Sport Confidential: Worst one ever? Fans divided over leaked Dolphins jersey
The NRL’s newcomers appear to have suffered a launch gaffe after the Dolphins’ foundation jersey was leaked online. And fans have not been kind.
The NRL’s newcomers appear to have suffered a grand final day gaffe after the Dolphins’ foundation jersey was leaked online.
What appears to be the Dolphins’ playing jersey for their 2023 NRL season launch is doing the rounds on social media.
The jersey image hasn’t been seen before and reportedly appeared on the Dolphins’ online shopping website this afternoon.
It was later taken down, but not before eagle-eyed punters started circulating the image of what is a highly-anticipated jersey.
The Dolphins were planning a big launch to premiere their foundation strip, but the cat is now out of the bag.
Don’t know about this Dolphins jersey.. as a full member should we have been consulted? It looks like a loaf of bread… can’t wait till 2023 for Wayne to be back!! pic.twitter.com/EGWmDUiwWt
— Kirsty Callander (@kirsty112233) October 2, 2022
There are a couple of Warriors jerseys worse, but out of 50+ that's some effort.
— Wellington Sports Guy (@HYoungWelshKiwi) October 3, 2022
Worst thing for me is it looks like the team are called the Kings not the Dolphins.
Do you think the new Dolphins jersey will help increase sales for Vanilla Coke #ASKKENTY
— jomcgregor (@mcgregorjo) October 3, 2022
Who hired the designer for the Dolphins jersey? Are they fired yet?
— jazz â¤ï¸ðŸ’™ðŸ³ï¸â€ðŸŒˆðŸŒˆðŸ†âš”ï¸ (@redandblue97) October 3, 2022
SHOULD RED CARPET SNAP HAVE BRONCOS WORRIED?
Is this the image that should have the Brisbane Broncos worried?
Star Broncos prop Payne Haas turned up to Wednesday night’s Dally M Awards in Sydney with Roosters sensation Joseph Suaalii.
The duo walked the red carpet together and posed for photos after striking up a bond in NSW Origin camp this year.
Haas is yet to determine his future as speculation continues to fester that he will look to exit the Broncos and chase a bumper pay day at a rival club.
Haas has been linked to the Roosters, who insist they can’t afford to pay him the $1 million-a-season salary his management and advisors believe he is worth.
EELS FACE $2M BATTLE TO RETAIN FIJIAN FLYER
Parramatta are facing a $2 million battle to retain Maika Sivo with French rugby again circling the Fijian flyer.
Sport Confidential can reveal hulking Eels winger Sivo has again attracted the attention of French rugby scouts in the wake of the blockbusting form that has helped propel Parramatta into Sunday’s grand final against Penrith.
Parramatta lost another Fijian, Semi Radradra, to French rugby and his departure opened the door for his countryman Sivo to become a smash hit on the left flank for the Eels.
But now the Eels must stave off a fresh threat from overseas rugby raiders — two years after Sivo initially knocked back overtures from two French outfits to sign a two-year extension with Parramatta.
Sivo, who turns 29 the day after the grand final, is off-contract next year, making him a free agent from November 1, and his manager confirmed French rugby is back on the Fijian’s radar.
“Parramatta have a battle on their hands to keep Maika,” Sivo’s agent Chris Orr said.
“Maika has another year at Parramatta but he is always in the sights of French rugby.
“He was headhunted massively for French rugby union two years ago and he is going to be headhunted massively again. Whether Parra can hold onto him might be an issue.”
Sivo has remarkable record at the Eels, having scored 67 tries from 83 games, and could pocket in excess of $800,000 a season in French rugby.
Over a three-year term, the Parramatta hulk could earn $2.4 million if he followed Radradra to the 15-a-side code, but Orr hasn’t ruled out Sivo staying at the Eels.
“Last time he was offered nearly double what he’s on now to play French rugby,” Orr said.
“Maike was offered just shy of $1 million and at that time, he didn’t feel he was ready to go overseas and play rugby, but this time he is a bit older and has achieved a lot in the game.
“I’m not actively chasing it at the moment because he is focused on the grand final. But when this season is over, Maika will become a free agent and I wouldn’t be surprised if French rugby clubs came knocking on.
