Payto & Panda: Dave Dennis open to playing for Rams, but Israel Folau and Kurtley Beale out of reach

Dave Dennis says he is open to playing for the Greater Sydney Rams in the NRC but the club has given hope of landing Israel Folau and Kurtley Beale

WARATAHS captain Dave Dennis says he is open to playing for the Greater Sydney Rams in the National Rugby Championships but the club has given hope of landing fellow westies Israel Folau and Kurtley Beale.

Dennis is a Sydney Uni stalwart but is a also strong advocate of building rugby in Western Sydney, having grown up in Kurrajong.

“I am obviously aligned with Sydney University and that flows to the Stars but if there was anything that meant that due to quotas or restrictions or whatever I couldn’t play for them, my preference would be to play for the Rams,” Dennis told us.

“If I ended up playing at the Rams I wouldn’t be too disappointed because that’s where I grew up, so it’d be good result.”

The sight of the Waratahs captain playing for the GWS Rams would make a big statement about rugby in the west but, like Folau and Beale, NRC rules are set to scuttle any of the trio playing for their “home” team.

Under draft protocols seen by this column, Waratahs players (including Wallabies) will go to their NRC team affiliated to the “Player’s Premier Rugby Club as nominated within their Player Contract”. So Dennis and Folau to the Stars, and Beale to Randwick/NSW Country.

Dave Dennis would be open to playing for the Rams.

Each club will have 16 contracted players and four Wallabies will be allocated to each outfit but even if a club has more than four Wallabies, they will even be able to keep them and count as contracted players only.

With other states effectively tied to their Super Rugby franchise, Sydney clubs believe they’ll struggle to fill the 16 contracted slots, even at a star-laden club like Uni. Hence, an overflow spilling Dennis to the Rams is not foreseeable.

Contracted players can reject their nominated NRC club, but in that unlikely event, the ARU or Super Rugby club then get the next say on where they will play.

Like the other Sydney clubs, the Rams are now resigned to only getting elite players through their club connections; which are still luckily strong given they have five feeders — Eastwood, West Harbour, Penrith, Parramatta and Southern Districts.

Interestingly, Dennis, Folau and Beale are just a few of the players Greater Western Sydney has produced. If a genuine “origin” NRC was played and Test rugby didn’t clash, the Rams would boast a killer outfit.

Rams team made up of GWS-produced players

15. Israel Folau (Minto)

14. Alofa Alofa (West Harbour)

13. Lachie Turner (Eastwood)

12. Rob Horne (Souths)

11. Taqele Naiyaravaro (Parramatta)

10. Kurtley Beale (Mount Druitt)

9. Nic White (Eastwood)

8. Dave Dennis (Kurrajong)

7. Chris Alcock (Eastwood)

6. Lachy McAffrey (Eastwood)

5. Sam Wykes (Parramatta)

4. Will Skelton (Blacktown)

3. Ben Alexander (Eastwood)

2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (Parramatta)

1. Benn Robinson (Eastwood)

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Meanwhile, the Rams are yet to finalise a major sponsor but are building a profile and have made an impact on social media, punching out feisty material on Twitter and Facebook.

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Still on the NRC, the pay schedule also contained in the draft protocols confirms contracted players will get no extra money for NRC duties, and all others can get maximum of $5000. A salary cap is therefore not required. Clubs can pay up to $2000 for relocation costs.

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Tensions at the Queensland Reds are so high that coach Richard Graham had to confront his own players over a perceived lack of support.

Graham gathered the playing squad in a room last week and bluntly told them the internal friction had to end.

We hear Graham asked the group: “Are you with me or against me?”.

The coach took the silence that followed as support and then called a start to training. The Reds went on to get dished up by the Blues.

Coach Richard Graham is under pressure at the Reds. Pic Peter Wallis

In a further sign of turmoil, its understood former Wallaby winger Digby Ioane was offered a spot by the Reds to return home.

Reds players close to Ioane told him not to bother because by the time he returned they wouldn’t be at the club.

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Wallabies winger Joe Tomane is increasingly likely to head overseas after the Brumbies re-signed Matt Toomua and Nic White this week, and will soon tie up Scott Fardy and Christian Lealiifano as well.

There was a salary cap squeeze in Canberra but with those big names retained, it is understood Tomane will take up a lucrative deal offshore.

Brumbies winger Joe Tomane could be off overseas.

With Ben Mowen and Andrew Smith also leaving, the money problems ease off a bit but several more mid-tier players will be let go. Stay tuned.

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Brumby Jack is a famous mascot but he’s got exposure for all the wrong reasons in the last few weeks after YouTube footage of him throwing up pitch-side did the rounds.

Neatly 10,000 people have seen the vid — titled “Yackety yak Brumby Jack” — which shows the foam head being whipped off as the team play the Chiefs, and the inner-horse losing his lunch.

We can reveal is the inner-horse was none other than Dane Rathbone; brother of Wallaby and Brumby winger Clyde.

Dane, a comedian, was in the suit for one-night only and was filming it all as part of a comedy festival. He was a bit crook and the heat overwhelmed him.

The Brumbies official who okayed the whole thing has been informed sternly that Rathbone is strictly “NHA”: Never Horse Again.

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Hat-tip to Parramatta skipper Andrew Cox, who captained the Two Blues for the 101st time last Saturday against Penrith. The Parramatta record is 151 games held by Allan Minnett, who was on hand to presented Cox a plaque for notching up his century.

We add our congratulations to one of the most widely respected men in Sydney rugby.