Sport Confidential: Ex-Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan denies feud with Peter V’landys
Former Rugby Australia boss Hamish McLennan has shut down suggestions of a feud with Peter V’landys, instead praising the ARL Commission chairman. See the full Sport Confidential.
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Former Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan scoffs at suggestions he is at war with NRL and Peter V’landys, hailing the ARL Commission boss for his running of rugby league.
McLennan was the man who poached Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii for the Wallabies in a $5 million, but the ex-RA chair actually has deep ties to rugby league.
As a kid, he was a mad Roosters fan – his hero was Mark Harris – and his father Colin was the brainchild of the Amco Cup, which he ran for 16 years.
McLennan lauded the efforts of V’landys, who showed the courage to resume the NRL competition during the Covid crisis well before other sports around the world.
“Rugby league helped my family through our school years,” McLennan recalled.
“My dad started up the Amco Cup and I was a massive Easts fan.
“Rugby can learn a lot from the NRL and as a sport they have some incredible athletes.
“Peter V’landys has done an outstanding job. He is a great instinctive marketer. We all want to win for our codes, but at the end of the day, it’s all banter.
“The NRL shows the benefits of a heavily centralised system.
“Rugby Australia should learn from what they do well.”
THREE-WAY BATTLE EMERGES FOR WALSH UNDERSTUDY
Reece Walsh says Brisbane’s very own ‘Latrell’ is set to keep him honest as a three-way battle breaks out at the Broncos to be the understudy for the superstar fullback.
With Walsh’s former deputy Tristan Sailor moving to the UK Super League, the door of opportunity has swung open for Latrell Siegwalt to be Brisbane’s back-up plan for ‘Reece Lightning in 2025.
Siegwalt has been handed a train-and-trial contract by the Broncos and the Indigenous young gun has been joined by Lachie West and Hayze Perham in the race to be Walsh’s understudy next season.
West, 22, impressed with 10 tries from 13 games for Northern Pride in the Hostplus Cup last season, while 25-year-old Kiwi Perham has been snapped by the Broncos after a stint at the Bulldogs in Sydney.
But the quick-stepping Siegwalt has the chance to impress new Broncos coach Michael Maguire after being invited to train alongside Walsh with Brisbane’s top squad this summer.
The 23-year-old was a revelation for the Dolphins last season at fullback, scoring seven tries from 20 games and showing touches of class in Redcliffe’s grand-final loss to Norths Devils.
Siegwalt then continued his fine 2024 campaign by starring in the end-of-season Koori Knockout for Walgett Aboriginal Connection (WAC), who claimed back-to-back titles this year.
Seigwalt will be hoping to emulate the journey of Sailor, who also started on a train-and-trial deal at Brisbane before producing some fine performances during Walsh’s injury and Origin-enforced absences.
Sailor quit the Broncos at season’s end to take up a three-year deal with St Helens and while Walsh is clearly Brisbane’s first-choice fullback, he says his potential understudies have genuine promise.
“It’s exciting, there’s some really good talent out there,” Walsh said.
“With ‘Tritto’ going to the UK, I am happy for him and I know he will go over there and kill it. He told me he will be one of the best in the comp.
“There’s some good talent here.
“There’s Latrell, there’s Lachie West and Hayze isn’t back at training yet, but all the boys are hungry and we’ll be pushing each other.
“I can’t wait to learn from those guys and continue to grow and play good footy together.”
The Broncos have one spot left in their top 30 and are hopeful Ben Hunt will embark on a Red Hill homecoming. But should Hunt opt to stay in Sydney, Siegwalt or Perham could snatch the remaining full-time berth.
At 183cm and 86kg, Siegwalt is tall, lean and athletic and the Wagga Wagga flyer could pack on more muscle with his first full NRL pre-season at the Broncos.
NRL STARS ON EXPANSION RADAR
Reigning Dally M Medallist Jahrome Hughes is set to become the code’s No.1 target with the NRL poised to make a formal announcement on expansion in the coming weeks.
