Rugby league’s dangerous and outdated junior grading system is eating away at the fabric of the game. Just ask Oliver Campbell, the broken 12-year-old who will walk away from the game he loves.
All in sundry will deny it but there’s no hiding the fact Manly is suffering from the Daly Cherry-Evans contract drama as evidenced in the club’s diabolical loss to Melbourne at Brookvale Oval. Plus Buzz’s highlight, lowlight and spotted.
By the end of the year Payne Haas should be the highest-paid forward in rugby league history, the question is which club will have found the cap space to make it happen.
In planning and recruitment, the Roosters have had a poor last 12 months, but club chairman Nick Politis is poised to strike a key target – Matty Johns reveals how ‘Uncle Nick’ operates.
With whispers coming out of both Manly and Daly Cherry-Evans’ camps, it’s hard to separate the facts from fiction, writes Matty Johns, but one thing is for certain – the Sea Eagles have made a costly mistake.
Nine Entertainment’s hatchet job on the NRL for exploring broadcast partners outside of the long-established traditional channels reeks. This is the same broadcaster that attempted to pinch the AFL rights two years ago.
There’s no doubt that North Queensland coach Todd Payten has what it takes to be a career coach – but with his immediate future in the hands of his players why would he make a blunder with the club’s talisman, writes Matty Johns.
An NRL club is closely monitoring Daly Cherry-Evans’ contract situation at the Sea Eagles and is prepared to offer the veteran a bigger deal than Manly. BUZZ ROTHFIELD’s highlights and lowlights.
In the same week that one player signed the richest deal in rugby league history, it was a battling concreter and a bookmaker’s clerk on reserve grade wages that helped orchestrate the biggest NRL upset in years, writes PHIL ROTHFIELD.
Brandon Smith has added a fresh and explosive chapter to the book of feuds between the Rabbitohs and Roosters after publicly batting his eyelids at Wayne Bennett, writes BRENT READ.
Newcastle’s mega-deal with Dylan Brown will result in 12 months of scrutiny for the playmaker, but it is the Knights administration that should be put under the blowtorch, writes MATTY JOHNS.
If the alleged culprits of the meat pie throw at the Dragons vs Bulldogs game are found to have breached the spectator code of conduct, the NRL should ban the fans from future games. FATIMA KDOUH has that and more in The Tackle.
The Newcastle Knights may have got the points on Friday night, but their lack of backline polish was exposed against the Wests Tigers, writes Brent Read.
The Wests Tigers have handed Jarome Luai a massive contract with almost no strings attached, but how else could the perennial cellar dwellers attract the most sought after star in the game, asks BRENT READ.
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