Choice Liquor has joined the Maroons on a three-year partnership on the back of Queensland recording a five per cent increase in participation across the state.
The participation increase – and Queensland’s back-to-back Origin men’s series wins – has made the QRL an attractive sponsorship proposition.
“It’s our pleasure to welcome First Choice Liquor Market as Queensland Maroons’ first ever Official Liquor Retail Partner,” QRL CEO Ben Ikin said.
“This partnership allows us to further invest in all levels of the game, from community rugby league through to our pathway programs and competitions, as we strive to create opportunities for all participants to enjoy our great game.”
Growing participation in regional centres like Ipswich, Townsville and the Gold Coast contributed to the strong result for 2023.
HASLER’S WORK OF ART
New Titans coach Des Hasler has produced a piece of art.
Hasler commissioned this giant welcome sign in the Gold Coast club’s gym.
At 6.8m wide and 4.1m high, it’s hard to miss the sign that says “Welcome” in 24 different languages that represent the heritage of the Titans’ NRL and NRLW squads.
That includes languages of Australia’s First Nations people, the Pasifika, PNG, Ireland and Pakistan – a nod to flying winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira.
TSZYU ARE KIDDING
Terence Crawford’s trainer has taken a savage swipe at Tim Tszyu, saying Australia’s world champion will be ripped apart in the big fights in Las Vegas.
Tszyu hammered Brian Mendoza on the Gold Coast last month, a win that has opened the gateway to potential big-money blockbusters against American superstars Crawford or Errol Spence.
Crawford, unbeaten in 40 fights, handed Spence the first loss of his career in July. Tszyu has Crawford and Spence on his hit list of targets, but Crawford’s trainer says the Sydneysider is in dreamland.
”He (Crawford) will stop Tim Tszyu,” Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre told American media.
“Terrence will stop Tim Tszyu and Errol will stop Tim Tszyu.
“Errol will stop Tim Tszyu too because he’s a come-forward fighter, he’ll run right into Spence’s hands.
“I don’t give a damn (about Tszyu). That’s how I look at it. That’s my opinion.”
MERRY XMAS JAI
Australia’s cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia next fight will be on Christmas Eve.
Opetaia, arguably Australia’s No.1 pound-for-pound fighter, is back in the ring on December 24 when he takes on undefeated Englishman Ellis Zorro (17-0, 7KO) in Saudi Arabia.
Opetaia (23-0, 18KO) destroyed Jordan Thompson in his first world title defence at Wembley Arena in September and the 28-year-old will be confident of belting another hapless British rival.
Latvian legend Mairis Briedis (28-2) remains keen for a rematch with Opetaia after losing his IBF world title to the Australian in their 12-round war on the Gold Coast in 2022.
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Originally published as NRL 2023: Broncos’ $600k Cory Paix salary cap headache, Dolphins sign Johnathan Thurston’s cousin Jahrel Iselin-Jansen | Sport Confidential
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