Sport Confidential: Payne Haas gives Mal Meninga heads up on Kangaroos, Wests Tigers up chase for Cameron Munster
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has revealed why Payne Haas wasn’t selected in the PM’s XIII and his status for the World Cup. SPORT CONFIDENTIAL
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Payne Haas has given Australia coach Mal Meninga an indication he will commit to the Kangaroos despite Samoa circling the Broncos star who needs to sort out some “personal issues”, which has cast a shadow surrounding his World Cup eligibility.
The Broncos big man has been caught in an international tug-of-war with Samoa trying to entice Haas to join their already formidable line-up at the end-of-season World Cup.
Haas has already played two Tests for Australia and Menigna said he expected Haas to add to that tally and be of the Kangaroos’ 24-man squad.
“I have been speaking to Payne,” Meninga said. “He wants to play for the Kangaroos. He does have some ancestral decisions to make.”
The Australian camp are well aware of Samoa’s interest in Haas. He will not play in Australia’s warm-up match next Sunday after he was not considered for the PM’s XIII game.
Haas played out the regular NRL season with a busted shoulder and underwent an operation earlier this month but that was not the only reason for the 22-year-old to miss the game according to Meninga.
“He has some personal issues that he has to sort out before we select a side,” Meninga said. “He is working his way through that. He did have a clean-out on his shoulder last week. That’s why he wasn’t selected (in the PM’s) team.”
TIGERS WON’T BE BEATEN ON WARCHEST FOR MUNSTER
Wests Tigers have asked to be kept abreast of developments with Cameron Munster as they vow to do their very best to beat any offer he gets from rival clubs to leave the Melbourne Storm.
Tigers head coach Tim Sheens confirmed to Confidential that he had reached out to Munster’s camp and let them know that the Tigers wanted to be kept up to date with developments on contract talks with the Maroons State of Origin star.
Sheens stressed that the Tigers would only make a formal offer if their interest was reciprocated. However, it shows that Sheens and his assistants Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah are aiming high as they look to rebuild the club.
Tigers supporters can take solace in the fact that their coaching brain’s trust won’t settle for mediocrity when it comes to new signings.
Munster is expected to make a decision next week on whether he will accept a lucrative offer from the Storm or head of the open market.
He will have no shortage of suitors including the cashed-up Tigers, who are flushed with salary cap space at the end of next season given Luke Brooks, Adam Doueihi and Jackson Hastings are among the players coming off contract at the end of 2023.
Munster is about to enter the final year of his deal with Melbourne and can officially sign with a rival club on November 1.
“We will be competitive with the best price that he gets offered,” Sheens said.
“In saying that, I don’t know what he has been offered. I have not put a figure on the table. I have said if he is interested in us, we will do our best to match or beat any offer but he has to be interested in us in the first place. If he is not, then it is a non-event.”
Munster has a lucrative three-year extension on the table from the Storm, who upped their offer to make it more competitive with interest from elsewhere.
The Dolphins have been leading the chase for Munster for some time, having spoken about a four-year term believed to be worth up to $1.4 million a season.
The Tigers want to be at the table as well as they look to match any offer Munster gets from elsewhere. The Tigers have also tabled an extension to halfback Luke Brooks, although Newcastle continue to circle the No.7.
AUSSIE SWIM STAR’S HOT NRL ‘MAN BAG’
St George Illawarra centre Zac Lomax has stepped out with a new glamorous girlfriend with the pair set to become Australia’s new sporting power couple.
Lomax has been dating Australian swimmer Tahlia Thornton the past few months with Thornton spotted at recent St George Illawarra matches.
The pair are in Hawaii as Lomax enjoys some down time following the Dragons’ premature end to the season and have happily posed for photographs including on top of Diamond Head in Honolulu.
Thornton is a rising star of the pool and has set her goal on representing Australia at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. She competed at the national championships earlier this year and finished fourth in the 200m backstroke behind Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kaylee McKeown.
