The Covid crisis has binned Mad Monday

Mad Monday is on the scrap heap but there are fears about what players might do when they leave the bubble.

Mad Monday for NRL players has been canned this year.

COVID-19 has done what scores of coaches, chief executives and NRL powerbrokers have failed to do – put an end to Mad Monday.

Weekend Read understands club bosses discussed Mad Monday at a chief executives meeting during the week, where they agreed with the NRL that the traditional end-of-season festivities were out of the question in the current environment.

Cue an enormous sigh of relief from Rugby League Central. Mad Monday has been a bugbear for the NRL for years, more often than not leading to damaging headlines and embarrassing images that have hurt the code’s reputation.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Players invariably head out to the pub, let down their hair, imbibe in their choice of alcohol, lose their senses and occasionally run into trouble.

Two years ago it was Canterbury. Prior to that, Mad Monday had been a magnet for trouble at other clubs. The NRL did their level best to rein it in. They issued warning after warning and while some clubs and players toed the line, invariably someone crossed it.

They won’t this year. Pubs are already out of bounds under the biosecurity rules and while players will be allowed to break free from the bubble once their season is over, clubs have requested that they stay inside the bubble for a couple of extra days to complete debriefs and interviews.

It may be that if there is a drink to commiserate their season coming to an end, the players do it inside the bubble under the watchful eyes of club officials. The more likely scenario is that Mad Monday is consigned to history, for one year at least.

The clubs have also requested that the game’s biosecurity expert doctor David Heslop take part in their next phone hook-up to provide some more guidance around the end to the season and what the future may look like.

There is genuine concern over what could happen as players who have been forced to live a sheltered life for weeks at a time are let off the leash. Clubs want some expert advice on how they can avoid a situation that could be a disaster for the game.

It could be that some players are allowed to leave the bubble, enjoy some time off and then return to the bubble to prepare for the State of Origin series. That in itself presents problems. They may be forced to quarantine depending on the demands of the NSW, Queensland and South Australian governments.

The Origin series is across three different states so the protocols may be inconsistent. There is no easy answer. There hasn’t been all year. The game has been nimble and it will need to be again in coming months.

Grant concerned for Seibold

Troy Grant was a police officer for more than 20 years and then NSW Minister for Police for a time. Like most people in the game, he has watched events unfold in Brisbane with a degree of interest over the past week.

Grant, part of the Project Apollo team and the deputy chair of rugby league’s international federation, has a great deal of empathy for Broncos coach Anthony Seibold, who has been the target of a vicious social media campaign which Seibold and the club believe has been designed to erode his credibility and capability to do his job.

“From a general point of view it is an appalling demonstration of how far our social standards have slipped that we’re using technology to cause individuals so much harm,” Grant said.

“The consequence of the harm is significant. It is like mental health – it is hard to see. It is a difficult thing because it is psychological.

“But the offences are cruel, they carry jail terms – using a carriage device to menace or harass.”

Seibold now has access to the analysis carried out by European cybercrime experts, who have tracked down the names of those responsible for the scurrilous messages.

The ball is in his court. He can take the matter further or he can let it rest. The analysis has taken weeks and after talking at length in recent days, Seibold’s legal team have gone quiet.

The sense is that went public to shake the tree and see what fell out. Time will tell whether it had the desired effect.

Asked about the reach of the cybercrime experts, Grant said: “They can’t go to your individual phone unless they have a warrant or subpoena.

“It then depends on what platform they have used. Then you can track that down through IP addresses. You can do a request to the provider like Facebook or Google, and then report them.

“You hand that over (to police) and then they get the warrant to access the information for court purposes. Nothing is ever really deleted.

“What they are focusing on is the identity of the individuals, in order to then take it to the police to get the evidence to the standard for the court, if he goes down that track.

“I have seen people who have been offended by social media but then you take it to authorities and they have a different opinion.”

Grant has heard the rumours like everyone else. He has no doubt they are defamatory. As for whether they are criminal matters, Grant isn’t so sure.

