80,000km, $15,000 in fuel and 1350 hours behind the wheel: Aloiai’s drive to survive

Josh Aloiai jokes that now he has a fresh contract extension with Manly, he might have to invest in a chauffeur.

The Sea Eagles front-rower signed a two-year extension during the week that will keep him on the northern beaches until the end of 2027. But the new deal also means a lot more hours commuting from his Campbelltown home to Brookvale and back, up to five days a week.

Despite being at Manly for four seasons, Aloiai has resisted moving his family from south-western Sydney.

Aloiai is behind the wheel of his Kia Sorrento by 5.30am most days, driving along the M5 Motorway, the M7, the M2, then on to Military Road and The Spit before being one of the first to training. It equates to about 900km a week, or 3800km a month.

An extra two years works out to be roughly 1350 hours of driving for 80,000km, $15,000 in fuel and $22,000 in tolls, before rebates. Before the NSW Government scheme to cap tolls each week, Aloiai was paying north of $400 a week.

“I’m yet to be late, not once,” he said. “I’m paranoid about it, which is why I’m on the road by 5.30am each day. Any later and I’ll hit traffic. Even if we start a bit later, I’ll get in early and do some prep work.

“Thankfully the tolls are now capped at $60 a week. Before that, I was paying between $1700 or $1800 a month. If I was doing a promo for the club, the tolls were tax deductible. But you can’t claim them when driving to and from work. I’ve got a diesel now, so I don’t have to fill up as often. I still wish I had a fuel card.”

Aloiai can spend up to two hours driving one way, and passes the time calling relatives in New Zealand, listening to podcasts – Joe Rogan and ex-Navy Seal Shawn Ryan are two he regularly listens to – while he relies on Sea Eagles teammates to provide him with new playlists.

Josh Aloiai behind the wheel.

“There is a lot of old-school R&B and hip-hop,” Aloiai said. “All the boys joke about me driving from Wollongong each day. It’s not that far, but it’s far.

“I’ve never wanted to leave Campbelltown. I have two sons, Uriah and Eli, and all their cousins and aunties and uncles live out west. I want them around family. I’m happy to suck up the drive.”

The only work hazard for Aloiai when having to spend so much time on the road is keeping a clean driving record.

When you ask him how many demerit points he has, Aloiai giggles and says: “That’s a strange question. I am on very thin ice with the demerits. In fact, good behaviour next week.”

Aloiai has been solid for the Sea Eagles who host Newcastle at what will be a packed 4 Pines Park on Sunday afternoon. Jake Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans are missing because of Origin duty, with Tom Trbojevic to captain Manly and Haumole Olakau’atu a surprise inclusion after being overlooked by the Blues for game three.

Aloiai was glad the new contract provided job security, and said there was a lot of confidence within the club about how far Manly can push this season.

Manly prop Josh Aloiai has been in solid form this season.Credit: Getty

“I’ve got so many good relationships at the club, including ‘Seebs’ [coach Anthony Seibold], and assistants Steven Hales and Jim Dymock – all three of those guys I have a ton of respect for,” Aloiai said. “I’ve got that security now, and knowing I get to keep playing for people I want to play for, and play next to, it’s great and all worth it.

“We’ve spoken about our next three games until we have another bye. So these next few games are almost worth double points. They are so crucial. We need to break away from that cluster.”

Olakau’atu featured for NSW in the opening two Origins, and while disappointed to not feature in the decider, said he could understand why Michael Maguire opted for New Zealand Warriors forward Mitch Barnett. Barnett is more capable of playing in the middle and on an edge, while Olakau’atu is an out-and-out backrower.

“Obviously I was a bit disappointed, but once ‘Madge’ [Maguire] broke it down, I fully understood what he was talking about,” Olakau’atu said. “For me personally, it’s hard to put a second-rower into a game whe you’ve got second-rowers killing it. But I don’t blame Madge. And I’m happy for Mitch Barnett.”

Keary backflips on retirement to sign deal overseas

Luke Keary has backflipped on plans to retire from rugby league and will continue his career in the Super League.

Keary stunned the Sydney Roosters in April when he announced to his teammates he would finish up at the end of the season.

But the 32-year-old has signed a two-year deal with Catalans Dragons, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to this masthead, with the French club to confirm the deal in the next 24 hours.

Keary did not want to play against the Roosters, but had also never given serious thought about playing overseas until recently.

Roosters playmaker Luke Keary is heading to France.Credit: NRL Photos

Catalans are coached by Steve McNamara, who has a close relationship with Roosters coach Trent Robinson, and enjoyed Super League success with former Roosters playmakers Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney.

In announcing his retirement in late April, Keary said: “I have decided this will be my last and that I will be retiring at the end of the year.

“It’s a decision I have thought long and hard about, and I know it’s the right one for me and my family.

“Rugby league has been a huge part of my life, and I’m proud of the career I’ve had.”

Keary was in the Blue Mountains on Thursday helping the NSW Origin team prepare for Origin III and could not be reached for comment.

Keary’s early exit led to the Roosters recently signing North Queensland half Chad Townsend to a one-year, $300,000 deal. Townsend had also briefly been linked to Catalans.

The Roosters have pinned their long-term halves hopes on Sam Walker and Sandon Smith.

Keary, a father of three young sons, is determined to bow out with a fourth NRL title before moving to the south of France. Joining him in Catalans will be Canberra flyer Nick Cotric.

