Sport Confidential: NRL clears the air on cannonball tackles, issues play-the-ball warning to clubs
Which Sydney club boss made the trip to Melbourne for Craig Bellamy’s celebration, the NRL has put clubs on notice about cannonball tackles and more in Sport Confidential.
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This is the photo (below) from the most exclusive dinner in rugby league. The dinner to celebrate Craig Bellamy’s 500th game as a coach was an invite-only affair at The Botanical Hotel in south Yarra, attended by players and officials who have been on the journey with the Storm coach over the past 20 years.
Cameron Smith and Billy Slater, who presented Bellamy with the game ball after his side’s round two match against South Sydney on Thursday night, were in attendance.
So too Wests Tigers head of football Tim Sheens, who flew from Sydney to honour a man who he coached at Canberra. Raiders assistant Brett White, a long-time Storm player, also flew in for the dinner. So did John Ribot, who lured Bellamy to the Storm two decades ago.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley has written to clubs warning them that play-the-ball standards need to be met “so the situation doesn’t deteriorate to the point where almost anything goes”.
Sport Confidential has obtained the email Annesley sent to the clubs on Wednesday as he highlighted concerns regarding the play-the-ball and cannonball tackles.
The reinforcement of the play-the-ball is a clear warning that the match officials will target the ruck.
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“While it is not expected the foot must make contact with the ball on every occasion there is a significant difference between making a genuine attempt to play the ball and making no attempt at all by either rolling the ball back or just stepping over it to gain a marginal speed advantage,” Annesley wrote.
Annesley attached clips of correct and incorrect play-the-balls. He also showed examples of cannonball tackles.
“No one wants to see players injured, charged or suspended for incidents that carry a high risk of injury,” Annesley wrote.
“Tackling around the legs has long been considered a skill in our game but when a player in possession is held upright in a tackle by defenders, and another player dives at the unprotected legs with force, it carries a high potential for injury – particularly if the impact involves the use of significant force causing the knee or ankle to bend in an unnatural direction.”
MUNSTER TO REJECT STORM OFFER
Cameron Munster is expected to reject Melbourne’s contract offer after being asked to take a significant pay cut which would see the Queensland and Kangaroos star drop out of the million dollar club.
It comes as the Storm close in on locking up hooker Harry Grant on a long-term multimillion dollar deal.
The Storm have been working towards securing some of their best talent and have fast-tracked talks with Grant, Munster and Jahrome Hughes.
It is expected Grant will be the first to commit to the Storm on a deal that would include an upgrade next season and then as much as $3 million over the three seasons that follow.
His decision will be a body-blow to The Dolphins, who were keen to lure Grant and thought they had their man.
However, they look set to be gazumped by a lucrative Storm offer as speculation mounts that Grant will make a decision as early as Friday. The Dolphins will now explore other hooking options including Sam Verrills and Reece Robson.
While the news is expected to be good for Grant, the Storm are now facing an up-hill battle to lock-down Munster, who is no off-contract until the end of next season.
Munster is in talks with the Storm but is expected to reject the significantly reduced contract before the club’s imposed deadline of next week. He could fetch more than a million dollars a season on the open market but it is understood his first preference is to remain at the Storm.
The Dolphins had indicated they would table a monstrous deal with Grant but were prevented from doing anything formal under November 1.
Earlier this week in an interview with News Corp, Grant insisted his future would not necessarily hinge on Craig Bellamy, who is poised to make a call on whether he will stay on as head coach by the end of the month.
Under the terms of his deal with the Storm, even if Bellamy stands down as head coach, he will remain involved in another capacity for the next four years.
“Craig is a huge drawcard but he is signed on with the club for five years,” Grant said.
“The system he has put in place - you see guys who come into the team and they know their role. That is because of the system Craig has put into place. He is still going to be involved for the next five years no matter what, whether it is from a distance or up close and personal.
“That is down the track and we will go from there. You can’t look too far down the track. We still have this season where we have him at the helm.
“We have to do all we can to repay the faith. Whatever he comes up with, that is his decision. He has things in his life that he has to prioritise at the moment.
“It would be a huge bonus if he does (stay as head coach). If not, that is down the track to worry about.”
Grant has flourished under Bellamy and insisted there was more to the Storm mentor than meets the eye.
“Everyone sees him as a hard-nosed coach who throws f-bombs around,” Grant said.
“For me, a rugby league team is made up of all walks of life and it is very multicultural. He connects with each individual, understands each individual.
“I think people don’t see that side of him. He is a very emotional guy band he has connected with each individual player. He is very special in that regard.”
The Storm remain confident that Munster will sign a long-term deal but talks have been put on hold for the moment because the Queensland and Australian No.6 wants to get some time under his belt.
NSWRL STANDS FIRM IN BOARD BATTLE
The NSW Rugby League has issued a defiant defence of its board elections ahead of a meeting of Sydney club bosses on Friday where the battle for control of the Blues is set to reach a flashpoint.
South Sydney chair Nick Pappas is understood to have convened the meeting to inform fellow club bosses of the situation, which exploded when Cronulla chief executive Dino Mezzatesta was prevented from running for the NSW board on legal advice.
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys has opened an investigation into the board elections, hiring prominent silk Bret Walker to oversee the inquiries. Mezzatesta will also attend the meeting and explain his side of the story to Sydney clubs, who now have no representation on the NSW board and are weighing up whether to pull their teams out of competitions run by the NSWRL.
That could in turn lead to the ARL Commission redirecting funding to the clubs rather than the NSWRL. The NSWRL hit back on Thursday when they released a statement to the clubs outlining their side of the story.
