Dolphins left fuming after Broncos block Selwyn Cobbo’s immediate transfer
The Battle of Brisbane has added another chapter to its book of feuds with the Dolphins furious over the Broncos’ refusal to release Selwyn Cobbo.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Battle of Brisbane has added another chapter to its book of feuds with the Dolphins furious over the Broncos’ refusal to release Selwyn Cobbo.
Cobbo has signed a one-year contract with the Dolphins for the 2026 NRL season after being squeezed out the door at Red Hill.
Given he is not currently in Brisbane’s best 17 under coach Michael Maguire, the injury-ravaged Dolphins were keen to get Cobbo to Redcliffe before the June 30 transfer deadline.
However the Broncos refused to entertain a release for Cobbo - particularly to their cross-town rivals.
Redcliffe figures were enraged that the Broncos would not allow Cobbo to join them immediately.
Cobbo was recalled to the NRL last week against the Bulldogs due to the Origin period but has been dropped again for Sunday’s M1 derby with the Titans.
He would have likely played out the rest of the NRL season with the Dolphins following winger Jack Bostock’s ACL injury.
Instead, Cobbo will be a depth player for the Broncos over the next few months and could play a key role as Maguire chases a premiership.
Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow can’t wait for Cobbo to join him at Redcliffe.
“I’m super excited,” ‘The Hammer’ said.
“I saw the news and when we got told, I was super happy.
“I’m just excited to see what he can bring to the team given what he’s done on the footy field.
“He’ll be a good fit for us as well.”
NRL YOUTH COMP’S HAMMER BLOW
The much-hyped return of the NRL’s under-20s is set to be given the bullet in a blow to the hopes of a National Youth Competition.
Sport Confidential understands plans for the revival of a fully-fledged NYC will be shelved in favour of two separate under-20s competitions in NSW and Queensland next season.
A Pathways Steering Committee (PSC) had initially recommended for the return of the NRL’s under-20s league, which was originally founded in 2008 and ran for a decade.
The original NYC produced a host of future NRL superstars, including Kalyn Ponga, Shaun Johnson, Jarome Luai, Victor Radley, Pat Carrigan, Jason Taumalolo, Jake and Tom Trbojevic and Viliame Kikau.
It was axed at the end of 2017 amid budgetary concerns with many NRL clubs forking out up to an extra $1 million to fund their NYC teams.
There was a fresh push earlier this year for the NRL to bring back the NYC for the 2026 Telstra Premiership as part of the ARL Commission’s grassroots strategy for “vertical integration” with player development.
But well-placed sources say a 17-team NYC competition for 2026 is dead and buried and unlikely to be revisited during the current broadcast cycle, which ends in 2027.
Instead, the NSW clubs will continue with their Jersey Flegg under-20s competition, with Melbourne set to join the NSW Cup next season to give the Storm a reserve-grade outfit bolstered by their Academy system.
With the Broncos, Titans, Cowboys and Dolphins facing being left out in the NYC cold, the four Queensland clubs recently set up a mini-league - called NRLQ - to help develop their next generation of stars.
Round 5 of the six-week NRLQ starts this weekend. The Dolphins are the team to beat and the NRLQ has proved such a success Queensland authorities are keen to continue the league next year with a view to extending it for a longer period, possibly 12 rounds.
Cowboys football boss Micheal Luck said the NRLQ has been a handy development tool for the Queensland clubs.
“We’re really happy with the opportunity it’s given our young players,” he said.
“It’s been amazing for us up here to be able to play our emerging kids together in a Cowboys jersey against good quality opposition every week.
“It lets them play our patterns and our structures and gives our NRL coaching staff a look at those guys in a Cowboys jersey, rather than going back to local park football.”
Asked if the NRLQ will continue next year, Luck said: “Without speaking for the other three clubs involved, we’re very happy with it and very hopeful that it will continue.
“Hopefully it will be in an extended format so they get to play more games.”
BRONCO’S BLOOD CLOT SCARE
Broncos prop Corey Jensen is set to be sidelined for another fortnight after developing a blood clot in his calf.
Jensen was a late scratching for Brisbane’s epic defeat of the Bulldogs last week after picking up a calf complaint which was compounded by a blood clot in the region.
It’s understood the clot is not serious, with Broncos coach Michael Maguire hoping to have veteran front-rower ‘CJ’ on deck for Brisbane’s round 21 clash against the Eels after a bye weekend.
“He got a clot from a slight strain, a clot has formed from where it bleeds,” Maguire said.
“It’s an injury Corey just has to get through.
“He is not too far away from being right, but it’s a bit like Ben Hunt’s (hamstring) injury, we have to be smart and aware of when we bring him back in.
“CJ is running and doing his rehab and on the field, he is getting around OK, but we’re trying to avoid the high-end stuff.
“I’m hoping he will be back after the bye.”
COWBOY RIDES INTO SUNSET
Monster Cowboys prop Jordan McLean is set to announce his retirement from the NRL.
Sport Confidental can reveal the finish line is approaching for McLean with the 33-year-old warhorse to sever ties with the Cowboys at season’s end.
McLean will play his 239th NRL game in Saturday night’s clash against the Bulldogs and has been soldiering on in recent years with 12-monthly extensions as he weighed up whether to play on.
But after 13 seasons of stellar NRL service, McLean’s body is feeling the pinch of life in the front row, the code’s most unforgiving position, and plans to hang up his boots at season’s end.
