Sport Confidential: Broncos close in on Kurt Capewell as Titans and Bulldogs circle Tevita Pangai Jnr
He turned them down in the off-season, but now the big recruitment target of new Broncos head of football Ben Ikin looks likely to have a change of heart. It’s Sports Confidential!
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The Broncos are on the verge of signing Queensland Origin hero Kurt Capewell after Brisbane’s new head of football Ben Ikin declared the Panthers forward is his prime recruitment target.
Sport Confidential can reveal Brisbane has ramped up its pursuit of Capewell and offered a revised three-year deal worth more than $1.5 million in a last-ditch bid to lure him from Penrith.
Capewell, 27, will make his fifth Origin appearance for Queensland on Sunday night and Suncorp Stadium could become his new home ground next year.
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Ikin formally replaces Peter Nolan at the Broncos from Monday and didn’t hesitate when asked to nominate his No. 1 recruitment target.
“He is already on the radar at the Broncos and geez it would be good to get him, Kurt Capewell,” he told NRL 360 on Fox League on Wednesday night during his final show as host.
“As a Queenslander and guy who lives the standards you want, coming out of a good system ... get him home.
“He would be a magnificent pick-up.”
Ikin’s bold declaration came as the Broncos increased their offer to Capewell in the build-up to Origin II after initially low-balling him during the pre-season.
The Broncos tabled a two-year, $300,000-a-season deal over summer, but they have upped the ante amid interest from Queensland rivals the Cowboys.
Now 84 games into his NRL career, Capewell has become an established first grader and is eyeing a maiden premiership ring at Penrith this season.
He toured North Queensland‘s new setup in the lead-up to Origin I in Townsville a fortnight ago, but the Broncos are desperate to sign the Ipswich Jets product.
“My manager is doing most of that (contract negotiations) for me. I am concentrating on trying to win games with Penrith,” Capewell said a fortnight ago.
“I am not in a massive rush to get anything done. I just want to get through this Origin period and keep playing good footy.”
Capewell’s manager Clinton Schifcofske said both Queensland clubs were tempting.
“A return to Queensland definitely appeals to him. He will weigh up all options and see what’s on the table,” he said.
“The Broncos showed some interest in the pre-season. We met with them but unfortunately the deal wasn’t the right deal at the time.
“I’m hopeful the Broncos will come back to us. He would be perfect for the Broncos, he is exactly what they need, an edge back-rower who is versatile and a leader.
“The Broncos have a lot of young forwards so to have an experienced leader who has played Origin and is a Queensland kid, it would be a good fit for the club.”
TITANS EYE SOME PANGAI POWER
Unwanted Broncos forward Tevita Pangai Jnr has become a sought-after figure with the Titans and Bulldogs expressing interest in the Brisbane powerhouse.
The Wests Tigers are the frontrunners to snare Pangai Jnr, with coach Michael Maguire having begun due-diligence on the forward as the joint-venture club prepares to table a formal deal in the coming days.
But the Tigers could have their work cut out snaring Pangai Jnr, with the Titans and Bulldogs having also made inquiries after Brisbane last week advised the Tongan Test star he is free to look around for another deal.
Pangai Jnr is contracted until the end of next season and could theoretically stay at the Broncos for 2022. But it is understood the 25-year-old, who has copped a fresh three-game suspension, has played his final game for the Broncos and expects to have his future sorted out in the next fortnight.
Titans coach Justin Holbrook is a fan of Pangai Jnr. Holbrook coached him with the Junior Kangaroos in 2016 and was so impressed with Pangai Jnr he named him captain in a 34-20 defeat of the Junior Kiwis.
Gold Coast could struggle to compete with the Tigers and Bulldogs under the salary-cap.
EX-NRL STAR IS ON THE GRASS
Which retired former NRL star is mowing lawns in northern NSW for cash despite making millions during his playing career?
MENINGA FLAGS TEST SERIES
Australia coach Mal Meninga is exploring a Plan B option if this year’s World Cup is cancelled due to the global Covid crisis.
Sport Confidential understands the Kangaroos are considering a trans-Tasman Test series against New Zealand after the NRL grand final if Australia are unable to travel to England for the end-of-season World Cup.
The World Cup is scheduled to be held between October 23 and November 27 with 16 teams pencilled in for the tournament in the northern hemisphere.
Meninga is desperate for the Kangaroos to stay active after Covid wiped out last year‘s green-and-gold campaign. Australia’s last match was in November 2019, when they lost 16-12 to a resurgent Tonga.
BENNETT KICKS UP A BOLD IDEA
Souths supercoach Wayne Bennett has tabled a plan to the ARL Commission to make one of the biggest rule changes in rugby league‘s 113-year history.
Bennett has spoken to ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys about amending the structure of the kick-off, with the coaching icon adamant the scoring team should kick-off to restart play.
For more than 100 years the team that has conceded a try or penalty goal has kicked off, but Bennett believes that scenario is nonsense at a time when V’landys is under fire for a spate of scoreline blowouts this season.
The rebel Super League competition shunned tradition in 1997, adopting rules in which the scoring team kicked-off and Bennett believes the NRL should consider changing the kick-off system for next year‘s premiership.