Thornton was named in an Australian A swim team and competed at the US national championships in California in July. She swims out of Queensland’s USC Spartans swim squad.
Fellow swim star Kyle Chalmers had a cheeky dig at Lomax after he posed with Thornton for a holiday snap.
Chalmers told Lomax he had a “nice manbag” to watch Lomax replied “same as your skinny jeans and black nails.”
Lomax is no stranger to high profile relationships. He split with long-time partner and fellow rugby league star Jess Sergis last year. The pair quickly deleted any reference of each other from their respective Instagram accounts.
They were former St George Illawarra clubmates before Sergis made a switch to the Roosters.
LODGE OVERLOOKED FOR PM’S XIII
Roosters star Matt Lodge has been surprisingly overlooked for the Prime Minister’s XIII side but officials insist he remains in contention for the World Cup tour.
Sports Confidential queried NRL insiders over the decision to snub Lodge and were told that there was no blanket ban on his representative career.
However, the decision to leave him out of the PM’s XIII doesn’t augur well for his hopes of cracking the Kangaroos squad given teammates Joseph Suaalii, Angus Crichton and Nat Butcher were included in the side to play Papua New Guinea in just over a week.
Certain Kangaroos tourists Daly Cherry-Evans and Josh Addo-Carr have also been included in the squad, which was picked in consultation with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Lodge had an outstanding end to the season — he was arguably the form front rower in the competition before the Roosters were eliminated at the weekend.
Canterbury forward Max King was among the surprise selections even though he has outlined his hopes of playing for England at the World Cup — fellow Bulldogs Jake Averillo and Matt Burton were also named.
King has had an outstanding season for the Bulldogs and was honoured to receive a PM X111 call up. However, he told Confidential his priority was to honour the land of his birth at the World Cup.
“I have always wanted to play for England and represent England,” King said.
“I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring. There are some quality players in Super League. I am eligible for selection and I would love to play for England.
“I would love to be part of it. I was born in Huddersfield. We migrated over [to Australia] when I was seven. So all my mum’s side is English.
“Mum is English, dad is Aussie. Mum’s side of the family all love their football - they are massive Leeds Rhinos fans. That is their dream one day — for me to be a Rhino I think.
“You can tell when I take the shirt off and (my skin) is a blinding white, pasty colour - this bloke must have a bit of English in him”
King said it would be special to represent his mother’s side of the family.
“It would for sure,” he said.
“My grandparents — I am always in contact with them. They are really passionate. England and the Rhinos — that is their dream. It would be really special to them for sure.”
HORSBURGH READY FOR FIREWORKS
The last time Corey Horsburgh left the field at CommBank Stadium he was in tears and flipping the bird to the Eels faithful.
Come Friday night he has again asked the crowd to “get into it” as he prepares for fireworks when he returns to the venue to play the Eels.
Horsburgh’s only appearance at the stadium was in 2020. An irate Horsburgh knew his ankle was severely damaged. It ended his season after just seven games and he reacted poorly when he walked from the field.
“I haven’t been there since,” Horsburgh said. “Hopefully the crowd get into it and it ends on better terms.
“I don’t really care. It was a few years ago now. I’m an emotional bloke and I love my footy. I don’t care about that stuff. I had the whole year to learn from my actions. It taught me a lot of things. I’m grateful it happened. Most away games you cop it a little bit. I will go out and enjoy my footy. I enjoy a bit of banter.”
Horsburgh is enjoying starting off the bench and watching on as the game’s best front-rowers in Joe Tapine and Josh Papalii lay the foundation.
“I’m lucky we don’t have to tackle them,” Horsburgh said. “Joe is looing so hard to tackle. At training we have a gentlemen’s agreement.”
BOOST FOR TALAU
Tommy Talau hasn’t played a game this year due to a catastrophic knee injury but the Wests Tigers are ready to show their faith in him by handing him a contract extension.
Talau was one of the game’s rising stars before he suffered a knee injury at the end of 2021. The 22-year-old son of former New Zealand and Samoa international Willie Talau has spent the past 12 months recuperating and he is set to be rewarded for his persistence as the Tigers give him a new contract.