They said they had asked Mezzatesta for documents which go to the proof of his eligibility to stand as a candidate; his employment agreement with Cronulla; all documents which form part of the terms and conditions of that employment; and submissions in relation to the questions of any conflicting interest.
“Mr Mezzatesta met some of these requests, but not others,” the NSWRL said.
The NSWRL added: “It is paramount that the board of the NSWRL must act in accordance with the NSWRL constitution and the applicable laws.
“The NSWRL board has at all times proceeded in accordance with each. It is entirely without foundation, for the NSWRL board of directors to remain the target of criticism in relation to the process which is described above.
“The board’s determination made on 23 February 2022 was made, in respect of the board’s application of the NSWRL Constitution and the specific provisions of the NSWRL Constitution relating to people who have potential material conflicting interests.
“This is the test that has existed in the NSWRL Constitution since April 2013. Further, it should be noted for the record that the NSWRL Constitution is modelled on the constitution of the Australian Rugby League Commission ...”
BRAILEY’S LATE CALL
Blayke Brailey was one of the Sharks’ best players in their opening round loss to the Raiders.
However, few knew he was close to pulling out of the game only a few hours before kick-off due to a gastro bug.
Brailey was so sick that Cronulla media manager Rob Willis needed to make a mad dash from the Shire to the nation’s capital on Friday morning with a spare jersey for back-up hooker, former Queensland Cup Player of The Year, Jayden Berrell.
A resilient Brailey ended up playing the entire 80 minutes, which included several runs that led to line-breaks.
JACKSON’S JOY AFTER ‘UGLY’ WIN
Josh Jackson has been part of preliminary final wins as Canterbury’s longest-serving player. But the Bulldogs skipper ranked Sunday’s courageous win against North Queensland as one of the best in his 11-season career.
“It was one of the more memorable wins I’ve been involved in,” Jackson said. “We hadn’t won a round one game since 2016. Because of a new squad and the way we finished last year it was important to get a win.
“It was gritty, it wasn’t polished. It was ugly. We know that and there is a lot to fix but the way we played for each other and stuck in – it is one to be proud of.”
Jackson said the team’s inability to win close games had haunted them in recent seasons.
“There were quite a few last year where we were in the game up until the last 20 minutes and we couldn’t close out the game,” Jackson said. “That’s the difference between the teams in the top eight and those that aren’t. Hopefully that’s a team we can be.”
SPOTTED
David Williams with his former Manly coach Geoff Toovey at Hotel Steyne in Manly. The pair were on hand to promote the TAB’s ‘Big Day Of Play’ with the NRL, AFL and Golden Slipper All Star Mile Day on Saturday.
PREMIERSHIP WINNER JOINS DRAGONS’ BOARD
Jason Nightingale is the latest ex-Dragon to join the St George board. Nightingale has joined former skipper Ben Creagh on the board of the St George District Rugby League Football Club. A special resolution was passed by club members which enabled directors to appoint three additional directors to the board last year.
Creagh and Nightingale make up two of the three spots after Mark Gasnier declined an opportunity to join the board.
HARDMAN STAYS LOYAL
World middleweight contender Issac Hardman has remained loyal to promoter Dean Lonergan after he was approached by a third party asking whether he would be interested in jumping ship to No Limit Boxing, the company behind world title contender Tim Tszyu.
Hardman, who will fight Michael Zerafa on April 20 in Melbourne with a world title shot on the line, was contacted last week but gave the approach short shrift.
Hardman said he was promised his fight with Zerafa would be on Fox Sports if he changed teams. Hardman insisted he was going nowhere.
“Dean gets all the big moves,” Hardman said. “He landed a world title shot here for Jai (Opetai) here in Australia while Tim is packing up and going to America.
“He did the biggest fight in Australian history for Manny Pacquai. For me to jump ship would be completely stupid. I am loyal to the bone - that is one of the qualities I feel like I possess.
“Dean has positioned me well in the IBF. After I smash Zerafa to bits I will get a world title fight in Australia. For me to pack up and wash my hands of Dean would be stupid.”
Hardman is confident he will dispose of Zerafa with ease.
“I am going to smash him to pieces,” Hardman said. “I appreciate him as an athlete but I am going to punch holes through him.”
DRAGONS HONOUR PROVAN
The Norm Provan Stand will officially be unveiled at Kogarah Oval on Friday night to commemorate the late Immortal. The Dragons will host a tribute to Provan, which includes the renaming of the grandstand.
“It shows you the significance and impact Norm has had on this club is unbelievable,” centre Zac Lomax said.
The club will celebrate fellow Immortal Johnny Raper’s life on May 21. Any upgrade of Kogarah Oval see further stands named in the honour of the club’s greats.
TIGERS HELP OUT RIVALS
The Tigers faced a side wearing their own jerseys when they took on Melbourne’s Jersey Flegg team last weekend. The Victorian Thunderbolts’ gear was lost in transit with the Tigers offering them their spare jerseys. The players were forced to wear shorts from the Mounties, who played in the NSW Cup beforehand.
GOODES SHEDS LIGHT ON MENTAL BATTLE
Sydney Swans legend Adam Goodes has opened up about mental health.
Goodes has spoken with Body+Soul in The Sunday Telegraph about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
“There’s no way you can have a long career in any professional sport without mental toughness, but even if you do have that mental toughness, you can still be frail around the edges,” Goodes said.
“You can still have moments in your life when it’s too much; it’s happened to me and it’s happened to some of the best in the league. There’s no shame in putting your hand up for mental-health reasons. It’s something that affects the majority of Australians and people around the world, not just athletes.”
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Originally published as Sport Confidential: NRL clears the air on cannonball tackles, issues play-the-ball warning to clubs
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