Hynes out for two months

Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes will miss the next two months due to a leg fracture and syndesmosis rupture in a hammer blow to the Sharks top four credentials.

Hynes went down in agony on Monday according to witnesses at Sharks training, with follow-up scans and an MRI confirming the worst on Tuesday.

“It has been confirmed that Nicho has a complete syndesmosis rupture, plus a tibia fracture to his left ankle,” Sharks Head of Performance Nathan Pickworth said. “He will undergo surgery tomorrow (Wednesday), with an estimated return to the field of approximately eight weeks.”

A best-cast scenario will have the million-dollar No.7 back for the last game of the regular season against Manly, though that is dependent on his recovery going to plan.

Hynes injured his right ankle late in Cronulla’s ball work session at Pointsbet Stadium when he landed awkwardly after fielding a kick.

Utility Daniel Anderson will come into the halves alongside Brayden Trindall for Friday’s clash with Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.

The Sharks have eight weeks left in their season and are in danger of squandering a superb start to 2024 with five losses in their past six games.

Hynes has struggled form across that period which followed his NSW Origin axing after an underwhelming game one performance.

Cronulla slipped to fourth on the ladder behind the Roosters this week and sit four points clear of eighth-placed North Queensland.

The Sharks have a favourable run home, facing the Tigers, Cowboys, Rabbitohs, Titans, Knights, Dragons, Warriors and Sea Eagles.

Of those teams, only North Queensland and Manly are currently in the top eight.

Turbo returns to fullback after one game

Manly’s Tom Trbojevic will return to the No.1 jumper against Newcastle, ending his short-lived stint in the centres after just one game.

Knee surgery required by youngster Tolu Koula will sideline him for six weeks and prompted Anthony Seibold to move Trbojevic back to his preferred fullback role.

Trbojevic returned from a lengthy hamstring injury at centre against North Queensland as Manly looked to ease their marquee man back into the NRL without the physical demands of playing fullback.

The Sea Eagles star got through the contest unscathed but was noticeably quiet by his usual lofty standards in the golden point win over the Cowboys.

Fellow No.1 option Lehi Hopoate will play on the wing against the Knights on Sunday.

Latrell’s bid to keep season alive

Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell will not require surgery on the foot injury he suffered against Parramatta.

South Sydney feared an operation would rule Mitchell out for the season.

Latrell Mitchell during the game against the Eels last week.Credit: NRL Imagery

He met a surgeon on Tuesday morning and it was decided the injury to his left foot would be monitored for the next two weeks before a further scan was taken.

Waerea-Hargreaves facing at least three weeks out for high tackle

Roosters milestone man Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is facing a three- to four-match ban for a high tackle on Dragons centre Max Feagai.

Waerea-Hargreaves, who became the most-capped Rooster of all time on Sunday in his 307th game for the club, was sent to the sin bin in the 17th minute of the 42-12 victory against St George Illawarra.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is sin-binned on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images

Referee Ashley Klein said there was a “level of high force” and sent the veteran marching after he burst out of the line.

The 35-year-old Rooster disagreed with the ruling, saying “that’s not 10 Ashley”, but the match review committee has doubled down on the decision.

It means Waerea-Hargreaves faces at least three weeks on the sideline during a period when the Roosters are already missing Lindsay Collins, Spencer Leniu and Angus Crichton to Origin duty.

Sunday’s sin bin was the 10th of Waerea-Hargreaves’ career. He has already missed an astonishing 23 matches through suspension.

The Roosters have two byes across the next five weeks, which means Waerea-Hargreaves would return for their round 24 clash against the Eels at Allianz. If he unsuccessfully defends his case at the judiciary, he wouldn’t return until their game against the Titans in round 25.

Salmon facing multi-game ban after officials held fire on game-changing penalty

Bulldogs back-rower Jaeman Salmon has been issued a 2-3 week suspension for a late hit on Warriors half Te Maire Martin that went unpunished by match officials, and would have resulted in a potential match-winning penalty if it had.

Salmon will miss at least the next month with a broken jaw sustained in the 74th minute incident.

His contact on Martin came with Saturday’s thrilling contest – won in golden point by the golden boot of Canterbury’s Matt Burton – poised at 12-12 as the Warriors No.7 tried to slot a late field goal.

Salmon’s late contact with Martin’s head left both players sprawled on the ground and came directly in front of the uprights, 23 metres out.

No penalty was given after the NRL Bunker reviewed the contact and Warriors coach Andrew Webster declined to comment afterwards claiming he had not seen the incident.

The NRL match review committee on Sunday morning however charged Salmon with grade 2 dangerous contact.

The suspension is effectively a moot point though given NRL officials confirmed that any ban that coincides with an injury can be served while a player is sidelined. NRL head of football Graham Annesley declined to comment on the referees’ decision given a plea is yet to be entered to Salmon’s charge.

Bulldogs Teammate Viliame Kikau was also charged with tripping Warriors star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, while Warriors Marcelo Montoya (shoulder charge) and Jackson Ford (crusher tackle) were also cited but only face monetary penalties.

Tigers veteran David Klemmer can avoid suspension by paying a $3000 fine for a careless high tackle on Storm winger Kane Bradley, as can Api Koroisau for taking out Jahrome Hughes’s legs while kicking.

Manly’s Luke Brooks is facing a $1000-$1500 fine for a high tackle on Cowboy Kyle Feldt.

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