Tom Trbojevic calls on Sea Eagles to end club’s coaching uncertainty, friendly fire could be Luke Lewis’s final game
IF Penrith utility Tyrone Peachey fails to come through on his new contract on the Gold Coast, the Titans want star playmaker James Maloney to head north. PLUS, the Bulldogs’ response to Mad Monday breach notice.
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- Matty Johns semi-finals previews
- Shire boy plots Cronulla’s downfall
- Titans tear into ‘insulting’ Peachey
MANLY superstar Tom Trbojevic has implored his club to finalise the coaching uncertainty, declaring “we don’t want to go through another year like this one”.
While John Cartwright is all but certain to be the new Sea Eagles coach, prolonged discussions regarding Trent Barrett’s exit from the club have stalled the announcement.
Trbojevic, who won the True Blue award for the NSW player who displays qualities upon which the team culture is built, said change needs to happen at Manly.
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“We didn’t win too many games on the field and there was a lot going off the field,” Trbojevic said.
“Hopefully going into next year we can turn it both around — play some good footy and win some footy games. That can create a better off-field environment where we can be a bit more secure club.
“I’m at this stage where it’s definitely got to happen. We don’t want to go through another year like this one.
“I’m not too sure what’s going on with the coaching situation as of yet.
“We’ll see what happens. I’m sure it will be sorted out in the next few weeks.
“We had a meeting with (chief executive) Lyall (Gorman) and I spoke to him briefly a week after it.
“He said it would be dealt with after the season and the presentation night.”
Barrett gave a heartfelt address at Manly’s end-of-season presentation last week that most interpreted as a farewell to the club.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve,” Trbojevic said. “I not only love him as a coach but as a bloke and a mate.”
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THE NRL’s head of football Brian Canavan has been linked to a return to clubland as the Knights ramp up their search for a head of football.
Canavan had a long association with the Roosters and a brief stint with Gold Coast before joining the NRL. He will be shifted sideways with his role now split at the NRL with Gold Coast boss Graham Annesley appointed to oversee the top flight issues.
The Knights are on the lookout for a new head of football following Darren Mooney’s decision to quit the club.
FORMER CLUB COULD FINISH LEWIS
THE irony is not lost on Luke Lewis.
With his decorated career an 80-minute loss away from ending, it is his former club which threatens to send him into retirement when Cronulla play Penrith on Friday night.
“It’s weird how things fall into place,” Lewis said.
“It could have been anyone but it’s the way it’s fallen. It’s a jersey that I loved to play in out at Penrith. Now I love the black, white and blue jersey.
“The two jerseys I love most will be out there on Friday night, which is cool. It’s funny, the boys have been saying ‘it could be your last week of footy preparing’. I haven’t thought about it too much. I’m just enjoying being around the boys and training field.”
Even though teammate Wade Graham’s long-term knee injury could deplete the Sharks’ back-row stocks next year, Lewis has no intention of backflipping on his retirement plans.
“Nah, no way,” Lewis said. “I love the game to death. I’ve called it at the right time. I don’t want to walk out not liking the game. The mindset (about retirement) is scary. I’m shitting myself. The fear of the unknown is a bit exciting. I don’t know what’s next or around the corner.”
FREDDY ON HIS BIKE FOR FARMERS
BLUES coach Brad Fittler rode more than eight hours on his bike to take the Origin shield to a little-known country town.
Dubbed the Hogs for Farmer, Fittler set off with fellow ex-Blues Josh Perry and Danny Buderus, and former Kangaroo Ian Schubert, to spread a bit of cheer to the drought-ravaged country areas of the state.
Along the way he popped into Come by Chance, a country town of fewer than 200 people about 50km south of Walgett.
MCEVOY CALLS FOR A PHOTO
HERE’S proof even rival jockeys are in awe of Sydney’s super mare Winx.
