Sport Confidential: Dolphins fire shot at Cameron Munster in promotional video for first pre-season
Ahead of the start of their first ever NRL pre-season, the Dolphins couldn’t help but have a subtle jab at Cameron Munster, after missing out on his signature.
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The Dolphins have had a humorous crack at Cameron Munster as the NRL expansion club kicks off its maiden pre-season.
Redcliffe will celebrate a seminal moment in its 75-year history when the first group of players report for the club’s inaugural NRL pre-season on Monday.
The Dolphins have been ramping up excitement for their launch with social media content, including a video posted this week.
The video sees club mascot “Phinny” the dolphin creating a group chat for the foundation players.
Phinny adds the likes of Felise Kaufusi, Jamayne Isaako and Mark Nicholls to the group along with “Cameron Munster”.
“Oops,” Phinny writes before removing Munster from the chat.
The Dolphins had a huge go at Munster, offering him a $5.6 million deal to leave Melbourne and become the NRL’s highest-paid player in 2024.
Munster rejected the offer to re-sign with the Storm in what was a massive blow to the Dolphins’ recruitment plans.
At least they have been able to have a laugh about the rejection.
QLD SCHOOL CAUSING A STIR DOWN SOUTH
The NRL is monitoring the moves of a Queensland rugby league powerhouse school that is causing a storm in Melbourne.
Keebra Park High has ruffled feathers in Victoria after recently recruiting six teenagers to join the Gold Coast school.
The players are aged 13 and 14, with the school helping to relocate their families so the students can attend the renowned league nursery.
The matter has been raised to the NRL by the Victorian Rugby League, who have concerns about players being “poached” at such a young age.
An AFL state, Victoria has struggled to produce NRL talent and is now seeing their top products heading north at a young age.
The NRL is essentially powerless, given it is a school issue, and players cannot be signed by NRL clubs until they are 15.
But the governing body is keeping a close eye on the situation.
Keebra has produced a stack of NRL stars like Benji Marshall, Ben Te’o, David Fifita, Payne Haas, Reece Walsh and Moeaki Fotuaika.
Keebra has targeted New Zealand schoolboys stars for a long time and brought them across the ditch, but they are now making waves in Victoria.
ROOSTERS BLOOD ANOTHER EX-BRONCO
THE Sydney Roosters have given a golden opportunity to another former Broncos youngster.
At just 17, teenage monster De La Salle Va’a has been invited to train with the Roosters for their upcoming pre-season.
The younger brother of Queensland under-19s skipper Xavier Va’a, De La Salle and his sibling were formerly members of the Broncos Academy before being poached by the Roosters last year.
Exclusive: First it was Sam Walker. Now the Roosters have raided Brisbane’s Academy again to poach giant front-row brothers Xavier and De La Salle Va’a.
— Pete Badel (@badel_cmail) August 19, 2021
Xavier, 17, sparred Paul Gallen before the Justis Huni fight and is ready to fight any NRL player. https://t.co/dnTVDKLfHL
Xavier has been promoted to the Roosters’ NRL squad and now De La Salle is on the rise.
The hulking prop is one of the biggest teenagers in Australian sport. At 194cm and 115kg, De La Salle is already bigger than many NRL forwards and the Va’a brothers are tipped for big things at the Roosters.
SUPER COACHES REUNITE
TWO of Australia’s greatest coaches are about to reunite in the United Kingdom.
Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy is heading overseas to catch up with former Socceroos mentor Ange Postecoglou.
Bellamy struck up a bond with Postecoglou while he was coaching A-League club Melbourne Victory in 2012-13.
Now they will reunite a decade later, with Postecoglou in charge of Scottish powerhouse Celtic.
Bellamy and Storm football chief Frank Ponissi are heading off on their annual fact-finding and professional development mission to the UK.
They will catch the back end of the Rugby League World Cup and meet up with Storm players before seeing Postecoglou and touring Celtic’s setup.
TINO JR MAKING WAVES
THE younger brother of Kangaroos and Maroons star Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has embarrassed his Gold Coast Titans teammates.
Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui, 21, won the tough “Yo-Yo” fitness test on the first day of pre-season training this week.
Much like his brother, Iszac is a middle forward that tips the scales at over 110kg and is one of the biggest players at the Titans.
But he has a tremendous work ethic and showed that by blitzing his teammates to win the fitness test.
“The Fa’asuamaleauis are great athletes,” Titans coach Justin Holbrook said.
“They work really hard and it’s great to have those types of guys leading the charge.”
Iszac spent last season in the Hostplus Cup with Burleigh and will push for an NRL debut next year.
‘GI’ ON THE GO
QUEENSLAND Origin great Greg Inglis is a busy man in retirement.
The former Maroons skipper will head to the Darling Downs next week to deliver a three-day School Mental Fitness program to help students as part of his Goanna Academy.
Inglis will stop in to Murgon High, the former school of Steve Renouf and Selwyn Cobbo, next Monday before visits to Warwick High (Tuesday) and Stanthorpe High (Wednesday) to promote mental-health awareness for the next generation.
KAMBOSOS TAKES A HIT
FORMER world champion George Kambosos has copped a rankings blow in the wake of his latest loss to Devin Haney.
Kambosos has dropped to No. 7 with the IBF, a rankings slide of two places following his second consecutive defeat to Haney at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena last month.
‘Ferocious’ is No. 6 with the WBA, No. 5 with the WBO and No. 3 with the WBC.
Meanwhile, The Ring – rated the ‘Bible of Boxing’ – has landed the biggest rankings blow, slicing Kambosos four places to No. 5 in the lightweight division he dominated after his epic defeat of Teofimo Lopez 12 months ago.
