Canberra’s NRL rival targets Jordan Rapana for NRL comeback
With his short-term contract in Japanese rugby rubbed out because of the coronavirus, Jordan Rapana is on the verge of an NRL comeback – and one club is aiming to beat former club Canberra to the punch.
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While stood-down players Jayden Okunbor and Corey Harawira-Naera have been granted an extension until Tuesday to respond to their breach notices the Bulldogs have earmarked Jordan Rapana as a potential replacement.
Even if Okunbor and Harawira-Naera aren’t sacked – despite the suggestion at least one is clinging onto their immediate playing future – the Bulldogs could still make a play for the Kiwi Test winger. They have salary cap space given Kieran Foran’s long-term injury and Rapana is on the lookout to return to the NRL.
A move to his former club Canberra seems most likely but that hasn’t stopped the Bulldogs from discussing the 30-year-old.
Rapana signed a short-term contract to play in Japanese rugby union under former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans at Panasonic Wild Knights. But that competition has now been suspended because of the coronavirus.
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CIRCUMSTANCES AGAINST THE FANS
CROWDS reached a 24-year low for round one when wet weather and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus caused havoc.
An average of 12,565 attended matches — down more than 4000 per game on last year.
And only 100,518 people walked through the gates — the fewest since four matches were played during the turbulent start to the 1996 season.
On that occasion, teams refused to take to the field because of the Super League war and there was an average of 7550 people per match.
At least 5000 people who bought tickets did not show up to the first two matches of the season, when Parramatta and Canberra were the home sides.
Raiders chief executive Don Furner said the uncertainty and ongoing discussions about a potential lockout played havoc with his club’s crowd of 10,610.
“People thought the game may have been called off or the game was going to go ahead with a crowd,” Furner said. “We didn’t really get any clarity until after 3pm. We were pretty happy with the final number. “(Coach) Ricky Stuart thanked them after the game.”
The opening-round crowd average was slightly less than in 2017 when an average of 12,622 people attended the first eight games.
The Daily Telegraph NRL podcast: Adam Mobbs, Dean Ritchie and Michael Carayannis discuss Brisbane’s surprise emergence as a potential 2020 NRL grand final host, Latrell Mitchell’s start to his Rabbitohs career and the coronavirus impact on rugby league.
A NEW STATE OF PLAY
THE NRL is taking on risks with its players and officials.
This edict was sent by the NRL to all clubs ahead of the first round of lockout matches.
The likes of South Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne will arrive on chartered flights this weekend.
Home clubs have been told they must have a corporate facility for 50 people. Within that highly sanitised room should be; four TVs, a dining area for 30, Wi-Fi, 100 towels and three massage tables. The room must be ready five hours before kick-off.
The NRL has also taken extra precautions with match officials. Officiating teams must be as similar to round one as possible. All match officials will perform only one on-field role this round, meaning the number of match officials will lift by five.
SHOOSH
Which NRL club was willing to give a wayward player another shot, only for him to not arrive on a planned flight?
ZANE’S HEROES WEAR SHARKS JERSEYS
At a time where debate rages over what impact rugby league can have on the rest of society, a story emerges that provides some much-needed perspective.
Nine-year-old Zane West is fighting to overcome a rare and serious brain cancer, which he was tragically diagnosed with on Christmas Eve last year. He also happens to be a tragic Cronulla Sharks supporter.
Before the NRL’s player-isolation guidelines were announced this week, little Zane’s day was made thanks to Cronulla coach John Morris, captain Wade Graham and club legend Paul Gallen.
Zane recently attended a Sharks training session where he met every player and his friends say he still can’t wipe the smile from his face.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up for Zane and his family, who in a time of global financial crisis are faced with ongoing medical bills.
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BLAST FROM THE PAST: LUKE COVELL
153 top-grade games (22 Wests Tigers, 131 Cronulla) from 2003-10.
One Test for New Zealand.
LUKE Covell stands among the Cronulla faithful waving the spirit fingers for which he was synonymous during his six-year stint at the club, where the winger earnt cult-hero status.
At some point during his 131 games at the Sharks, the fans started waving their fingers each time Covell lined up an attempt for goal. It is a tradition which has carried on to this day and one Covell has happily joined like any other Sharks tragic.
“I don’t mind getting involved in it,” Covell said. ”I was there at the grand final in the bleachers doing it with the family. It’s good the tradition lives on. I still don’t really know how it started.
“It was nothing that I really took too much notice of until after my career. When you’re goal- kicking you’re concentrating on what you’re doing. You’re not taking note of what’s going on.
“When we’re at home watching the Sharks games, the kids love it. We try and get to at least one game a year and the kids love to do it.”
Covell’s career ended a decade ago and he really is a throwback from another era. He only came on to the radar of the Wests Tigers when he answered an open-invitation advertisement in the old Rugby League Week magazine.
Even when he made his NRL debut for the Tigers in 2003, he was a part-time footballer with a maintenance job at Liverpool Catholic Club.
Only when the Sharks came knocking two years later did he become a full-time footballer.
Covell, who runs a plumbing business in Tweed Heads, also played one Test for New Zealand in 2007.
“I lasted just seven minutes,” Covell said of New Zealand’s 58-0 loss to Australia. “I tried to fend off Greg Inglis and he was stronger than my elbow and my elbow gave way. I strapped it up but I couldn’t play on.”
ALL EYES ON
The empty stadiums.
What impact will it have on the quality of matches? Will players be able to “get up” playing in front of no one. Will we see less penalties because the match officials won’t be confronted by the hostility of a home crowd? Should we anticipate a boost in viewership for the game, too? No doubt it is going to be an unprecedented and very, very weird weekend of NRL.