Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika seen as a potential coaching option in the NRL
Nine months after an inglorious World Cup exit ended his Australia rugby coaching tenure, Michael Cheika could be ready to jump codes and is quietly being considered as a potential NRL coaching option.
NRL
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NRL clubs are set to favour that rosters be cut by up to four spots while the salary cap could be reduced by 10 per cent as the strain from the COVID-19 crisis continues to bite.
Clubs have been involved in phone hook-ups this week to discuss the position of their rosters for next year and beyond. They have agreed that a reduction from 30 players needs to happen in a bid to keep the clubs to be sustainable.
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They want to lose up to four roster spots and have a drop in player payments by up to 10 per cent. The salary cap reduction will be dependent on how many players are shed from the rosters. Currently clubs must fill a roster of 30 and can have up to six development players. Clubs want to cut the rookie list to just three or four to keep the total amount of contracted players to 30 or less.
Clubs have promised to slash their football spending by $1.2 million – about 20 per cent of the overall football cap for next season. Clubs have also shed off the field with a host of office staff being made redundant across the game in a bid to keep clubs solvent.
Among the other small reductions being discussed is a scrapping of the NRL’s marketing fund. The marketing fund pays out money to the 32 most marketable players in the NRL according to the governing body, which is worth $7.5 million across the current five-year collective bargaining agreement.
Clubs believe the game needs greater savings but back chairman Peter V’landys push to keep any reduction to players’ wages as minimal as possible.
Players had a reduction of 20 per cent of their contracts this year. Discussions will come to a head on Friday when clubs, the NRL and the RLPA meet again to discuss the long-term outlook, with a decision expected to be made by the end of this month.
COACH CODE-HOPPER
Eddie Jones is not the only ex-Wallabies coach being sounded out by NRL clubs — Michael Cheika is quietly being considered as a potential coaching option.
Cheika is an unabashed rugby league fan and it is understood those close to the former Australia and Waratahs coach believe he is keen on making a permanent switch to the NRL if the right club came knocking.
The distinct advantage Cheika has over Jones is that Cheika is getting a rugby league education through his role at the Sydney Roosters.
He now has a greater understanding of what is needed if he is to take charge of an NRL club. Jones also has a multimillion-dollar contract with England rugby.
Cheika had worked closely with Roosters coach Trent Robinson in previous years but that partnership was formalised in a sense this year with the decorated rugby mentor working with the Roosters coaches’ and on the team’s attack.
An English Super League club once approached him about a switch but by that stage he was on a path to coaching the Wallabies.
While he has not been part of the Roosters bubble, Cheika has still maintained communication with the team and staff during the COVID-period. He has been linked to a number of roles in recent weeks including a division two side in France plus several international positions but nothing has been locked in.
WARRIORS STEAL RAM RAIDER
The New Zealand Warriors have been given a much-needed boost, locking down impressive back-rower Jack Murchie on two-year deal.
Murchie has been a big beneficiary of the Warriors plight this year after joining the desperate side from Canberra for just the rest of this season. He has played in their past five games with his strong showings earning him a two-year contract with the club. The Warriors are looking at loaning Parramatta’s Jaeman Salmon.
DOG HOUSE
A five year old video of Canterbury Bulldogs lock Adam Elliott dancing semi-naked surfaced online on Thursday. The Bulldogs posted a statement on Thursday night confirming “they are aware” of the video.
“The video relates to something that was filmed at a private gathering five years ago,” the statement read.
“The club has informed the NRL’s integrity unit of the matter.”
There is no suggestion of any illegal behaviour by Elliott.
DANCIN’ ‘BOB’ DYLAN
Dylan Brown couldn’t help himself.
Last week’s match between the Eels and the Raiders was in golden point but Brown still found time to dance to the music which was being played at Bankwest Stadium. Each scrum he walked too, Brown would take a moment to himself, sing a bit of the song and get his dance on as he took his place on Parramatta’s wing which is where he now sets himself from the Eels’ scrum.
“Every pre-game I go and link my phone up (to the PA system),” Brown joked. “I love a good dance. It keeps me calm. That’s what footy should be, it should be fun and I love my footy. It’s good.”
We can’t imagine Eels coach Brad Arthur tapping his feet whenever an 1980s banger is played.
NENE’S BACK
Cronulla recruit Nene Macdonald will play his first game of rugby league in 14 months on Saturday.
The Sharks and Gold Coast Titans will play in a pre-game scrimmage on Saturday for those players not part of their first grade squads.
Macdonald has impressed plenty at the Sharks since his arrival on an 18-month deal last month. He fronted in peak condition and only needs some much-needed game time to force his way back into the NRL.
POST-TRY PARTY FOR A GOOD CAUSE
The post-try celebration could make a comeback this month.
Sportsbet want players to channel their inner Mark Riddell with the company donating $5000 to the Men of League Foundation for any try celebration that takes place. If players really go to great lengths the online bookmaker will bump it to $10,000, in what they have dubbed “Try July”.
FLASHBACK
The Tigers staged a miraculous come from behind victory to beat the Broncos when replacement Mitch Brown scored with two minutes to go in their 16-14 win on this day 10 years ago. It was a Robbie Farah cross-field kick which laid on the points. On the same day, Blues legends headed by Wayne Pearce launched a plan to help resurrect the state’s fortunes an end Queensland’s Origin dominance.
ALL EYES ON
The Warriors and the Broncos are probably at their lowest ebb. But that could sink even lower for one of these teams after they face off. A loss for the Broncos could almost make coach Anthony Seibold’s position untenable while interim Warriors coach Todd Payten blasted his players effort after their last start loss to the Storm.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
DANIEL FITZHENRY
137 top grade games for the Wests Tigers (2002-10)
Daniel Fitzhenry worked on the day of his NRL debut. During his first season, when he played NRL 12 games, Fitzhenry sometimes worked before or after matches to fulfil his commitments as a Qantas baggage handler.
“I thought it would be good to take my mind off it,” Fitzhenry said. “I did four hours of work and then went to play footy. I was lucky at Qantas, the boys helped and covered me when I had training. “When I was playing I could’ve had the day off but it helped take my mind off things. I did that for the rest of the year. The following year it would’ve been too hard training full-time.
“Sometimes I would play on a Sunday afternoon and then I would go to work.”
Fitzhenry was scouted by South Sydney – joining the club as a 17-year-old from Macksville but when the Rabbitohs were booted out of the competition in 2000 he headed for a six-month stint in France that same year. A car accident in France hampered his out-put and left him needing surgery when he joined Western Suburbs.
He made his Wests Tigers debut in 2002 and largely spent his first few seasons playing between fullback, centre and five-eighth. Tigers coach Tim Sheens shifted Fitzhenry to the wing in 2005 where he scored a try in their premiership win.
“I couldn’t tell you what position I played most (during my career),” Fitzhenry said. “Playing wing was the biggest adjustment and I struggled early on. Once I got settled and spent a bit of time, I enjoyed it.”
Fitzhenry, who works at the Clontarf Foundation in Newcastle, played two more years at the Tigers before joining former teammate Mark O’Neill at Hull KR for two seasons. His return to the Tigers in 2010 was prompted by a boozy phone call to Tim Sheens while with fellow premiership winner Ben Galea.
“We rang Sheensy for a bit of a laugh,” Fitzhenry said. “Three days later my manager said there was a 12-month contract at the Tigers. It’s pretty funny how it unfolded.”