Sport Confidential: Fans want Folau in NRL; Reynolds, Papenhuyzen signing news
The Australian Christian Lobby has released findings they say prove Israel Folau should be welcomed back to the NRL. SPORT CONFIDENTIAL
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As Israel Folau’s footy fightback continues to stall, some of his biggest supporters have released findings they say prove the controversial star should be welcomed back to the NRL.
A survey by the Australian Christian Lobby, has shown an overwhelming wave of support for Folau and turned up the heat on the ARL Commission to allow the controversial code-hopper to return to the NRL.
The poll surveyed 1142 Australians in rugby league’s key markets NSW and Queensland.
Of that sample, 51 per cent of respondents were female.
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Folau’s sacking by Rugby Australia for his homophobic comments have hardly made him a social pariah, with 57 per cent of those surveyed voting for the former Bronco to be allowed back into the NRL.
Of the portion of voters who identified themselves as legitimate NRL supporters, a whopping 69 per cent wanted Folau back in rugby league.
And 35 per cent of fans said they would be more likely to watch the NRL if Folau was back playing.
In March, NRL stars such as Daly Cherry-Evans, Ben Hunt and Alex Glenn called for Folau to be cleared to return to the NRL.
The Dragons and Broncos have both discussed signing Folau, but aborted the move fearing a major backlash from fans and sponsors.
But ACL managing director Martyn Iles says the survey is evidence that the majority rugby league fans, including everyday Australians who don’t follow the game, want Folau back in the NRL.
“Why can’t he (Folau) play,” Iles said.
“The most telling piece of data of all is that two-thirds of rugby league supporters believe sponsors have too big a role in deciding who gets to play and who doesn’t.
“The ACL is committed to a free and fair opportunity for all Australians to play sport and earn a living without fear of discrimination.
“Anything less is an abuse of human rights.”
Reynolds serious about Red Hill move
The Sharks are in danger of being blown out of the water by the Broncos in the battle for Adam Reynolds’ signature.
The Broncos are privately confident of getting their man after coach Kevin Walters and new chief executive Dave Donaghy flew to Sydney last Sunday for talks with the South Sydney halfback.
Reynolds has told close friends the meeting was extremely positive with the Souths maestro highly impressed by Brisbane’s interest and their offer for him to succeed Alex Glenn as Broncos captain next year.
Reports Reynolds has no interest in moving to Brisbane are incorrect. While Reynolds has strong family ties in Sydney, he made it clear to Broncos bosses relocating his partner and their four children to Queensland is not a deal-breaker by any means.
Brisbane have yet to table a formal offer but Reynolds has outlined how much is seeking. The figures are affordable for the Broncos, who are prepared to pay around $2.4 million for a three-year package.
The next step is for Reynolds to tour Brisbane’s $27 million high-performance centre. That would be a sign for Broncos bosses that they are not being used in a bidding war with the Sharks.
Storm alert for Paps
Melbourne are closing on the signature of Xavier Coates and the Storm have another bumper deal on the horizon for fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen.
Sport Confidential can reveal the Storm have ramped-up plans to keep Papenhuyzen for the long haul, discussing terms on a three-year extension that would keep Billy Slater’s successor in Melbourne until the end of 2025.
The 22-year-old is already contracted until the end of next year, but with a second Brisbane team set to join the league in 2023, Melbourne will lock in Papenhuyzen until his mid-20s.
The Storm are shrewd managers of the salary cap and the reigning Clive Churchill Medallist’s salary will rise to around $800,000 when the ink dries on his Melbourne upgrade.
It’s a knockout - Huni’s warning to Gal
This is a revelation that should make Paul Gallen nervous ahead of his June 16 bout with Justis Huni.
Australian heavyweight champion Huni has been destroying opponents in sparring with his father and trainer Rocky on the lookout for new partners as his 22-year-old rips and tears in the ring.
The Huni camp has even had to begin looking overseas to find quality heavyweight opponents in training.
Gallen has warned Huni he is coming to steal his Australian title but Huni’s promoter Dean Lonergan said the former NRL star is in trouble.
“Justis Huni has been sparring blokes and knocking them out,” he said.
“We’ve had one sparring partner who was supposed to go six rounds with Justis and he was gone after three-and-a-half.