“It is definitely defamatory,” Grant said.

“Criminal, I don’t know. It would be borderline. It would be harder to establish … but it is nasty stuff.”

Anthony Seibold has the findings from a cyber investigation into the source of rumours about his private life that appeared on social media. Picture: Annette Dew

Matterson happy to move on

Parramatta forward Ryan Matterson has spoken for the first time about the recent game against his former club the Wests Tigers, including the incendiary lead-up and the incident that led to him suffering another concussion.

Matterson was at the centre of a spat between the Eels and Tigers amid accusations he told the Tigers they would never win a grand final on his way out of the building.

The Eels released a statement ridiculing the claim and now Matterson has spoken of his indignation at the story.

“I just didn’t appreciate lies,” Matterson told Weekend Read.

“At the end of the day footy is footy and you want to try to pump up the game. They said what they wanted to say.

“I believe that is not what I said. I wanted to get that out there. I wanted to let people know I didn’t say that.”

Matterson finished the game on the sidelines dealing with a concussion after attempting a tackle on Tigers prop Russell Packer.

Packer celebrated with glee as Matterson bounced away and then struggled to regain his feet. Matterson insists he had no issue with his former teammate.

“I feel like that is just part of the game,” Matterson said.

“There is so much emotion in the game. When you knock someone over you gee the boys up, the crowd is getting behind you. Me and Russ are good.”

Fortunately, Matterson recovered and he was back to his best in his side’s win over Melbourne on Thursday night. He has a history of head knocks but he recovered quickly from his Tigers blow.

While he was nursing himself back to full health, he reached out to former teammate Boyd Cordner, who has been out for more than a month after suffering a head knock

“I just laid low,” Matterson said.

“I tried to heal and the club was really supportive with that. They didn’t want to rush me back and I think it has paid off. You have to trust the process.

“If you’re not feeling 100 per cent or have had a few (head knocks) in the past, you have to take precautions. The game is getting quicker, the boys are getting stronger.

“I was going through it at the same as Boydo. We were talking about it. We’re still really good mates. I told him four weeks six weeks, 12 weeks, however long you are out for mate, don’t worry.”

Ryan Matterson was one of the Eels’ best against Melbourne. Picture: Getty Images

Tigers losing fight for Grant

The Wests Tigers are slowly giving up hope of keeping Harry Grant at the club next season no matter whether Cameron Smith retires or plays on.

The sense is if Smith does the latter, he won’t be at the Storm. His family is ready to move back to southeast Queensland and Smith is expected to follow them.

That means Grant and Brandon Smith, whose future has also been in the media, will fight for the most famous No 9 jersey in the game.

The Tigers can’t continue to sit on their hands. Doing so could mean they miss out on some of their other targets. They have room in their salary cap and more could open up depending on what happens with Josh Reynolds.

There is interest in the former NSW half from English Super League, although there are several moving parts. Wigan are among the clubs linked with Reynolds, although it will depend on what happens with Jai Field and Bevan French.

Field has a deal waiting at Wigan but needs to play one more NRL game for the Eels to qualify. French has been linked with a return to the NRL.

Reynolds is an option and the Tigers won’t stand in his way should he secure a long-term deal.

If Cameron Smith plays on beyond this season it will likely be in Queensland. Picture: Getty Images

Equity bubbling along

Private equity continues to simmer below the surface in the NRL. Oakwell, the company currently in talks with the NRL, has been furnished with the information they need to finalise a value for the game.

Weekend Read understand in talks earlier this year, an initial estimate suggested the game could be worth as much as $3.6 billion.

Of late, that figure has been whittled down to a more realistic $2.5 billion. Regardless, it is significant and Oakwell came prepared when they presented earlier this year.

It is understood they even suggested where the NRL could invest some of the funds they would secure from private equity – a 20 per cent stake of the NRL could be worth anywhere from $500-720 million for the game.

Oakwell suggested the money could be used to prop up clubs and potentially be invested in Super League or the game’s own over-the-top streaming service.