Kerrin McEvoy pulled out his phone while riding trackwork on Unforgotten at Rosehill Gardens on Thursday. He proceeded to snap pictures of Winx and jockey Hugh Bowman as they warmed up for Saturday’s Group 1 George Main Stakes at Royal Randwick.
Winx is aiming for her 27th consecutive win and a world record of 20th Group 1 victories.
LISTEN! Nick Campton and Tim Williams preview each of the finals match-ups for this weekend and review the hell out of a couple more teams.
You can download the League Central podcast on iTunes.
DOGS HAVE THEIR SAY
CANTERBURY have replied to the NRL’s record breach notice in the hope that part of the $250,000 fine will be reduced following their mad Monday celebrations.
It is understood the Bulldogs have written a detailed submission in response to the breach notice served to them by the NRL this month. They had until Thursday to reply.
The Bulldogs clarified elements of the NRL’s allegations and have given their version of events which led to two players being charged by police.
NRL boss Todd Greenberg will now read through the submission before deciding if part of the Bulldogs fine is either reduced or suspended.
Bulldogs chief executive Andrew Hill said he was “disappointed at the severity of the fine” during a press conference last week.
A host of Bulldogs staff members who were present during the celebrations are also expected to come under scrutiny by the club.
The club hit four players with $60,000 worth of fines. They were Adam Elliott, Asipeli Fine (both $25,000 with $10,000 suspended), Zac Woolford and Marcelo Montoya (both $10,000 with $5000 suspended).
Long-term sponsor Jaycar also walked out on the Bulldogs, costing them $500,000.
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JOSH Dugan gained plenty of sympathy when he complained the rugby league media wanted to write only “negative” stories.
“I raised $15,000 for a young boy recently, visited him in hospital, he passed away, you didn’t hear about that,” Dugan said to makes his point.
Only problem is, people did hear about it.
Channel 9’s Danny Weidler picked up Dugan’s fundraising efforts on his Instagram account and ran a two-minute piece on Nine News, which attracts about one million viewers nightly.
OATES PLEDGES LOYALTY TO BENNETT
COREY Oates dropped a small bombshell on Wednesday night when he told Fox League that he would not re-sign with Brisbane if Wayne Bennett was not the coach.
Oates has been close to the Broncos’ best this season but remains unsigned. He was offered a contract earlier this year but was slow to sign and it was since withdrawn and scaled down.
In between, the Broncos invested much of their salary cap in some of their rising young forwards and simply argued that the money was no longer available in the salary cap to pay what Oates was demanding. Oates now refuses to go to any function that Broncos chief executive Paul White might be attending in protest.
What is intriguing is Oates’ loyalty to Bennett given the coach’s role in signing other players which, effectively, shaves dollars off his own deal.
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SPOTTED: South Sydney wingers Robert Jennings and Campbell Graham hailing a taxi outside AAMI Park following their loss to Melbourne last Friday night. The duo were forced to stay back to undergo drug tests and were at the stadium for more than an hour after the game with their team bus long gone.
FANS PUT THE BOOT IN
BRISBANE fans were left heartbroken when Ben Hunt dropped an extra-time kick-off in the 2015 grand final and they reminded him last Sunday.
“The crowd wasn’t on my side this time but it didn’t really feel that different being out there to playing with the Broncos,” Hunt said. “I only really heard the crowd having a crack at me whenever the kick-off came.”
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KORBIN Sims will miss two matches for his new club St George Illawarra after being suspended for a tackle he made on the Dragons’ Blake Lawrie. Funny game rugby league.
TITANS EYE OFF MALONEY
PHIL Gould turned the pressure on the Gold Coast on Thursday when he claimed on his podcast that, counter to the Titans’ claims they want to keep Tyrone Peachey, they offered Penrith Peachey back in a swap for James Maloney.
Titans chief executive Graham Annesley confirmed Titans general manager Phil Moss had a discussion with Gould about Maloney.
“It was never about a swap deal for Maloney for Peachey,” Annesley said. “We know they have salary cap troubles and we were wondering if they would consider letting go of Maloney.”
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