“We are having to look to New Zealand to find some sparring partners because Justis is destroying blokes.
“Paul Gallen has no hope at this rate.”
Staggs not a bad bloke
Kotoni Staggs’ best friend and housemate has launched a passionate defence of the Broncos star after he inked a rich deal to stay at Brisbane.
Staggs will be a Bronco until at least 2025 after signing a four-year extension worth about $3 million to remain at Red Hill.
The huge show of faith by the Broncos comes amid an NRL Integrity Unit investigation into a Brisbane nightclub incident involving Staggs and a woman.
Staggs was also fined $10,000 by the NRL earlier this year after using a homophobic slur in a pub incident in country NSW.
Staggs shares a house with Broncos hooker Jake Turpin and bench forward Ethan Bullemor, with Turpin leaping to the defence of the explosive ball-runner.
“I can’t fault him,” Turpin said. “He is a massive family man.
“We all make mistakes and he won’t be the last NRL player to make a mistake. It happens. He has learnt from those mistakes and put some things in place to rectify it.
“He has learnt a lot along the way and has still got a lot to learn.
“He is an absolute legend of a bloke off the field and will do anything for his teammates and family.”
Turpin also said Staggs was the dream housemate, but the same couldn’t be said for Bullemor.
“He is actually very good,” he said.
“Ethan Bullemor is the worst housemate. He is messy. There are chocolate wrappers in his room. He is meant to be a bloody athlete.
“Kotoni is good, he helps around the house heaps and is a handy man. If there is something wrong in the house he can fix it.”
Broncos lock-in future gun
They have suffered some heavy recruitment blows lately but Broncos are on the verge of securing one of the club’s most promising young forwards to a long-term deal.
Hard-running backrower TC Robati is set to sign a three-year extension that will see him promoted to Brisbane’s top 30 squad from 2022.
Robati has been playing well for Wynnum-Manly in the Intrust Super Cup and will be rewarded with an upgraded contract.
The Broncos have already retained Jordan Riki and Brendan Piakura and the extension of Robati will ensure Brisbane’s back-row stocks are strong in the coming years.
Super League II?
The NRL is facing a Super League style revolt if it pursues the conference idea floated over the past two weeks.
News that the NRL has discussed exploring a two-conference competition has been met with mixed reactions across the game.
The biggest issue for the NRL to overcome is the fact it looks like another Sydney-centric idea for the game.
The NRL has in the past been accused of having a bias towards Sydney and NSW despite having a huge following in Queensland.
The idea for the nine Sydney clubs to form one conference while the rest make up the other has not gone down well with Queensland clubs.
One prominent NRL figure told Sport Confidential the league risked a revolt, much like Super League, if it progressed with the idea.
Sons of guns on show
There was some serious rugby league pedigree on show at last week’s junior rep trials on the Gold Coast.
Jasper Smith, son of NRL legend Cameron Smith, featured in a team alongside Finn Laffranchi, son of ex Tigers and Titans forward Anthony Laffranchi, and Harvey Holbrook, son of Gold Coast Titans coach Justin Holbrook.
Much like his famous father, Jasper was wearing the No. 9 jersey in the game while Laffranchi was at fullback and Holbrook played halfback, like his father.
Titans weigh up women’s bid
The Gold Coast Titans are considering launching an NRLW team, but have concerns over one key decision in the competition.
The NRLW is set to expand to a six-team competition this year and then eight teams in 2022.
The Titans are one of the interested parties in joining the expanded competition and have been doing due-diligence on the merits of having a presence in the women’s game.
However they are concerned about the prospect of local Gold Coast players being forced to play for other clubs.
The Titans want to be able to sign local players and not risk them going to other clubs via a mooted “pool” system.
NRL’s risky media move
Footy fans will get the chance to watch a post-game press conference live after the NRL opted to mix up its process for next weekend’s Magic Round in Brisbane.
The NRL informed clubs this week that Magic Round pressers will be held outdoors in the Suncorp Stadium precinct.
The NRL wants to: “Create an opportunity for fans to engage and interact with the players and coaches they admire (in a COVID safe way).
“The objective of this is to allow attending fans the opportunity to watch a press conference in its live format.”
Hopefully there is better security in place to prevent an ambush from fans like what Fox Sports commentator Corey Parker experienced a few weeks ago at Suncorp.
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