Nathan Cleary frontrunner for NSW halfback role, Titans under the radar and Josh Mansour's face off surgery
FROM no hope to Blue dreams. Nathan Cleary is the frontrunner again for the NSW halfback job while still recovering from knee surgery. Plus, how Manly’s woes saved the Titans and Josh Mansour’s face off surgery.
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NATHAN Cleary is the frontrunner again for the NSW Blues’ halfback job despite sitting on the sideline recovering from knee surgery.
Blues coach Brad Fittler has kept a close eye on Cleary’s recovery and the prognosis has changed from no hope to some chance and is improving every day.
It now appears that Cleary needs only to get enough games under his belt to convince Fittler to select him.
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There are several reasons behind Fittler’s thinking:
Blues adviser Andrew Johns gave his support to Jack Bird in the No. 6 jersey this week which, more than anything, was a tip towards how the Blues are approaching this year’s series.
Big bodies.
The Blues prefer a big body at No. 6, believing they are most dominant when the likes of a Laurie Daley or Fittler, himself, play five-eighth.
Fittler is hoping Cleary will be back about round 10, which would give him three games to regain his mojo before the Blues team is picked and the players head into camp.
That’s enough time to get his fitness back and renew his partnership with his Penrith Panthers teammate James Maloney which, although still in its infancy, showed enough positive signs that it would work in Origin.
While Maloney doesn’t exactly fit the big-body blueprint, Cleary is surprisingly big and, between them, Fittler believes the job is covered.
PATTEN’S TRY CALL GENERAL HOWLER
FORMER Bulldogs fullback turned video referee Luke Patten — not Jared Maxwell — was responsible for the Nene Macdonald try blunder on Wednesday.
Referees boss Bernie Sutton was forced to admit the call to award a try was wrong. With the Dragons leading 18-8, Macdonald scored to hand the Dragons a 24-8 win.
Referee Ashley Klein sent the decision to the bunker with the on-field call of try. But replays showed the ball slipping from Macdonald’s hands as he tried to score.
While it was Maxwell’s voice who said there was insufficient evidence to overturn the on-field call of try and stuck with the decision, it was Patten who made the call. Both review officials have a role in the decision but Patten led the process.
UNFAMILIAR HOME BERTH PAINFUL TO WATCH
FOR more than a decade, Chris Lawrence has seen or been part of almost every Tigers live game.
But last Saturday was a different experience for the Tigers’ co-skipper when he had to watch on from home after missing the match in Tamworth because of a hamstring injury. Lawrence said he was so frustrated watching that he caused a bit of commotion in the house with newborn baby Emmerson.
“I watched it at home and eventually by myself,” Lawrence said. “My wife couldn’t tolerate me yelling at the TV. I’ve woken the young bub up, so she took her upstairs while I watched it by myself.
“It was a bit more frustrating sitting watching at home.”
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SYDNEY Roosters fullback James Tedesco is Eastern Suburbs-bound, choosing to move out of the Hunters Hill house he shares with former teammates Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks to be closer to his new training base. Rookie Victor Radley will be Tedesco’s new roomie.
ONE INTO EIGHT ADDS UP NICELY
JUST one. Corey Thompson wanted to feature in one more NRL game after playing 35 times for Canterbury between 2014-15. He is now preparing for his eighth consecutive game and looks to have nailed the No.1 jersey after a two-year stint in England.
“If I played eight games in the year that would have been great,” Thompson said. “I didn’t want to stay in England anymore. I would’ve been happy if I had a good pre-season, played well in reserve grade and got one game. Once I got a taste in round one I wanted to keep my head down and keep playing hard and not give up my spot.”
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WHICH player’s mum was offering four tickets to a recent game to fans lining up for tickets in Sydney? All you had to do was identify the number jersey her son was wearing.
DENIS IN TUNE WITH OUT GAME
HE brought us the famed That’s in Queensland song and now Denis Carnahan has wasted little time to poke fun at Manly’s plight with a new rendition of Copacabana.
Carnahan has delivered a new repertoire of songs ahead of his Rugby League the Musical show which kicks off next month.
Manly and skipper Daly Cherry-Evans are in the firing line as is Cameron Smith with an ode to The night Cam Smith was Sin-Binned.
There is also a Billy Slater tribute song — Taking A Dive — to the tune of the Bee Gees’ track Stayin’ Alive — in honour of Slater’s ability to “milk” penalties in the opening rounds.