Hughes, Storm teammates Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant, Titans young gun Keano Kini and Parramatta’s Dylan Brown are the fab five sure to be on the radar for the NRL’s proposed 18th and 19th teams.
The ARL Commission is in talks for the Perth Bears to enter the NRL as the 18th team in 2027, while Papua New Guinea has struck an in-principle agreement to be the code’s 19th franchise for 2028.
The NRL hope to announce Perth and PNG as the two new teams before Christmas and that will give the expansion newcomers two or three years to begin building rosters for their entry to the big league.
Enter the fab five.
Hughes is off-contract at the end of 2026, while Grant will be a free agent for the 2028 season. Their Storm cohort Papenhuyzen is on the verge of inking only a 12-month extension for 2026, a clear sign the champion fullback could be waiting to test the market when another club – the Bears – is expected to enter the NRL in 2027.
Titans fullback discovery Kini is off-contract at the end of 2026 and the Gold Coast are moving to extend their newly-minted player of the year following a superb 2024 campaign that included a Test debut for the Kiwis.
Meanwhile, Eels five-eighth Brown has an eight-year contract to remain at Parramatta until 2031, but, crucially, has two get-out clauses for the 2026 and 2028 seasons.
The timing of his first get-out option will ring alarm bells for the Eels, with Brown almost certain to attract attention from the Perth Bears if the 2022 grand-final playmaker, still only age 24, continues his rise in the code.
BRONCOS COURT KOBE
Kobe Hetherington is set to cap a remarkable turnaround with the Broncos keen to extend the defensive hit man.
Sport Confidential understands Hetherington is a priority retention for the Broncos _ just weeks after Pat Carrigan’s understudy discussed the prospect of quitting the club for a move to Sydney.
Hetherington was given permission to negotiate with rival clubs in September, prompting the Wests Tigers and the Dragons to express interest.
But in the wake of Kevin Walters’ sacking, new coach Michael Maguire has run his eye over Brisbane’s roster and is keen to retain Hetherington.
Hetherington’s management met with Maguire last week and the Broncos coach ruled out an immediate release, making it clear he sees the hard-hitting forward as a key member of his top 17.
The Broncos recently secured Reece Walsh to a four-year upgrade and Hetherington, off-contract next year, is one of the next in line for an extension.
Hetherington is keen to be a starting player, but is stuck behind Queensland and Test star Carrigan, who is Brisbane’s first-choice No.13.
BRONCOS TV KINGS
The Broncos have once again been crowned the television kings of Queensland while broadcasters have shown little love for the Titans.
The Broncos will be broadcast on free-to-air by Channel 9 in 13 of their 24 regular season games in next year’s NRL Premiership.
The Dolphins aren’t far behind, jagging 12 games after proving they are a box office hit, while the Cowboys have a solid nine appearances.
But Nine hasn’t shown much love to the Gold Coast, delivering the Titans just four appearances.
Luckily for NRL fans, every match of the regular season will be broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo.
BUMPER HEADS NORTH
Former Broncos tackle coach Brett O’Farrell has turned up at the Cowboys.
‘Bumper’ O’Farrell was spotted in Townsville this week as North Queensland returned to pre-season training.
O’Farrell spent a few years at the Broncos as the club’s tackle and defence coach under Kevin Walters before suddenly departing on the eve of the 2024 NRL season.
He’s now back in the NRL assisting Cowboys coach Todd Payten as he looks to improve North Queensland’s suspect defence ahead of 2025.
PHINS FLICK REDCLIFFE
The Dolphins have dropped a game from their spiritual home at Redcliffe as they look to boost crowd attendances next year.
Instead of playing three NRL games at Kayo Stadium next year, the Dolphins will only appear twice, nearly six months apart.
They will host the Tigers in round 3 on March 22 and aren’t back at Redcliffe until the last round of the regular season on September 7 against Canberra.
The decision means the Dolphins will play nine home games at Suncorp Stadium in the heart of Brisbane and take one match to Perth again.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Redcliffe faithful though.
Kayo Stadium will host a pre-season double header between the Broncos and Bulldogs and Dolphins and Titans on February 22.