“He really enjoys being coached by Brad (Arthur). Maika was playing bush football and he had some time at Penrith and Brad saw him and thought he had something to offer. He was an untapped talent.
“I just said to Maika get through the finals and let’s weigh up our options at the end of the season. He has just had a baby so he has family to consider. It’s either staying at the Eels or trying a new challenge in rugby union.”
HOW BENNETT BLOCKED $1M MOSES MOVE TO BRONCOS
It was the $1 million recruitment snub from super coach Wayne Bennett that derailed Mitchell Moses’ move to the Broncos and helped deliver him to Parramatta.
As Moses prepares to lead the Eels into Sunday night’s grand final against Penrith, Sport Confidential can reveal how Bennett sensationally blocked moves for the schemer to be the Broncos’ great white hope at halfback.
In 2017, Brisbane’s recruitment-and-retention committee had identified Moses, then only 23, as the emerging playmaker to break the longest premiership drought in the club’s history.
The Broncos were so serious about poaching Moses from the Wests Tigers that Peter Nolan, Brisbane’s then football manager, believed he was a must-get signing and had preliminary talks with his manager.
It is understood Moses, who was being squeezed out of the Tigers due to salary-cap pressures, was open to joining a number of clubs, including the Broncos.
Nolan, in particular, was a massive fan of Moses. Brisbane halfback Ben Hunt was on his way to the Dragons on a massive $6 million deal and Nolan believed Moses had the youth and talent to develop into Brisbane’s most promising No.7 since Allan Langer.
Enter Bennett.
The then Broncos coach saw Moses as flighty and erratic and was not convinced the former NSW under-20s star had what it took to steer Brisbane to premiership glory.
At the time, the Broncos had just signed Anthony Milford to the club’s first $1 million-a-season contract and Bennett was reluctant to fork out more millions on a playmaker who had failed to steer the Tigers to the finals in three successive seasons.
The Broncos had Kodi Nikorima coming through the ranks and Bennett believed he could make a Milford-Nikorima scrumbase alliance work.
A Broncos faction held meetings with Bennett to discuss Moses’ potential, but the super coach’s mind was made up. Bennett’s directive was clear - the Broncos were not to table a contract for Moses.
It proved a Sliding Doors moment for the Eels, who won the signature of the nephew of Balmain legend Benny Elias. And while Moses has had inconsistent periods in his first five seasons at Parramatta, there can be no questioning his form in piloting the Eels to this year’s decider.
Eels coach Brad Arthur lauded the mental toughness of Moses, who overcame the death of his grandmother and missed the birth of his first child last week in the lead-up to Parramatta’s preliminary final defeat of the Cowboys.
“I’m so proud of the year Mitchell has had,” Arthur said.
“Last week he wasn’t at his best but he had to deal with some big things.
“He had his grandmother’s funeral and then he missed the birth of his child, flying to Townsville he knew if his kid was born, he mightn’t be able to make it back in time.
“All the pressure was on us to beat the Cowboys, but just his presence on the field was enough for our other guys to lift and get the job done.”
FROM DEPRESSION TO DALLY M
Sharks schemer Nicho Hynes has revealed the secret weapon that helped haul him out of his battle with depression after storming home to seal a record Dally M Medal victory.
After accepting the NRL’s top individual gong, Hynes opened up about how he hired a mind coach to help him cope with the mental pressures of his move from Melbourne to be the main man at the Sharks this season.
Hynes turned to life coach Jarred Brown — a former teammate from his days at the Terrigal Sharks — and the strategy paid dividends as the Cronulla halfback romped home in a Dally M cakewalk.
Hynes’ 38 points was the greatest individual tally in the Dally M’s 43-year history and he attributed his outstanding season of consistency to strengthening his mind.
Before his arrival at the Sharks, Hynes had spoken of his struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts during his stint at the Storm, but the help of Brown has turned him into a Dally M champion.
“I hired a mindset coach this year to help me deal with things off the field and the pressure,” Hynes said after leapfrogging red-hot favourite Ben Hunt to claim the 2022 player of the year award.
“Jarred Brown ... I appreciate you and thank you a lot. I took the long road going through the Queensland Cup, so to all the guys fighting away in reserve grade, it’s not too far away.
“I can’t do anything on the field if it’s not for my teammates.