Bennett has alerted the ARL Commission to other restart methods in world sports. The scoring side kicks off in American football, while in soccer, the team which concedes a goal restarts play in possession.
Bennett argues the scoring team can generate too much momentum by getting the ball back after they score a try or penalty goal, especially under the six-again rule.
WIDDOP RETURN ON ICE
Former Storm and Dragons star Gareth Widdop has gone cold on a return to the NRL.
Widdop was expected to seek a release from Super League club Warrington to come back to Australia next season for family reasons.
The Raiders and Warriors were interested in signing the NRL premiership winner, but it now looks like Widdop will remain in England.
MAROONS LEGEND IN SHOCK JOB SWAP
Queensland Origin legend Steve Price has made a shock career switch that pays $23 per hour.
Price, a veteran of 28 appearances for the Maroons, has taken on a mature age carpentry apprenticeship on the Sunshine Coast.
Price, 47, departed his post as Canterbury Bulldogs football manager in October last year following a year in the job.
And he has relocated to Queensland to get his hands dirty on job sites.
Price was seeking a sea change and decided to dive into a carpentry apprenticeship.
TITANS HIDE BEHIND BRONCOS CRASH
The big winners from the demise of the Brisbane Broncos has been the Gold Coast Titans.
The Titans have been arguably the biggest disappointments of the 2021 NRL season, sitting 13th on the ladder with a 5-10 record after 15 rounds.
The Titans must win seven of their final nine games to guarantee a finals appearance, although they could sneak into seventh or eighth spot with a losing record given the poor quality of this year‘s premiership.
After promising so much in the pre-season, the Titans have flopped massively and went into this weekend‘s bye weekend on the back of conceding 48 unanswered points in the second half against Manly.
It was one of the worst defensive performances in NRL history and should ring alarm bells at Titans HQ.
Luckily for the Gold Coast, the drama surrounding the Broncos’ shocking season has taken the spotlight off the Titans.
The Titans have never coped well with expectation and coach Justin Holbrook has some huge issues to fix before another season of promise disappears with a bottom four finish. As it stands, his team is going backwards at a rate of knots.
At this stage, the only new player arriving at the Titans next year is Warriors reserve grader Paul Turner.
ARROW TAKES DOWN $1.2 MILLION MAN
Maroons forward Jai Arrow has had the last laugh following the Gold Coast Titans’ decision to let him go.
Arrow signed with South Sydney late in 2019 after the Titans opted to not offer the local product the $750,000-a-season he was seeking to remain at the Gold Coast.
The Titans instead invested $650,000 in Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and paid a whopping $1.2 million to lure David Fifita from the Broncos.
But Arrow has pinched Fifita’s starting jersey for Sunday night’s Origin clash at Suncorp Stadium.
After starting the year on fire, Fifita has had a lacklustre past two months as opposition defences have worked out how to stop him.
He started Game One on the left edge, but had a quiet match and has been dropped to the bench. Arrow has been shifted into his position to improve Queensland’s defence.
Arrow’s Rabbitohs are also headed for a top four finish while the Titans sit in the bottom four.
RABBIT GOES HOUSE HUNTING
Broncos-bound Souths halfback Adam Reynolds is already putting down his roots in Brisbane ahead of his arrival at Red Hill next season.
While Reynolds is committed to a Rabbitohs premiership pursuit this season, the veteran halfback took time out during Souths‘ trip to Suncorp Stadium for Magic Round to explore property in the Brisbane area.
Reynolds is also getting to know his future Brisbane teammates, having dinner with at least one Broncos star last month to get an insight into life at Red Hill.
CONFRO BACK IN BUSINESS
One of Queensland’s best rugby league nurseries returns next week when the 41st Confraternity Carnival is held at Iona College.
‘Confro’ was cancelled last year for the first time in its 40-year history due to Covid, putting a halt to the production line of NRL and State of Origin talent that has emerged from the Carnival, contested by 48 mostly Catholic schools across Queensland.
This year’s Queensland Origin squad features a host of former Confro graduates including Daly Cherry-Evans (St Patrick’s College, Mackay), Cameron Munster (Emmaus College, Rockhampton), Valentine Holmes, Coen Hess and Kyle Feldt (Ignatius Park College, Townsville), Felise Kaufusi (Shalom College, Bundaberg) and Ben Hunt (St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon).
And this year’s “Confro” adds a girls’ competition for the first time with nine Catholic schools set to contest the inaugural event.
DON BREAKS HIS DUCK
Titans cult hero Anthony Don has broken his 2021 try-scoring drought in style at Cbus Super Stadium – but it wasn’t for the Gold Coast.
Don bagged two tries for his beloved Burleigh Bears in their Intrust Super Cup win over the PNG Hunters on Sunday.
Don, 33, was dropped three weeks ago due to form and injury concerns, with Greg Marzhew earning an NRL debut on the right wing.
Don had a couple of weeks off to rest and recover before returning for the Bears in what was a curtain-raiser to the Titans-Manly game.
While Don would prefer to be playing in the NRL, it would have been a nicer feeling recording a 40-6 win with Burleigh than watching the Titans suffer a 56-24 loss to Manly.
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Originally published as Sport Confidential: Broncos close in on Kurt Capewell as Titans and Bulldogs circle Tevita Pangai Jnr
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