TITANS KINGS OF QUEENSLAND
It was a season to forget for the Gold Coast Titans but they still walked away with some timberware.
The Titans collected the XXXX Derby trophy on Thursday after winning the most games between Queensland’s four NRL clubs this year.
The Titans beat the Dolphins for the first time, the Cowboys and also recorded two victories against the Broncos.
Titans CEO Steve Mitchell made a trip to the XXXX Brewery in Milton to collect the gong from Lion state sales director Patrick Donohue.
“The derbies are extremely important to all the clubs. The ‘Big Brother, Little Brother’ dynamics have changed now,” Mitchell said.
“They are big events and the player group gets up them,
“That’s true for all the Queensland teams. They know it’s more than just a premiership game and something more personal.”
RCG GLOVES UP
Gold Coast Titans recruit Reagan Campbell-Gillard has refused to rule out a return to the boxing ring.
‘RCG’ famously beat Cowboys star Jason Taumalolo in his boxing debut in Townsville last year.
And it may not be the only time he enters the ring.
“I won’t say no,” Campbell-Gillard said when asked if he’d consider fighting again.
“We’ll see what happens.
“I am a footballer first before boxing.
“That was a little bit of fun and great training with the discipline. You’re doing it six times a week, twice a day. It was really good fitness.
“I’ll never say no. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
EX-WALLABY’S BOXING DEBUT
Former Wallabies star Saia Fainga’a is set to make his boxing debut in honour of his late grandmother.
‘Saia the Slayer’ is jumping into the ring on Saturday week at Crown Towers in Perth to take part in a charity boxing event to raise funds for breast cancer.
Now 37, Fainga’a played 36 Tests for the Wallabies from 2010-15 and was rocked by the recent death of his grandmother, who lost her battle with breast cancer.
The former Reds and Brumbies hooker is determined to raise money for cancer research and has been sparring Brisbane-based former IBO world champion Dennis Hogan to learn the art of boxing.
LETHAL LEEK’S BOUNTY HUNTER
Jeff Horn famously beat Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium in 2017 and now ‘The Hornet’s’ brother Ben is ready to be a boxing giant-killer.
Nicknamed ‘The Hunter’, Horn has a golden chance to claim the biggest scalp of his career when he takes on Australia’s current middleweight champion Mitchell Leek.
The hard-hitting Leek is unbeaten in 11 fights and the 24-year-old will look to continue his surge against Horn in their main-event title showdown at The Melbourne Pavilion on Saturday, December 7.
While Horn’s 6-8 record is not imposing, The Hunter is no mug, almost beating Nikita Tszyu in 2022 before his monster upset of the previously unbeaten Joel Taylor last year in Melbourne.
Now the younger brother of the legendary Jeff Horn returns south hoping to topple Leek, who is one of the rising stars of Australian boxing.
“We’re very excited for our final show of the year,” said Leek’s promoter Jake Ellis.
“Mitch will look to defend his national title against one of his toughest tests yet in Ben Horn.
“Ben has a rough and tough style, so Mitch will have to constantly adjust to his awkward, off-rhythm punching.
“My dad, Lester Ellis, has been helping guide Mitch, and Jeff Horn would presumably be helping Ben prepare.
“To have two of Australia’s great world champions in Lester Ellis and Jeff Horn in opposing corners will be quite the sight.”
Leek is as dedicated as they come. The world-title hopeful embarks on a three-hour daily round trip to training and when not sparring or fighting, Leek stays fit working as a horse trainer.
Leek’s first title defence in June was successful. He was impressive across 10 rounds in a unanimous points verdict over Jack Brubaker, who lost to Tim Tszyu in 2019, and is primed to hammer The Hunter.
“I’m very excited to be making the second defence of my title,” he said. “This year has been a massive one for me. I’ve picked up the Australian middleweight title and it was great to defend it against Jack Brubaker live on 7Plus earlier this year.
“Now I get to test my skills against Ben Horn to finish off a big year and hopefully I can work towards bigger fights and opportunities in 2025.”
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