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TITANS boss Garth Brennan has some advice for youngster Keegan Hipgrave and the Panthers receive an injury boost.
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MARTIN KEEN TO KICK ON WITH BULLDOGS
From Fatima Kdouh
HE was born in Cairns, raised in the Whitsundays and lived in Townsville but Canterbury has Rhyse Martin’s heart.
Even though he’s only played eight NRL games with the club, he told The Daily Telegraph if he didn’t re-sign with the Bulldogs that he would have rather moved to England than play for another team.
“There was interest from others but you know, I didn’t really want to go to another team,” he said.
“I bit of my heart is at the Bulldogs so I’m actually really happy to be here to be honest.”
The boom backrower revealed just how close the Belmore club to losing the fan favourite, saying he had resigned himself to the idea of switching to the Super League.
“There was a fair bit of interest over in the Super League,” he said.
“We were at the point where we were nearly about to go. I’m glad we are staying now.
“There was a few clubs over there.
“Leeds were one, they’re a good club, if I had to make the move it would have been fine but another year here will do me a world of good.”
The Proserpine Brahmans junior agreed to a one-year extension on Monday and is backing himself to earn a better deal next season.
He says signing on for a single year will act as added motivation to play his best football week-in, week-out.
“I think just for my experience, I’ve only played eight games now and hopefully by the end of next year I will have 20 or 30 games and I can have a bit more backing behind me and a bit more experience with that side of things,” he said.
“For my career, I think that would be the best way to do it. Next year is going to be a big year for me. I’ve got confidence in my football, hopefully it pays off.”
Martin says he’s just grateful he’s been given the opportunity to repay the faith shown in him by new coach Dean Pay.
He says enduring a tough season on the field, the Bulldogs currently anchored at the bottom of the ladder, has only made him hungrier for success.
“This is where I got my opportunity so I wanted to stay and when you’re not travelling too well, for me I felt that I wanted to see the other side, the good side of things and what it would feel like when we were winning,” he said.
By NRL standards Martin, 25, is a late bloomer having only made his debut against Brisbane early this year in round nine.
He says watching other players progress through the junior grades and into the NRL while he was left biding his time in the Intrust Super Premiership only made putting pen to paper on a new deal all that much “sweeter”.
“You see all the guys that you played under 20s go and start playing NRL and then you go in and play ISP … you battle in that for a couple of years as you see guys go and play NRL.
“So finally getting my chance was a relief because there is a lot of work you put in and there are a lot of highs and lows. I guess you as long as you don’t give up and keep trying your hardest. That’s what I did and it paid off.”
DON’T BE DUMB
Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan has warned newly re-signedforward Keegan Hipgrave to rise above the baiting or expect a demotion toreserve grade.
The 21-year-old is tipped for big things and last weekcommitted to a Titans side that will boast a pack full of representativeforwards next season. He has earned a reputation for his aggressive on-fieldways and this week described himself a “controlled loose cannon”.
Last month he became the first NRL player in 16 years to besin-binned twice in one game, spending two stints off the field in his side’s round14 loss to South Sydney.
Brisbane’s pack also got the better of him and, afterconceding another ill- timed penalty in the weekend’s loss to Newcastle,Brennan said he needed to stop being taken advantage of by opposition nigglers.
“He’s got to be smarter than that, that’s just being dumb,”Brennan said. “You’re going to play against a lot of players that are very goodat that (niggling).
“If you’re going to bite every week then you’re going to bespending a fair bit of time on the sideline and if you’re doing that you’regoing to be spending a bit of time at (Queensland Cup feeder clubs) Tweed orBurleigh.”
Meanwhile, out-of-favour recruit Bryce Cartwright is set toreturn for Tweed Heads after almost a month out following a broken hand.
Cartwright had been dropped by Brennan prior to the injuryafter a string of poor defensive efforts since moving from Penrith in thepreseason.
– Murray Wenzel, AAP
The Foxx has never moved this quick on the field.@billyslater gives Josh Addo-Carr a bath to raise money for the @Starlight_star ahead of Saturday's Big Purple Splash at AAMI Park. pic.twitter.com/0XEBQb6Uqa
— Herald Sun Sport (@heraldsunsport) July 24, 2018
NRL PLAYERS ARE COACHED TO ‘CHEAT’
Former Australia and Queensland forward Gorden Tallis has accused NRL coaches of “rorting the system” by hiring ex-referees to teach their players how to bend the rules.
Tallis urged coaches to stop complaining about how the game is officiated and said it was time they shouldered some of the blame for the current controversy surrounding referees that is plaguing the game.
It comes amid another NRL crackdown on attempts to slow down the play-the-ball following an email from referees boss Bernard Sutton to clubs last week.
“I’ll tell you what they’ve got to change, is the coaches breaking the rules. Every single club has an ex-referee in there. Why? To rort the system,” Tallis told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday.
“To cheat any way possible.
“Brisbane the other day, (Anthony) Milford had his hand on the ball three or four times to stop Penrith from playing the ball quick because they were under the pump.
“Who taught him to do that? That’s not cool.
“…Todd Greenberg, that’s what he’s got to look at.
“The players and coaches are at fault, not the referees. Because you’ve got 34 guys out there doing the wrong thing and it’s really hard.”
Tallis said referees should be given more power to send off players who make repeated ruck infringements.
“Seriously, stop whinging about it, because the style of footy we’re seeing now is because they cracked down so early in the year,” he said.