Kambosos is adamant he can rise again and has already attracted interest from American promoters for his next fight.
Before his loss to Haney, Kambosos told News Corp: “To be honest, there are no more domestic fights for me. I have been sitting in the top pool of world-class fighters in my division.
“I have made more money than any fighter in this country has seen before, so there’s no need for me to go back to domestic fights.”
BRONCOS REJECT NRL'S BID TO MAKE HISTORY
The Broncos have become the latest club to reject a trip to the USA – putting the NRL’s historic plan for a premiership match in America in jeopardy.
Sport Confidential can reveal the Broncos were among a number of clubs sounded out by the NRL to gauge their interest in playing their opening premiership game next season in the Land of Opportunity.
The Broncos are one of the richest teams in Australian sport with a $53 million empire and the NRL can see the merits of having one of the code’s glamour brands spreading the league gospel in the massive American market.
But it is understood Broncos bosses have knocked back the NRL’s approach amid concerns over the logistical issues involved in staging a premiership fixture in the US.
Brisbane chief executive Dave Donaghy is currently in Los Angeles – the scene of State of Origin’s exhibition game in 1987 – on a separate mission as part of a sponsorship trip with the Broncos’ marquee corporate backers.
The Brisbane contingent had dinner with Lachlan Murdoch, who has been a passionate Broncos fan since the club’s inception in 1988.
A number of clubs have been linked with the American innovation, including Manly, South Sydney, the Roosters and Melbourne.
Manly chairman Scott Penn has a home in New York and earlier this season caught up for dinner with Broncos counterpart Karl Morris on American soil.
The Rabbitohs and Roosters are lukewarm on the ‘Coming to America’ proposal, which would see the NRL stage one fixture for premiership points in the final week of February, before the official round-one kick-off in March.
It is believed the NRL has raised the prospect of a $30,000 financial carrot for any club wishing to play in America, but that is not enough to convince the Broncos to head overseas.
Brisbane are in the advanced stages of planning their 2023 pre-season trials.
The Broncos are looking to launch their pre-season with a trial against Wynnum on February 4, before two NRL hitouts against the Titans and the Cowboys, possibly at Sunshine Coast Stadium on February 12 and 19.
Interestingly, the Broncos have no plans to stage a trial against new expansion rivals, Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins.
The NRL will make a final call on whether to host a premiership match in America in the coming days.
“We are very excited about taking what we think is the best sporting competition in the world to new markets and America is a very attractive market for us,” NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.
“We are developing a long-term strategy for the growth of rugby league in America and part of that will be playing premiership games there.
“We are figuring out how to do that and how to make it sustainable.
“Hopefully we can do it, but a few things need to fall into place.”
WHY TITANS THINK FIFITA WILL TAKE LOWBALL OFFER
Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook has declared David Fifita will not walk out on the club with the Titans set to prevail in a bidding war for the Queensland Origin wrecking ball.
Fifita officially became a free agent on Tuesday, opening the door for a raft of NRL rivals to table formal offers for the Titans’ $1 million man, who is currently in England representing Tonga at the World Cup.
Fifita’s management has received expressions of interest from a number of NRL suitors and will ramp-up negotiations when the hulking back-rower returns from the World Cup.
But in a major coup for the Titans, Holbrook insists Fifita is going nowhere, with the Gold Coast to table a minimum two-year, $1.5 million deal to ensure the 22-year-old signs on for a second term at Parkwood.
While Fifita faces a hefty pay cut, Holbrook believes the former Broncos young gun will put loyalty before dollars as he looks to build a Titans dynasty with good mates Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Tanah Boyd.
“I’m confident David will stay,” he said.
“I’ve made it clear I’d like Dave to stay and all the indications from Dave are that he will be here.
“We’ve managed to get a number of guys to recommit to the club. Tino, Beau Fermor, AJ Brimson, Jojo Fifita, we are keeping the guys we want and I believe David wants to stay.
“We have to go through a process with his management. He is away at the World Cup at the moment, so it’s hard to do anything while he is away, but we will do everything we can to keep him at the club.”
Fifita has attracted interest from at least the Raiders and Dragons after opting not to commit to the Titans before the November 1 free agency period started.
Fifita had a disappointing 2022 campaign amid speculation he had fallen out of favour with Holbrook, but the Titans coach vowed to get him firing on all cylinders next season.
“Dave didn’t have his best year, we know that,” he said.
“Who’s to blame? We all are.
“Myself, Dave and the halves all played a part collectively in his form. But we know how good he can be and with an experienced half in the mix like Kieran Foran (Manly recruit) next year, it will help Dave’s game.
“There are a number of reasons why Dave was inconsistent with his form, but I’m confident we can get the best out of him.”
Holbrook oversaw the Titans’ first pre-season training session on Wednesday, with new assistant coach Brett White taking a hands-on approach with defensive drills.
The Titans’ fitness and mental resilience was questioned during last season’s crash to 13th spot and Holbrook said they had hit the ground running.
“It’s good to watch them in action and have Whitey running some good drills straight away,” he said.
“No one was happy with how we went last season. We’ve got to be better, that’s why we’re out here now.
“When you don’t have a great year you look at everything like fitness, mental resilience, skill level … we’ve got to be better collectively. We weren’t good enough last year and we know that.
“We addressed a lot of staff before the guys went to the World Cup and Tino (Fa’asuamaleaui, captain) had a big impact on how we want to start the pre-season.
“We’re well advanced. They’ve already put their stamp on how they want things done. We are ahead of where we need to be.”
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Originally published as Sport Confidential: Dolphins fire shot at Cameron Munster in promotional video for first pre-season
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