• Home
• NRL Table
• NRL Draw
• Power Rankings
• Forum
• About
• Email Us

Michael Hagan quits Eels

Michael Hagan has today quit his post as coach of the Parramatta Eels after only 2 seasons at the Western Sydney NRL outfit, citing family and personal health reasons. It’s been a tough 12 months for Hagan and the Eels, who stuttered badly to miss the NRL finals.

The questions were immediately being asked; was this a case of Hagan being tapped on the shoulder by Denis Fitzgerald or was the likeable coach genuinely ready to walkaway from a challenge that was seemingly too big.

Hagan announceed a press conference to confirm he was walking away from the Eels with 12 months still left to run on his agreement with Parramatta.

Formerly with the Knights, it initially seemed Hagan settled in well in 2007 - getting the Eels firing and narrowly missing the Grand Final - however, since then he’s been under the pump after the Eels never reach any heights in 2008. Some hinted at the loss of several players, such as Timana Tahu, Tim Smith and Ian Hindmarsh - while others felt the softly, softly approach of Hagan wasn’t bringing the players into line.

It was rumoured throughout the year that younger players, particularly the Polynesian juniors at the club didn’t warm to Hagan and there was constant disharmony. The transition from the hard line approach of Brian Smith, to Jason Taylor and then to the quietly spoken Michael Hagan seems to have run off the rails - with many feeling a middle ground coach is needed to steady the ship.

Former Eels lower grades and NZ Warriors mentor Daniel Anderson seems a virtual certainty to get the gig as coach of the Eels. Anderson recently leaving the UK after a highly successful stint with St Helens and is believed to be well liked and respected at the Eels; a role he would easily slip back into after several seasons at Parramatta under Brian Smith.

Michael Hagan was adamant however that other circumstances were responsible for his decision to walk.

“My daughters are in their final years of high school in Newcastle and the constant travel was taking its toll,” Hagan said.

“I’ve also got a number of issues with my personal health which I need to get sorted out.

“After much thought and discussion with those closest to me I decided it would be best to go now prior to the start of pre-season training.”

Eels chief executive Denis Fitzgerald said the club was surprised by Hagan’s decision but understood the reasoning for his decision and was sympathetic to his situation regarding his family and also his health. The decision if true, makes things easier for Denis Fitzgerald and the Eels - who were keeping a close eye on Hagan during the pre-season to see if he was up to the task of getting things back in shape. The Eels confirming Hagan only had the pre-season to prove himself, otherwise his contract would not be reviewed past 2009.

Fitzgerald said the club wouldn’t rush in to find a new coach but he expected to have a new head coach in place by December.

At this stage, assistant coaches David Fairleigh and Matthew Cameron would begin a caretaker role until a head coach is officially appointed.

Peter Wallace arrested at birthday bash

The poor run of off-field drama continues for the Brisbane Broncos, with star halfback and NSW Origin Rep Peter Wallace arrested and charged after an incident at a Sunshine Coast hotel on Sunday night.

23 year old Wallace was also apparently hurt in a run-in with security after it’s alleged he refused to leave O’Malley’s Irish pub at Mooloolaba shortly after 12am. It was apparently a birthday celebration for Peter Wallace, that got way out of hand for the young NRL star.

Wallace, was carted off to Maroochydore police station, where an ambulance was eventually called for his injuries. He was then taken to Nambour hospital before leaving later that night.

He is due to appear in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on November 14 charged with disorderly behaviour and failing to leave a licensed premises.

The incident continues a horror run for the Broncos of late. Apart from off-field dramas, the Broncos face a new frontier with long term coach Wayne Bennett leaving this year and new face Ivan Henjack taking over.

Three other Broncos players remain under investigation for sexual assault following an incident in a Brisbane nightclub toilet.

In a separate incident during September’s finals series, captain Darren Lockyer allegedly manhandled a bar manager during a drunken night on the town.

Ben Roberts baits Robbie Farah

Kiwi and Bulldogs League player Ben Roberts is surely set for the sack at the Dogs after trying to start a fight with Wests Tigers star Robbie Farah at the famous NRL haunt -Sapphire Suite in Kings Cross. In the spotlight constantly in recent years for off-field dramas, surely it’s time for Roberts to go.