“Just leave the referees alone, they’ll do their job, the players have to do theirs. And stop coaching them to break the rules.”
Tallis also defended the NRL’s much-maligned bunker, saying it gets far more decisions right than wrong.
“What it does is it puts (referee) mistakes under a microscope,” he said.
“If you turn on any Friday night footy and you see those tries in the corner, we all go, ‘he didn’t get the ball down’.
“And when we see the replay, it shows that he gets it down. So all those tries would be no tries.
“There’s rubbers on the end of pencils. Our game is ridiculous with that. We love throwing everybody under the bus.”
– AAP
UPDATE: NATHAN BROWN ON KALYN PONGA FITNESS
Some more on Kalyn Ponga’s injury scare, via Fiona Bollen.
“His hamstring is fine but he rolled his ankle a little bit. It’s a bit more precaution than anything. I’m not sure what the situation is with it,” coach Nathan Brown said.
“He’s running freely, his hamstring is good, which is pleasing.
“The main thing is his hamstring is good. That’s the pleasing thing. We’ll just have to see how his foot it.
“I haven’t seen the medical staff, we get on with training and worry about it later. Hopefully it’s only a minor
thing.”
FITNESS BOOST FOR SLUMPING PANTHERS
Penrith are set to be boosted by the timely return of fullback Dallin Watene- Zelezniak for Saturday’s crunch NRL clash against Manly.
Watene-Zelezniak missed the Panthers’ last-start thumping by Brisbane, continuing a troubling stretch of four losses in their past five matches.
“He was pretty close last week but obviously (with the) hammy, you don’t want to rush things. So fingers crossed he’s back on board this week,” teammate Isaah Yeo said on Tuesday.
– AAP
EARLY MAIL: PONGA QUERY AFTER TRAINING MISHAP
From Fiona Bollen:
A bit of drama up Newcastle way – Kalyn Ponga rolled his ankle at Knights training and was unable to complete the session.
Coach Nathan Brown was hopeful the star fullback would be right to face the Cowboys this weekend.
Five-eighth Connor Watson also has an ankle problem, but both players will be named today.
Jack Cogger and Nick Meaney are expected to travel with the squad to Townsville tomorrow as cover.
BULLDOGS BRACE FOR MBYE’S RETURN
He’s the former Bulldog that could not only come back to bite them, but leave Canterbury spanked with their first wooden spoon in a decade.
The Bulldogs are bracing for a showdown with Wests Tigers fullback Moses Mbye, who was squeezed out of Belmore last month due to salary cap pressures.
A standout for coach Dean Pay earlier this year, Mbye has since continued to flourish in an in-form Tigers side still in the frame for a late-season finals push.
“He’s playing some good footy over there and they’re winning games so he’s in a pretty good moment,” Bulldogs hooker Michael Lichaa said.
“We’re going to have to be at our best to stop him.”
The Bulldogs’ clash against the Tigers comes at a time when they are not only aiming to arrest a three-game losing slide, but also prevent a last-place finish to the season.
They are currently 14th but equal on 10 points with North Queensland and lowly Parramatta.
The Bulldogs have finished with the spoon on five occasions in their 83-year history, the last of which came during a horror season in 2008.
Only foundation club South Sydney have ended with more spoons (eight).
“We know it’s there. We don’t want that. It’s been a tough year on and off the field, a lot of things have happened,” Lichaa said.
“But we’re still competing every week. I think it’s been six to eight games where we’ve lost under six points. If we win those games, it’s a different year for us.
“Obviously a couple of guys switch clubs, and we’ve got a few star players that are injured. It’s been a tough year and we don’t want the wooden spoon.”
Skipper Josh Jackson has pointed to the club’s struggles in attack in their most recent loss against Parramatta as vital in their efforts to end their slump.
With key playmaker Kieran Foran sidelined, the Bulldogs have been forced to rely on inexperienced duo Lachlan Lewis and Jeremy Marshall-King to orchestrate their sets.
“Particularly on the tryline. We had a lot of opportunities last week and we couldn’t come up with any points. That’s the main thing we need to improve,” Jackson said.
“Our attitude and effort’s been fantastic. I certainly can’t doubt that. That’s been keeping us in games this year and been really pleasing.
“We’ve got to get our execution right, our timing and skill, and the rest will look after itself.”
– AAP
CARTWRIGHT’S CHALLENGE: ‘THE BALL IS IN BRYCE’S COURT’
By Travis Meyn
TITANS coach Garth Brennan is holding out hope Bryce Cartwright can salvage his NRL career after challenging the $2 million flop to show he wants to succeed on the Gold Coast.
Cartwright is expected to make his return from a broken hand in the Intrust Super Cup this weekend after being a late withdrawal from Tweed Heads’ clash against Townsville in Hughenden Sunday.
The erratic 23-year-old hasn’t been spotted in the NRL since Round 12 after a series of weak defensive efforts prompted Brennan to axe him.
Cartwright’s relegation to reserve grade prompted his management to explore opportunities at other clubs, but the Titans are reluctant to subsidise Cartwright’s salary for him to leave.
In his first year as an NRL coach, Brennan went out on a limb to sign Cartwright from Penrith on a lucrative four-year deal and the highly-touted utility is yet to repay his faith.
Brennan said he did not want to punt Cartwright and it was up to him to find form on the Gold Coast.
“The ball is in Bryce’s court,” Brennan said.
“He needs to work hard, that’s the only thing that’s going to get him back playing NRL.
READ MORE: https://goo.gl/SGRjEM