DRAGONS RAMP UP HUNT TALKS
St George Illawarra officials have held crunch talks with Ben Hunt as they prepare for D-day in contract negotiations with their captain.
Hunt has a two-year extension on the table from the club and it is understood he met Dragons officials on Thursday to discuss his future.
At the heart of those talks would no doubt be the future of coach Anthony Griffin given Hunt has made no secret of the fact that he would like his deal tied to Griffin’s future.
The Dragons have resisted putting a coach clause in their contract offer, but assuaging Hunt’s concerns over Griffin’s future may help secure the deal.
NO EELS REGRETS FOR BIG PAPA
It is nearly a decade since Josh Papalii turned his back on Parramatta and decided to stay at Canberra, a backflip that sent rugby league into a spin.
Papalii laughed as he reflected on that moment this week as he prepared for Friday night’s game against the Eels at CommBank Stadium.
Asked if he had to win back Canberra people given he had signed a deal to join the Eels, only to change his mind, Papalii said: “Not at all. Me and my manager felt like it was the best decision to do whatever we had to do.
“No apologies. I didn’t have to try to earn the trust of everyone back. That is how contract stuff happens. It is what it is.
“It gets brought up a fair bit - every time we play Parra or big games against Parramatta. Back in the day I had clauses in my [favour]. I am a one-club player and hopefully I see myself finishing at the Raiders.
“It has been a beautiful ride so far.”
EELS CIRCLING WARRIOR
The Eels are closing in on Warriors forward Jack Murchie for next season. Murchie had attracted interest from St George Illawarra but he is now likely to join Parramatta.
The Warriors were also keen on keeping the 25-year-old but he was keen to return to NSW. He made his NRL debut for the Raiders in 2018 and was one of the Warriors’ most consistent performers this year playing 14 matches.
The Eels have added Josh Hodgson, J’maine Hopgood and Jirah Momoisea for next season.
SEA EAGLES SWOOP ON COWBOY
One of North Queensland’s forgotten men is set to join the Sea Eagles next year. Ben Condon, who has not played for the Cowboys this year, is expected to sign with Manly. The 22-year-old backrower still has 12 months left on his Manly deal.
HALFBACKS ANSWER CRITICS
Chad Townsend has a list in his phone of all the critics who doubted his big-money switch to the Cowboys. Another high-profile No.7 who made an off-season move is Canberra’s Jamal Fogarty. Fogarty hasn’t gone as far as Townsend but said he was unmoved by the critics.
“I don’t have anything to prove to anyone except for myself, coaching staff and teammates,” Fogarty said, “Outside of those guys no-one else’s opinions matter. They are free to have one but the only ones that matter to me are those people.”
STARS POWER UP JUNIOR CLUBS
A host of Australian cricketing superstars are jumping on board with men’s captain Pat Cummins’ climate change mission, and are personally paying for the installation of solar panels at their junior clubs.
Women’s stars Rachael Haynes and Alyssa Healy kicked off the nationwide Cricket for Climate initiative, by digging into their own pockets to pay for the installation of 40kW of solar and two 13.5kW batteries at Sydney’s Drummoyne Oval.
A further six installations are set to be completed in the next few months, with Nathan Lyon (Northern Districts Cricket Club), Steve Smith (Sutherland), Mitchell Marsh (East Fremantle, David Warner (Randwick Petersham) and Marnus Labuschagne (Cleveland Thornlands) all getting behind Cummins’ cause.
Josh Hazlewood (Tamworth) and Moises Henriques (St George) and Cummins (Penrith) have already got the ball rolling as the cricketers unite to try and reduce the amount of money clubs are spending on power bills.
“It’s pretty exciting to be able to make a contribution back to our club,” said Haynes, who announced her international retirement on Thursday and sees the climate initiative as a way of giving back.
Cummins, Haynes and Healy will be featured on a Sky Sports UK TV special on climate change and sports.
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