Roberts risks becoming the latest NRL star to have his club deal ripped up for bringing his club into disrepute, following the same path as Canberra pair Todd Carney and Bronx Goodwin.

Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg is aware of the allegations but has been unable to question Roberts, who is in Samoa preparing for the World Cup.

The incident occurred a fortnight ago at the well-known nightspot, where an intoxicated Roberts attempted to bait Farah into trading blows. The Tigers star handled the matter in style, refusing to be drawn into the fight.

Roberts was then ejected by security before a member of his group came forward and apologised to Farah. Roberts is on his last warning at the Bulldogs after being charged with assaulting police in Wollongong on February 3, earning a $2200 fine.

The Bulldogs five-eighth was also dumped from first grade and fined $5000 for becoming involved in a fight at Cronulla’s Sting Bar in July. Roberts only escaped the sack because of a clerical error by the Bulldogs’ previous management in relation to drink-driving offences.

“At this stage we’ve been unable to speak to Ben, but I can assure we’re treating the matter very seriously,” Greenberg said.

Goodwin legal team to fight Raiders

Axed Canberra rookie Bronx Goodwin will now apparently fight the Raiders’ decision to rip up his $600,000 contract in the industrial relations courts. A well known name in League circles, son of ‘Lord’ Ted Goodwin, Bronx will fight the Canberra decision to ace him after being charged with two counts of assault.

Goodwin and his legal team remain amazed and outraged at how a player with a clean record for 5 years can be kicked out for a first offence.

In 2008, we have seen not only several players sacked for discipline reasons but also the likes of Sonny Bill Williams walk out on a binding contract. What must be concerning for the players and NRL, is the fact that clubs can use ‘minor’ discipline breaches as the ideal chance to ‘boot out’ a player that might not be sitting nicely within the clubs plans.

As juniors emerge all the time and the style of the game changes, it seems clubs maybe playing the ‘discipline’ card to tear up contracts and restructure their team quickly and easily; reducing cost and disruption.

“I’m absolutely disappointed and devastated. There’s no way in the world I thought it would come to this,” Goodwin said.

“I can’t really say too much because I’m going to leave my legal team to deal with things now. I just don’t think I deserved to be sacked, especially given this was the first time I’ve been in trouble in five years at the Raiders.”

Goodwin, 23, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court last Thursday and was fined $1300 and placed on a one-year good behaviour bond.

After a one-hour hearing last Friday, the Canberra board voted to terminate Goodwin’s three-year contract for bringing the club into disrepute.

The incident Goodwin was involved in occurred outside the All Bar Nun nightclub in Canberra on the same July night when halfback Todd Carney was reported for misbehaviour inside the club.

The Sunday Telegraph understands Goodwin was defending Carney, who had his contract torn up by the Raiders in August for a host of alcohol-fuelled indiscretions. Goodwin’s agent Sam Ayoub, who fronted the Raiders board along with his client, labelled the decision “an absolute joke”.

“There’s little for me to say at the moment. We’ve immediately placed the matter in the hands of our solicitors to deal with it in the appropriate manner,” Ayoub said.

“In my mind it’s an absolute joke that a player is discriminated against in the way that Bronx has just because he’s a footballer and just because he’s Todd Carney’s best mate.”

It is believed the fact Goodwin lived with Carney in Canberra and remained close friends with him was a major issue for the board.

The emergence of rookies David Milne and Justin Carney may have counted against Goodwin, who was re-signed to a three-year, $600,000 deal following the departure of William Zillman to the Gold Coast.

The Raiders signed Dane Tilse in 2006 after he was sacked by Newcastle and Neville Costigan in the same year he was shown the door by the Broncos.

Both had contracts torn up for off-field incidents.

NRL chief executive David Gallop will examine the Goodwin case tomorrow.

Bulldogs rebuilt from bottom to top

When Kevin Moore was officially appointed as Bulldogs head coach to replace his brother-in-law Steve Folkes at the helm of the Bulldogs in April, he wasn’t able to immediately celebrate the news with his wife and children, who were holidaying in Disneyland. So his mentor - and another brother-in-law, Chris Anderson, took him to dinner to mark the occasion.

As Moore took his seat at the Narrabeen Sands Hotel, Anderson emerged, camera in hand, and snapped a quick photo.