Carnahan only wrote the At The Boardroom song this week and performed it exclusively for Sports Confidential.
“It took a few hours,” Carnahan said. “I replaced Lola with ‘Daly, he was the captain …’ I’m still working on a song on penalty-gate after all the penalties blown at the start of the season.”
The mad Raiders fan was on hand to watch Smith be sin-binned for the first time in his decorated career at Southern Cross Group Stadium in round four.
“It’s a question people are going to be asking where you were just like when man landed on the moon,” Carnahan said.
“The sound of the crowd going from this raucous cheer ... It was full pantomime. There was a cheer, a boo and then this cheer.”
Carnahan is taking his show across NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
“I have about 100 songs with film clips,” Carnahan said. “I weave them into categories and groupings.”
His musical opens in Sydney on May 7 at the Bridge Hotel in Rozelle. See rugbyleague themusical.com.au for more.
RON’S MEMOIRS
BACK in the day, Wests Tigers trainer Ronny Palmer used to be called, with kindness, “40-20” by those he trained.
It had nothing to do with his kicking game but was a reference to his 40-year-old head on a 20-year-old body.
Alas, the laugh’s on us. That was 20 years ago and while the rest of us all look at least 20 years older, Palmer looks the same now as he did two decades ago.
Now the best in the business has put his name to a book. He’s collating a lifetime’s work with the Sydney Roosters, Parramatta, Penrith, Gold Coast and Wests Tigers in a soon-to-be-released book called Sports Strength.
Tigers coach Ivan Cleary is writing the foreword and it will be in stores by October.
SPECIALISTS CONVERGE FOR MANSOUR SURGERY
JOSH Mansour is one tough hombre.
He has surgery at 8.30 on Friday morning at Nepean Hospital to repair the fractures in his face and three specialists will be on hand.
Mansour has multiple fractures to his eye socket, cheek and jaw, and bone fragments are floating around his face.
So this morning his surgeon will cut him from ear to ear and peel down his face to his chest to assess the damage.
It won’t be known which way to go with the surgery until the surgeon sees what’s left of Mansour’s bone structure, so an optical specialist and sinus specialist will be on hand.
A plastic surgeon will also be in the surgery to make sure that Mansour’s face is put back together correctly once the operation is finished.
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MANLY’S troubles in Gladstone might have saved Gold Coast from some ugly headlines.
The whisper is Manly weren’t the only NRL team in the strip club that night and, if not for the pugilist activities back at the Sea Eagles’ hotel, the Titans’ behaviour would have warranted more inspection than Manly’s.
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CANTERBURY and Des Hasler are returning to the courtroom after plans for mediation failed. There were hopes of a $600,000 settlement but that has been unsuccessful. The parties are back in court on Wednesday.
HAYNE CHALLENGE GETS PARRA FIRED UP
STIRRING words from Parramatta’s Jarryd Hayne helped spark the Eels to victory against Manly last week.
It was during an opposed session when a fed-up Hayne had had enough and essentially laid down the challenge to his teammates to start ripping into each other. A good old-fashioned bash-up followed where blood was spilt.
“It wasn’t just me but I was the first one to speak up that everyone has got to be a bit more animated,” Hayne said.
“Being 0-6 we were all disappointed and frustrated. There were no magical words but it probably sparked everyone to get a bit more tone in their voices. By the end of it we were vibing and we took into the game. It was a tough session and physical.”
Hayne is expected to miss up to six week with a new quadriceps injury. The injury is slightly different to the one which had ruled him out for three games.
“It’s all about momentum and getting games under my belt,” Hayne said. “It’s awesome being home and being around the club and area. It’s been everything I’d hoped for. The winning thing is the one thing missing.”
KING MATT A HUGE HIT
FILE this one under #NRLtalkthegameup.
The Matt King Shield was recently held in Matt King’s home town of Casino.
King, now working as an assistant with the Sydney Roosters, had a game the night before
so he had to stay in town to work.
At 5.30am the next morning he and winger Daniel Tupou flew to Ballina and then drove
to Casino.
After a day signing autographs, posing for selfies with fans and handing out Roosters gear, they got the car back to Ballina for the flight home to Sydney.
The effort was worth it. So much so, the story was tipped to us by Eels fan Sam Irvine. He won’t wear the Roosters gear, though.
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THE Rabbitohs have snatched highly rated fullback Corey Allan for the next three years from the Brisbane Broncos. Allen was part of the Queensland under-20 emerging squad last year and considered the long-term replacement for Darius Boyd.