Rugby Confidential: Sponsorship deal breathes life back into Penrith Emus; Reds turmoil; Feud continues

PENRITH get Shute Shield reprieve, more upheaval at Queensland Reds, Perenara-Izzy feud rumbles on and what the Bledisloe means to Aussie players. It’s all in Rugby Confidential.

Penrith will return to the Shute Shield in 2019.

PENRITH are returning to the Shute Shield.

We can reveal that the dumped Penrith Emus have secured a major sponsorship deal with fitness firm F45 that will clear their debts and allow them to come back to Sydney’s club rugby competition in 2019.

Penrith was sensationally dumped from the Shute Shield earlier this season following years of blowout scores, poor administration and dangerous incidents for Emus and rival players.

However, their temporary suspension was based on a number of conditions they couldn’t meet.

Reliable sources inform us that those conditions will be more than met under the new deal with the F45 group, who have gyms all over the country and are worth $300 million.

As part of the sponsorship, it’s understood a new F45 gym will be opened at Penrith’s training facility, and profits will be fed into the club’s rugby operations.

The deal ticks all of the legal boxes that gives Penrith insiders confidence they would win a court battle if Sydney Rugby Union tried to block their path back in.

There are some heavy hitters involved in the resurrection of the Emus, and it comes as the Wallabies attempt to win the hearts of western Sydney rugby fans by basing themselves there this Bledisloe Cup week.

Another big coup could come for rugby in the region, with Penrith officials talking to Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest about acting as a feeder team for a western Sydney side to enter his World Series competition next year.

Penrith will return to the Shute Shield in 2019.

McGahan exits Reds

The tumult at the Queensland Reds is set to continue with senior assistant coach Tony McGahan heading out the door.

It’s believed McGahan, contracted for 2019, will quit his role as assistant to Brad Thorn imminently, and is eyeing a future as a financial planner.

The Reds have been dealing with numerous crises this season, and while Thorn is under pressure after poor results and the treatment of star players, he retains the support of the board and won’t change his hard-edged style.

It’s understood Queensland’s physio and scrum guru Cameron Lillicrap will be given an elevated coaching role when McGahan departs.

A number of unhappy Reds players have been looking at options to join rival franchises.

Meanwhile, contracted stars Quade Cooper, Karmichael Hunt and James Slipper will all play in the NRC but will not be picked again by Thorn, yet will continue getting paid by the QRU if they don’t join other teams.

Perenara won’t clear air with Izzy

There’s clearly no love lost between TJ Perenara and Israel Folau over the homophobic uproar caused by the Wallabies star earlier this year.

All Blacks halfback Perenara was the highest profile current player to berate Folau for his views, and this week showed no interest in clearing the air with his rival.

“I don’t think it’s something that I would seek to do, to sit down and have a conversation, we’re here to play footy, to win a Test match and I think that’s where my focus lies at the minute,” Perenara said.

“If we ever cross paths outside of the game then sure, we can sit down and have a yarn or whatever but at this point in time my sole focus is on winning a Test match.”

And after the hammering he got over his homosexuality tweets, the last thing Folau wants to do is get into row with Matthew Burke.

The former World Cup winner said last week that while Folau was a very good fullback, he still couldn’t be regarded as great, so when asked to respond, the current number 15 played a straight bat.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that if he believes that. From my point of view I’m always looking to get a lot better as a player and I never want to get comfortable. It’s no hard feelings towards anyone who says what they feel.”

There’s no love lost between TJ Perenara and Israel Folau. Picture: AP.

All Blacks get acquainted with Winx

A number of All Blacks stars including captain Kieran Read met champion racehorse Winx this week.

The footballers were invited to Winx’s stables by Kiwi trainer Chris Waller.

Winx races at Randwick on Saturday afternoon before the All Blacks face the Wallabies at Sydney Olympic Park a few hours later.

A few of the All Blacks also attended a Bulldogs NRL training session on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Kiwi forwards Liam Squire, Brodie Rettalick and Sam Cane have started a “mullet club”.

You’ll notice their dodgy hairstyles on game day.

Rettalick said their club is open to all fans, and the best mullet will be chosen at the end of the year for a prize of lunch with the lads.

Bledisloe means everything

George Gregan has bristled at the notion that the All Blacks are more driven to hold the Bledisloe Cup trophy.

The last Aussie skipper to lead the Wallabies to Bledisloe Cup, Gregan revealed how Toutai Kefu’s missed out on playing in the 2003 World Cup and effectively ended his international career prematurely because of the Bledisloe.

The Wallabies had held the Bledisloe Cup for five years at that stage but lost the first Test in Sydney and needed to win the return leg in Auckland to retain the trophy. With the World Cup just around the corner and Kefu battling a shoulder injury, he could have opted to skip the match to give himself more time to recover but wouldn’t hear of it.

“Toutai Kefu should never have played that game,” Gregan told Rugby Confidential.

“If he could have not played that game they could have managed his shoulder neck injury but he wanted to play because he didn’t want to lose the Bledisloe.

“It cost him playing in the World Cup so that’s what it meant to our group.”

George Gregan lifts the Bledisloe Cup in 2002.

Boss gets his hands dirty

Sonny Bill Williams posted an intriguing photo to social media this week of All Blacks coach Steve Hansen washing dishes.

It was during a charity campaign by his team, Hansen explained.

Who would’ve thought the @AllBlacks coach would be doing my dishes one day- had to get a pic of it hahaha nice to know coach didn’t grow up with a dishwasher 😂❤️ pic.twitter.com/lJ5jnuu924

— Sonny Bill Williams (@SonnyBWilliams) August 13, 2018

“We went to the City Mission in Christchurch and cooked a meal,” Hansen said.

“He likes taking pictures, so he took a picture of me doing the dishes.

“Not much else I can say really.”

North v south divide

While the gap between the northern and southern hemisphere seems to get bigger at every World Cup, when it comes to club rugby, Matt Toomua believes the topsy-turvy European scene is just as tough.

Toomua said the nature of European club rugby is that things are a constant state of flux but reckons that’s helped him become a more versatile player.

“As a playmaker, it’s quite good, mentally, trying to find ways to win in different environments and against teams, different styles of play, it’s probably helped knowledge more than anything,” he said.

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