“What are you doing?” a bemused Moore inquired.

“I’m taking the before shot,” Anderson replied. “I’ll take the after one after you’ve been in the job for a couple of years. Let’s see what you look like then!”

No team will look more different than the Bulldogs next year. New staff. New players. But most importantly, a new coach.

In a press release, the Bulldogs acknowledged that the changes to the playing, coaching and administration staff were “perhaps the biggest shake-up in the club’s history”. And the man to head it all is Moore.

Seemingly, it’s the job he was destined to take. The Bulldogs have long been known as “the family club”, thanks largely to the influence of Moore’s father, the late, great Peter “Bullfrog” Moore. And the legacy continued when Kevin Moore officially began head coaching duties during the week.

On the surface of it, the values the family club have been built upon have been eroded. There have been dramas on and off the field. From the salary cap to Sonny Bill, the past few years have been tumultuous. Then there was this year’s wooden spoon.

Moore, however, believes the traditional Bulldogs traits endure.

“I don’t think we’ve lost it as such,” he says of the family club tag. “The club has been through a number of things off field and a fair bit of turmoil over the last five or six years.

“Maybe the perception from outside is that maybe that has been lost, but certainly the philosophy of the club and the environment that I want to create is something I’ve learned over a long period of time.

“In house, we’re still pretty much the same club. We’ve had some turmoil and I think we need a bit of stability in the future.”

The Bulldogs had no doubt Moore was the man for the job. When it was announced Folkes would not be continuing next season, the likes of Daniel Anderson, Mick Potter and Stephen Kearney were bandied about as potential replacements. None were even interviewed.

Now, the former Dogs halfback has the job of lifting the club from the outhouse to the penthouse.

He said there were “extenuating” circumstances in last season’s debacle and would not hold previous performances against any of his players. But he concedes much more will be expected from a squad that will be bolstered by Brett Kimmorley, Ben Hannant, Michael Ennis, Josh Morris and Yileen Gordon.

“It’s important that everyone around the club draws a line in the sand,” he said. “It happened, but we’ve got to move on.

“Luckily for me, the players we had last season, while they may not have individually been in the best of form, their attitude was good and they worked hard. The togetherness of the club was good, even in a tough period. There was no bitching, no blame thrown amongst each other. To me, that’s important.”

Anderson has been an influence, as have a host of other coaches and players, from Warren Ryan to Folkes. But most of Moore’s values have been picked up at the dinner table.

“My parents have been a tremendous influence,” he said. “Mum and Dad are tremendous people and well respected.

“With Dad being heavily involved in the club, he took an interest in me, not just from a playing point of view but also in getting into coaching.

“He’d be pleased I got an opportunity. His influence, as a father and CEO when I was playing at the club - he was very strong on the fact you had to earn the right to get an opportunity.

“I think he could see that I had success all the way up through the grades and would like to think I’ve earned this opportunity. He’d be very proud and very supportive.”

One thing the Bulldogs do better than anyone else is bunker down. When the losses pile up and the media is banging at the door, that’s when they’re at their strongest.

The siege mentality is unlikely to change on Moore’s watch.

“That’s a good quality,” he said.

“If the club has tough times, it’s important you do pull together. That’s a great character for any organisation to have.

“How people perceive that from the outside is up to them. From my point of view, if you’re facing tough times, a period of losses, it’s a great quality and great character to have. If we do that, we’re likely to come out the other end a much stronger club.”

While he doesn’t make any outlandish predictions about what the Bulldogs can achieve next season, a return to the finals is certainly on Moore’s radar.

“At the start of each season each club would realistically believe they are a chance to make the finals,” he said. “We’re no different.”

What will be different is the photo Anderson takes in two years’ time. Moore hopes he will be smiling.

Kangaroos the best League side ever

League guru Ron Massey has watched plenty of sides and players in the 50 years that he’s been involved with rugby league. And he reckons you’ll see the best one ever assembled in the World Cup.

Just 3 weeks ago, Massey was at the SCG Members Pavilion, chatting to a room full of Kangaroos legends, sharing his thoughts, opinions and insights from his half a century of time spent within Rugby League ranks.