“My Cronulla mates have trusted me to be their No.7 and this win is for them too.”
NRL Grand Final 2022: Download your sweep here, first try and Clive Churchill medal
EELS COACH HAS REASON TO ‘CROW’
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has found inspiration in the Eels’ last premiership-winning team in a bid to break the club’s 36-year title drought.
As he prepares for the biggest game of his life on Sunday night, Arthur told Sport Confidential that legendary Parramatta centre Mick Cronin has been a valuable ally during his time as Eels coach.
One of the code’s true gentlemen, Cronin is an Eels icon, playing in the club’s four premierships in the 1980s before coaching Parramatta from 1990-93.
Arthur was a lower grader at the Eels during Cronin’s stint as first-grade coach and says the ‘Crow’, now 71, has been an inspirational figure for him in Parramatta’s march to the decider.
“I have great respect for Mick,” Arthur said.
“He actually rang me just the other day and we had a bit of a chat. He has always stayed in contact with me, from when he was coaching at Parramatta to this point today.
“Mick rings me now and then and the good thing with Crow is he doesn’t call to tell me how to coach or give advice, he just rings to say, ‘Mate, I’m proud of you, you are doing a good job, stick at it’.
“He is happy for other people and it means a lot to me that as a Parramatta legend he wants to see the club do well.”
COACH ON THE NOSE
Which NRL coach is offside with his first-grade contemporaries? It’s a cutthroat world among the NRL’s 17 coaches and one mentor in particular is viewed by his peers as smug and arrogant.
STERLO’S PERFECT TIMING
As Parramatta’s greatest halfback, Peter Sterling had the Eels’ premiership-winning backline of the 1980s running like clockwork. So it’s no surprise that ‘Sterlo’s’ sense of timing is perfect ahead of Sunday night’s grand final against the Panthers.
The 228-game Eels legend is currently holidaying in the Cook Islands but Sterling won’t be missing Parramatta’s first grand final in 13 years for the world, jetting into Sydney on Saturday night on the eve of the decider.
Sterling remains the only halfback to steer the Eels to premiership glory, winning the last of four titles in 1986. He could be joined on Sunday by Eels No.7 Mitchell Moses.
DRINKY’S DALLY M DELIGHT
This could be the greatest sponsorship alignment in sports history.
Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater is now among the NRL’s true superstars judging by voting at this year’s Dally M Awards.
While Cowboys mentor Todd Payten (coach of the year) and back-rower Jeremiah Nanai (rookie of the year) claimed two gongs, the performance of Drinkwater in the overall Dally M Medal count was outstanding.
Drinkwater finished equal fourth with Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards on 23 points – an incredible result considering the classy Cowboy didn’t play the opening four rounds of the NRL.
And he was also the recipient of the aptly-named DrinkWise Try of the Year for his Magic Round pearler involving winger Murray Taulagi.
You couldn’t make it up.
DrinkWise promotes responsible alcohol consumption and the award went to Drinkwater.
Stuck behind Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Drinkwater was languishing in the Queensland Cup, but upon his recall to the NRL in round 5, the 25-year-old produced the best form of his career to help the Cowboys to the top four.
“I learnt this year I didn’t always have to go for the big play and I just had to focus on my job and everything flowed off the back of that,” Drinkwater said.
“I took it (missing the first month) as a challenge and I wanted to prove to the coaching staff that I should be in the team and that’s how I trained.
“I always believed in myself. That’s who I am. I didn’t want the bottom to have my lip on the ground and be negative, so I knew I could fight my way back.
“I am really enjoying my time at fullback, it has been fun to be back there and knowing I can play that position well.”
LODGE-GALLEN FIGHT ON THE ROPES
Matt Lodge’s quest to raise $1 million for charity to fight Paul Gallen has flopped.
Lodge revealed a fortnight ago that he would enter the boxing ring for a bout with Gallen if he could raise $1 million to launch a facility in western Sydney for disadvantaged youths.
The Roosters prop started a GoFundMe page and said once it hit $1 million in donations he would commit to fighting Gallen.
However Lodge has only so far raised $1900, leaving him $998,100 short of his goal.
If that’s the only way Lodge will get in the ring against Gallen then it looks like the fight will never happen.
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