The hulking 196cm Young product has had a fine career, winning the 2017 premiership during five seasons with the Storm before chalking up another eight campaigns with the Cowboys.
McLean also played eight Tests for Australia in 2017-18, winning the World Cup against England, and it was only a training mishap that denied him a NSW Origin debut in the 2022 Suncorp decider.
The Cowboys are aware of McLean’s decision and are in the marketplace for a front-rower, although they have ruled out making a play for off-contract Storm prop Tui Kamikamica.
MAROONS’ TITANIC RAID
The Titans are having a shocker of a season but a few Gold Coast players have caught the eye of Queensland coach Billy Slater.
Titans trio Jayden Campbell, Jojo Fifita and Sam Stephenson were invited into Camp Maroon to help Queensland prepare for Wednesday’s series decider.
With the Titans on a bye, Slater called on a few players to train against the Maroons in opposed drills.
Campbell was born in Cronulla but moved to the Gold Coast when he was six due given his dad, Dally M legend Preston Campbell, was a foundation player for the Titans in 2007.
Rugby convert Fifita is a promising prospect as he continues his transition to league and Stephenson was part of Queensland’s victorious under-19s team.
SHOOSH
Which NRL club CEO is fighting for his future following a lean few years and some questionable decisions that have backfired?
SPOTTED
Former Titans recruitment manager Ezra Howe in the Queensland Origin dressing rooms with Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and his manager Simon Mammino. Howe is expected to join Mal Meninga at the Perth Bears as recruitment boss.
TUI’S SOUTHS SHOCK
Storm grand final prop Tui Kamikamica is fighting to save his NRL career after a $1.1 million move to play under Wayne Bennett at South Sydney collapsed.
It is understood super coach Bennett was keen on securing Kamikamica, who had received a three-year offer from the Rabbitohs worth just south of $400,000 a season.
The Fijian Test skipper believed he was on the way to Redfern, but was left stunned after the Rabbitohs pulled their offer at the eleventh hour, citing salary-cap restrictions.
That leaves the 31-year-old in limbo entering Saturday’s clash against the Knights and playing for his future in Melbourne.
Kamikamica is off-contract at season’s end, although Melbourne have a 12-month option in their favour which they can activate to keep the monstrous 110kg enforcer at the club for 2026.
The Storm are battling salary-cap pressures but are crunching the numbers to see if the 127-game prop can soldier on for another year in Melbourne.
QUADE’S RED HILL RAID
The Broncos had a surprise visitor when former Wallabies star Quade Cooper popped into Red Hill on the eve of Origin III.
The 80-Test rugby legend once went close to defecting to the Parramatta Eels but there will be no swansong code switch to the Broncos for the 37-year-old Churchie Grammar prodigy.
After six years in Japan, Cooper has retired from rugby and is now playing Flag Football with a view to representing Australia at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Flag Football is a variant of gridiron and Cooper has been travelling back and forth to America to learn the newly-minted Olympic sport in the US.
Cooper, who once lamented not testing himself in the NRL with the Eels, was invited to the Broncos by coach Michael Maguire.
“We are looking at signing him,” Broncos lock Kobe Hetherington said with a wry chuckle.
“No, he’s just come in around the place.
“I think ‘Madge’ is pretty close to him.
“We spoke to him a little bit before wrestling but he’s just looking around the joint.
“He was a good player. I wasn’t big into union but everyone knew who he was.”
NRL’S MARATHON EFFORT
The Gold Coast Marathon has become the event of choice for NRL identities.
Last Sunday’s 42.195km long-distance race attracted the who’s who of the NRL world, with former Broncos star Matt Gillett (3 hours 52 minutes) and ex-Bulldogs grand-final winger Corey Thompson (4:11) completing the marathon.
Former NSW Origin hooker Nathan Peats clocked an impressive 3 hours and 18 minutes despite battling a cold, while Cowboys legend Matt Scott’s wife Lauren (3:44) showed her toughness by grinding out a sub-4 marathon.
There were plenty of vocal NRL spectators on the course including Broncos playmaker Ben Hunt, former Brisbane duo Alex Glenn and Jordan Kahu and club chairman Karl Morris.
“Leave me out of the marathon,” Hunt said with a laugh. “I’ll settle for the 5km.”
DOGS EYE CHEEKY DEVIL
Cameron Ciraldo’s Bulldogs are eyeing off one of the Queensland Cup’s most promising forwards.
Canterbury recruitment chiefs have tabled a two-year deal for highly-rated utility Lauloto Salei, who has helped defending premiers Norths Devils into second place on the Hostplus Cup ladder.
One of the rare talents to emerge from Alice Springs, Salei is one of the most versatile players in the Hostplus Cup, capable of playing hooker, lock, centre and in the halves.
The Bulldogs have already snapped up Salei’s younger brother Isaac, who attends Wavell High, and now they have set their sights on ‘Loto’.
The 19-year-old is likened to NSW Origin star Connor Watson with his versatility and is rated a genuine NRL talent.
Originally published as Dolphins left fuming after Broncos block Selwyn Cobbo’s immediate transfer
Dolphins star to fight NRL over $10k ‘double agent’ ref spray
The NRL delivered a breach notice to Maroons squad member Josh Kerr over his post-Origin comments about the performance of referee Ashley Klein - but he’s getting ready to fight back.
‘You’ve got me, I’m drunk’: Broncos legend learns fate over DUI charge
A Broncos legend has learned his fate after being caught driving almost four times over the limit, telling police “you’ve got me, I’m drunk”.