Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Roosters eye Waratahs star Max Jorgensen in revenge raid on rugby
Joseph Suaalii is off to rugby but the Roosters have their eye on a teen sensation who could be an even better player — check out all the latest NRL chatter.
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The chequebook war between the Sydney Roosters and Rugby Australia is not over yet.
The rah rahs may have secured the signature of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii but there is another teenager who some even rate as a better player than the Roosters centre.
Max Jorgensen, 18, made his debut for the Waratahs at fullback this year and has already had a huge impact.
He is off contract at the same time Suaalii joins rugby union. This could be the Roosters’ revenge signing.
We’re hearing Suaalii has been promised the fullback role with the Wallabies on five times the money Jorgensen is earning.
Jorgensen was once in the Roosters’ pathways system.
The Roosters will no doubt be chatting to Jorgensen’s agent, veteran player manager Steve Gillis.
We reported in this column two weeks ago of the unrest in rugby union over the money being splashed around for Suaalii and other NRL stars.
SAINT
NRL stars are often doing great things that go unnoticed, especially the lower-profile players. Wests Tigers forward Justin Matamua is a good example. Every week he goes back to his junior club — the Campbelltown City Kangaroos — and offers skills coaching to youngsters in all age groups.
SINNER
Shocking inconsistency at the NRL judiciary. Felise Kaufusi got four weeks for a late tackle, his third dangerous contact charge. Glamour boy Joseph Suaalii does a worse late tackle, also his third charge, and escapes with a $3000 fine. Kaufusi should have played on Friday night.
SHOOSH
Which former high-profile NRL player has lost his family, his house, his money and a lot of mates through decades of reckless gambling. He has now lowered himself to contacting dozens of former players to try to launch a class action against the NRL over concussion back in the 1990s. This guy would be better off getting treatment for his gambling addiction rather than trying to rip off the game.
SHOOSH
Which NRL club chief executive sent an email to his staff last week to deny he was about to be sacked as had been suggested on social media.
SPOTTED
The GWS Giants announced a crowd of 7012 for last week’s game against the Adelaide Crows. The figure was later amended to 8169. Check out the photo of the empty seats at Giants Stadium. Surely they didn’t all go to the toilets or the bar at the same time.
SPOTTED
Golfing legend Gary Player at the Inglis golf day at NSW Golf Course in La Perouse.
NRL 360 presenter Braith Anasta was initially too shy to ask for a selfie before finally caving and asking the legend for a photo he’ll no doubt treasure for the rest of his life. For the record, Anasta’s team — which featured my old mate Phil Gould — won the day. Gus even chipped into the hole from 50m with a beautiful shot that Yvonne Sampson filmed on her phone.
SPOTTED
Rex Mossop’s colourful old sideline commentator Barry Ross has been discharged from hospital after two weeks in intensive care with kidney disease. Barry is now recovering but was understandably concerned about the name of his specialist at Kareena Hospital — a Dr Gonski. We visited Barry last week and he looked anything but gonski.
NRL’S UGLIEST COACHING FEUD SET TO KICK OFF
the biggest coaching feud in rugby league is still five weeks away from a head-on collision.
The coaching box grudge match between Manly’s Anthony Seibold and South Sydney’s Jason Demetriou at Accor Stadium on Saturday night was just a curtain raiser.
In round 8 we get the main event — St George-Illawarra’s Anthony Griffin against the Bulldogs’ Cameron Ciraldo.
Griffin fighting to save his career, Ciraldo just beginning his.
Back in August 2018, Griffin was sacked as Penrith coach, despite having the Panthers in fourth position on the ladder on the eve of the finals.
He was replaced by Ciraldo as an interim coach.
Gould later revealed that before Griffin’s sacking, Ciraldo had gone to him twice to hand in his resignation.
Griffin saw it as a betrayal.
The pair had a heated exchange on the Monday before the round 17 game against the Warriors. The following week Griffin got his marching orders.
At the time Ciraldo was quoted as saying: “There were a number of reasons (wanting to resign) for myself and my development as a coach and what I wanted to do moving forward.
“At the time I thought it was the best thing to do but I’m glad Gus talked me out of it.’’
Asked what type of relationship he had with Griffin, Ciraldo conceded it was strictly professional and the pair did not see eye-to-eye on a number of issues.
“He didn’t lose me – we had a working relationship — but I can look myself in the mirror and know I did everything possible up until Monday to help him with the team.”
Interestingly, when you look through the News Corp photo library, there is not one picture of the pair working together at Penrith. It probably best illustrates their lack of coaching teamwork.
Griffin’s future is again the subject of much discussion. The Dragons are in the process of seeking interest from other coaches — Shane Flanagan, Dean Young, Ben Hornby and Jason Ryles — before making a call on his future.
NRL EYES BREAK FOR RAMADAN
The English Premier League has introduced time off for matches over the next month to allow Muslim players to break their fasting in twilight games while doing Ramadan.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo says it is something rugby league would consider in consultation with clubs, players and the commission.
Broncos front-rower Payne Haas and the Bulldogs’ Tevita Pangai Jr are among the NRL stars who are fasting between sunrise and sunset. The players would be given liquids, energy gels or supplements during a short break in play.
Haas gets up at 4am for a yoghurt with honey and banana plus two slices of peanut butter on toast. He will also drink a litre of water. It has to get him through until around 6pm (sunset).
On a typical day he then has Kiwi fruit, dates and water before prayer and a big meal afterwards. Late afternoon games in the Queensland heat and humidity would be one of the biggest concerns for those practising Ramadan.
LEGEND GOES INTO BATTLE FOR IRVINE
Old broadcasting legend David Lord is doing it really tough.
He’s fighting cancer but still well enough to jump on to his computer and send us an email with his thoughts on the debate around rugby league’s Immortals and the fact champion winger Ken Irvine has always been overlooked.
Lord, 83, says: “Seriously, I can’t believe Ken has never been included. What more did he have to do? The try-scoring records he set more than 50 years ago still stand.
“He scored 212 tries in 236 appearances. He was just a phenomenal player.”
Lord used to be the cricket and rugby union guru on Channel 7’s Sportsworld.
But he loved watching Irvine on the wing for the North Sydney Bears and Manly as much as Johnny Raper, Bob Fulton or any of the Immortals in rugby league.
“I’m going to keep fighting on Ken’s behalf – I want to see it happen before I die,” Lord said.
“It’s a mistake and an injustice that needs to be rectified.”
BULLDOGS CAN’T PROFIT FROM BELMORE RETURN
The Bulldogs won’t be moving back to Belmore Sports Ground any time soon.
Despite a crowd of 16,404 for Sunday’s match against the Wests Tigers, the club only broke even on the day.
According to chief executive Aaron Warburton, the club averages profits of $200,000 a game at Accor Stadium from the extra corporate space. That’s more than $2 million over a full season of home games.
The Dogs will continue to use Belmore for one or two matches each year.
They have a contract to play the remainder of their home games at Accor until 2030.
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