Titans furious as NRL drops probe into recruitment manager and its own club
The NRL has terminated its investigation into former Titans recruitment manager Ezra Howe without interviewing him, despite allegations he was targeting players for the Perth Bears.
As revealed by The Australian in August, the Titans demanded the NRL probe former employee Howe after discovering a suite of documents on his work laptop that revealed he wanted to target the club’s best players to join the Bears, including Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Jayden Campbell.
In other words, they were alleging he was working for one club while gutting another. The Titans also wanted Bears management examined to see if Howe was working under their instruction.
It was a tricky one for the NRL because it owns the fledgling franchise, which is struggling to sign players for its debut season in 2027.
Tired of seeing her club bullied, Titans owner Rebecca Frizelle demanded head office investigate.
We can tell you the NRL did nothing. On October 14, it told Howe he wasn’t required to give any evidence and was free to join whichever club he wants.
So, he wasn’t interviewed. At all. What the what?
“Ezra Howe was not employed by the Bears and the matter has been concluded,” NRL boss Andrew Abdo said via text message.
Can he join the Bears?
“They have hired someone else for that role,” Abdo said, referring to player recruitment manager Dane Campbell, who Perth lured from the Brisbane Broncos.
Can Howe join any club, though?
“If a club wants to hire him then it would be up to them to make that call,” Abdo said.
Which is all very interesting when you learn that Howe was spotted on the Gold Coast recently locked in conversation with Fa’asuamaleaui over coffee.
I’m assured it was just a meeting between good friends, while Bears chief executive Anthony De Ceglie insisted Howe is “not working for us”.
That will provide little comfort for the Titans, who have seen the Bears unsuccessfully try to poach Campbell and backrower Beau Fermor in recent weeks.
Howe remains close to Bears head coach Mal Meninga, who wanted Howe to join him in the west and is now under pressure to start delivering some big-name signings.
Securing Fa’asuamaleaui, who is also being heavily courted by Melbourne, would quieten much of the noise around the Bears and their inability to land a blow in the player market.
Much like the Dolphins in 2022 when they struggled to sign marquee players, the Bears are being used as a stalking horse by player agents.
So many of the recruitment stories around the club have holes in them.
Storm hooker Harry Grant didn’t knock back an offer because one was never tabled. Teammate Cameron Munster priced himself out of a deal: $1.7m a year plus ratchet clauses when a new TV agreement kicks in and the salary cap increases.
What should ring alarm bells is Perth’s inability to poach Campbell, who knocked back $6m over five years.
That is silly money for a player who hasn’t played finals or representative football.
The NRL has already denied a request from the Bears for salary cap concessions for flights, accommodation and childcare for players’ families. Surely, that should have been considered when the Bears were given the 18th licence earlier this year, but the franchise was rushed through so NRL execs had more content to sell in broadcast negotiations.
The Bears will make player announcements in coming weeks, although it will surprise if Fa’asuamaleaui is one of them. Are they really prepared to throw $1.5m a season at a prop?
Much like Wayne Bennett at the Dolphins, Meninga was headhunted as coach to draw quality players to the franchise. It’s on him if it doesn’t happen.
Meanwhile, it surprises how poorly the NRL has handled the matter involving Howe and their own club.
The Titans made some heavy integrity allegations, but they have been cast aside. No media release. Nothing. Titans officials were shocked when I told them about Abdo’s remarks.
Travball a no-brainer
The cliched line earlier this month was this was the most-hyped Ashes series in history, whatever that means. They’ve all seemed pretty big to me.
It’s certainly the most talked about, though. Can you recall so many former players having so much to say, especially on the topics of Bazball and whether Travis Head should replace Usman Khawaja at the top of the Australian order?
The best comments about Head came from Head himself, although they have been overlooked and deserve further scrutiny.
He made it clear in a Triple M interview on Thursday that he wants to open the batting – and went so far as to remind listeners that his positive Covid-19 test on the eve of the 2022 SCG Test opened the door for Khawaja to make his comeback as opener, pushing him down the order.
“I’ve been open in the background about where I’ve stood with it,” Head said. “I’m being completely respectful to Uzzy as well. He averages just under 45 over 85 Test matches, so he’s done an incredible job and since I got Covid four years ago, he’s been unstoppable for us. So there’s some touchy subjects in it all. Let’s see where we land, but ultimately we’ve just got to think about how we’re going to win the next Test and how we win the next four.”
You can’t help but like this guy. He’s a cricketer, not an athlete, and knows what he wants. Australian selectors should give it to him.
The notion that Khawaja should be given a farewell tour doesn’t line up. Narks will say David Warner was afforded one, why not Khawaja, but people forget there was no genuine replacement at opener when Warner was scratching around in the last two years of his career.
Whether three days of golf or his advancing years were the reason Khawaja’s back spasmed on day one in Perth is now irrelevant: you’ve got a batsman in Head at the peak of his powers, wanting to open the batting, while 38-year-old Khawaja is shuffling around with a bad back.
How is this even a debate?
Women deserve better
Can the Brisbane Lions’ cause a major upset in the AFLW grand final against North Melbourne and confirm Brisneyland as the centre of the sporting universe? Or this country at least?
If they do, the Queensland capital will be home of the men’s and women’s AFL flags, as well as the men’s and women’s NRL premierships.
As reported by The Australian earlier this year, there’s a monumental battle for hearts and minds and wallets in Brisbane’s west between the AFL and rugby league.
The AFL is quietly going about its business, investing significantly while rugby league is booming, and even more so since the Broncos and Reece Walsh secured their first title since 2006.
While the NRLW continues to grow in popularity and size, the AFLW finds itself at a crossroads. It is a deeply flawed competition.
This is the third straight year Brisbane and North Melbourne have contested the grand final, and while it’s warm and fuzzy to say these two sides are setting the standard for the rest, the reality is not every AFL club is taking the women’s game seriously.
Indeed, The Guardian made some pointed accusations this week, claiming not all clubs spend their soft cap on the women’s program, instead diverting it to the men’s.
Ending the season in late November simply does not work. Our heads are full of cricket, racing, and the imminent arrival of Santa.
AFL is a winter sport, for men and women, and should be played accordingly. And if clubs aren’t going to take it seriously, they should cut their women’s programs and wear the consequences.
Rugby league is leaving it for dead, and that’s something you don’t hear often.
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The NRL has spiked its investigation into former Gold Coast Titans’ recruitment manager Ezra Howe and its own club, the Perth Bears.