Payto & Panda: ARU won’t provide any money for James O’Connor; French players take in Origin
QUEENSLAND Reds will have to foot the full bill for James O’Connor with the ARU confirming it won’t provide any top-up assistance.
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NEWS that James O’Connor will not receive an ARU top-up came as no surprise to the Queensland Reds, we’re hearing.
In fact, it appears the recent spate of backline defections – Dom Shipperley, Mike Harris and Jonah Placid to Melbourne Rebels, Aidan Toua and Rod Davies to French rugby – is freeing up money for O’Connor and triple-code star Karmichael Hunt.
The Reds won’t comment on their recruiting but it’s not hard to put two and two together, particular after ARU chief executive Bill Pulver basically said if the pair join the Reds it would be purely on Queensland money.
“The ARU is not negotiating with James O’Connor, the ARU released James O’Connor from his contract last year,” Pulver said.
“If there are any state level discussions going on I’m not prepared to comment on those. I can tell you that the ARU is not going to sign a contract with James.
“Having said that, I would love to see James back in Australian rugby, I think he’s an incredible talent.
“We discontinued the relationship with him last year for the right reasons in my view, that doesn’t mean he can’t come back with the right attitude to be a wonderful contributor to Australian rugby going forward.
“We basically only provide top-up agreements to players who have played fairly continuously with Australian rugby; generally if you’ve been in the Wallaby camp for two years we’ll look to put you on a top-up agreement.
“Having discontinued James’s association, it would not be appropriate.
“He would need to come back, if he chose to come back, and play for a period of time before we would be prepared to consider an ARU top-up.
“I’m not personally involved with any discussion with James O’Connor or Karmichael Hunt.
“At this point in time, I am not contemplating an ARU relationship with Karmichael Hunt.”
Queensland chief executive Jim Carmichael said recently: “Our fans can be assured that we identified and addressed our recruitment priorities within the squad some time ago and are now well positioned for 2015 and beyond.”
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WHETHER the Reds’ trio who have now joined the Rebels were part of Queensland’s future or not, Melbourne certainly believe they’ll lift their side to big things.
The Rebels’ new Wallabies prop Laurie Weeks, who was at Queensland in the years before they won the 2011 Super Rugby title, said: “What I see happening now at the Rebels is what I saw at the Reds before they won it.”
Melbourne’s impressive recruiting also includes Waratahs winger Cam Crawford, who is line to replace departing full-back Jason Woodward.
However, the Rebels are set to lose five-eighth Angus Roberts, with either Mike Harris, Bryce Hegarty or the supremely gifted youngster Jack Debrezceni to wear the contentious No.10 jersey next year.
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MATT Toomua isn’t the only Wallaby dating another sports star.
Toomua has been in a relationship for some time with dual-international glamour Ellyse Perry, but we can reveal that new hooker Nathan Charles has also landed himself a pro sportswoman.
Charles is seeing Queensland Firebirds star Verity Simmons and couldn’t be happier.
It is a big weekend for the couple, with Charles playing in just his second Test on Saturday, and Simmons playing in the ANZ Championship grand final against Melbourne Vixens on Sunday afternoon.
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He may be huge but even Will Skelton couldn’t steal attention from a pair of breaching whales putting on a show off Coogee Beach. Posing in a photo shoot on the beach, hundreds of onlookers on the walkway were oblivious to the giant man in bright yellow beneath them, instead transfixed on the whales out at sea.
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After crowds of 33,000 in the first Test in Brisbane, and 27,000 in Melbourne, finally the oft-maligned Sydney fans will come to the fore the Wallabies on Saturday afternoon.
While some tickets remain, a crowds of over 40,000 is expected at Allianz Stadium.
The SCG and SFS precinct will be buzzing, with a fan day beginning at midday and running until 2pm for kids. Kids activities, autograph stations and new food stalls will be situated behind the new SCG Noble Stand.
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The return to Allianz Stadium for the Wallabies holds good omens for both coaches in Saturday’s third Test.
Along with David Campese, Ewen McKenzie is the equal most capped Test player at the former Sydney Football Stadium with 17 caps. He played his last Test at Allianz Stadium in 1997, and also his first – against France in the famous brawl-fest Test in 1990.
You’ll remember it as the game where Peter Fitzsimons got his clocked cleaned, and remained so rattled, he later began wearing a red bandanna. In public.
Coach of les Bleus, Phillipe Saint-Andre, played in the game and in the third Test at the venue, which remains France’s last win on Australian soil.
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Wally the Wallaby – the team mascot carried by Australia’s youngest squad member – has never been so safe.
He is currently protected by 140kg bodyguard Will Skelton and if, for some reason, Skelton dropped out of the squad, the new owner would be …. captain Michael Hooper.
At 22, Hooper is only older than one bloke in the Wallabies and something tells us the time-honoured tradition of all other players trying to steal Wally would come to a swift halt when the victim is a guy who consults on selections.
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FRANCE giant Mathieu Bastareaud was an interested spectator at Wednesday night’s State of Origin match.
And there was none of the limousine service you’d expect for one of the biggest stars in rugby.
Bastareaud and a couple of teammates were spotted watching NSW’s famous victory before catching the train back to their team hotel in the city.
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GOOD to see former Wallabies defence coach John Muggleton land another top gig.
Muggleton, who has been in charge of Randwick’s defence in this season’s Shute Shield, has been snapped up by English club Gloucester.
Muggleton will be defence coach of a team that boasts English internationals Billy Twelvetrees and Ben Morgan as well as former international stars Mike Tindall, Huia Edmonds and Jimmy Cowan.
It is further confirmation of the quality of coaching in the Shute Shield, following news that Manly’s head coach Phil Blake is joining Leicester.
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BILL Pulver has opened up on the departure of NSW and Wallabies lock Kane Douglas, saying he is “disappointed” and “shocked” by his decision to join Irish club Leinster.
Douglas told us last weekend that his priorities in life changed after his mother’s passing last year, which is why he could walk away from the chance to play in next year’s World Cup in order to have new life experiences. He also revealed that he planned to be back for the 2019 World Cup campaign.
But Pulver said: “To be honest the guy I’m most disappointed with this year, that we would have loved to have kept, is Kane Douglas, and that one shocked me a little.
“I look at a 24-year-old kid who is a great player, and he is a lock - we would really like more depth in that particular position.
“He is playing in a phenomenally successful Waratahs unit who have the capability of maybe going back-to-back premiers.
“He, I suspect, would have been in the run-on team for the Wallabies. So I look at that issue and think ‘Wow, why has he given up this opportunity at the age of 24?’
“If he wanted to play for Leinster he could have done it [later].”
If the ARU had offered Douglas more money, he might have stayed.
Originally published as Payto & Panda: ARU won’t provide any money for James O’Connor; French players take in Origin
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