It was the Centenary Kangaroos reunion, a night where the undefeated 1986 Kangaroos squad were also inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. That side - featuring the likes of Wally Lewis, Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny and Mal Meninga, to name but a few - is one of the best in the game’s history.

But Massey has no doubt that the current version would beat them.

“I haven’t got any doubt about it. That was a great team, they had a great coach in Donnie Furner, and they’re entitled to be in the Hall of Fame, but the [current] team would beat them.

“Not that those players wouldn’t all be champions today, I’m not saying that. But I’ve been involved in teams that have won premierships in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s … and know the teams now would beat the teams of the ’80s.

“I believe the coaching, the technology, weights and all the other training that’s come to light, the [current Kangaroos] would beat them.”

Massey, off-sider to Jack Gibson for two decades, predicts strong challenges from New Zealand and England but reckons the large Manly contingent will be a bonus for the Australians.

“I believe the [Sea Eagles’] grand final team would have beaten any grand final team in the 50 years I’ve been watching football,” Massey said. “They beat a champion team by 40 points.”

Massey spoke fondly about the “old days” when teammates meant as much to each other as family. How “five to 10″ of the current Kangaroos squad would go on to become legends of the game. That Sonny Bill Williams was a “disgrace” for leaving his teammates in the lurch. How his biggest fear is that today’s players value money over friendship. But mainly he spoke of the brotherhood that rugby league players share.

“Rugby league is about playing for your mate and your team and your coach,” Massey said.

His sentiments are shared by Brian McClennan, the coach who orchestrated one of the biggest upsets in rugby league history - the Kiwis’ 24-0 win over Australia in the 2005 Tri-Nations final in Leeds. A year later, he almost repeated the dose in Sydney, only to be thwarted by a piece of Johnathan Thurston magic in golden-point extra-time.

The affable Kiwi gave an insight into just how courageous his injury-ravaged side was the night it pushed the Kangaroos to the limit.

“There were a lot more people down [injured] than people realise,” he said. “Motu [Tony] was concussed even before he got knocked out by [Willie] Mason. We tried to get a message out to go for the drop goal but he didn’t even know what was going on.

“Nigel Vagana was trying to pull Frank Pritchard’s arm back into its socket. Then the bloke who went on the field, Nathan Cayless, he went down just before extra time. The trainer went up to ask him if he was all right. He said, ‘Yep, I’m ready to go back on, mate’ [even though he was already on the field].

“It was pretty brave.”

Now Wayne Bennett, the man whose Australian side was outplayed in Leeds three years ago, is charged with recreating that bond of brotherhood - for the Kiwis.

Bennett, the assistant coach, gave them his first big post-match speech after their Anzac Test loss this year. His message was simple: “We can’t keep treating Australia as an older brother. We need to treat them as equals.”

Raiders axe promising Bronx Goodwin

The Canberra Raiders have really taken a hard line to problematic players, today axing talented custodian Bronx Goodwin. The promising Goodwin showed some electric form in 2008, but the troubled star was put on a good behaviour bond after a drunken off-field blow up during the year.

The board was completely united in their decision to cut the 23-year-old loose from the Raiders club.

“The board of the club met today with Bronx and his manager and decided to terminate his contract,” Raiders chief executive Don Furner told reporters today.

“We will provide any counselling if he requires it, but he will no longer be with the club.”

Goodwin was already on a suspension awaiting the outcome of his court case yesterday.

The former fullback, son of former Kangaroos international Ted Goodwin, pleaded guilty last week to assaulting two patrons outside the All Bar Nun pub in north Canberra around midnight on Sunday, July 20.

Apparently socialising with Todd Carney, who has since been sacked by the Raiders following a series of off-field incidents.

Goodwin was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay a $1,300 fine.

Furner said the Raiders board met for one-and-a-half hours before coming to a unanimous decision to sack Goodwin.

“We felt that he brought the club into disrepute by his actions on that night and that we had no other option so regrettably we took it,” he said.

PNG team held up with visa dramas

Up to half of Papua New Guinea’s World Cup squad were yesterday forced to delay their trips to Australia because of visa problems as the country’s Prime Minister Michael Somare launched a bid to have a team in the NRL.

Papua New Guinea coach Adrian Lam yesterday backed a government bid for the country to have a team as Hull KR pair Stanley Gene and Makali Aizue were among those stranded in Port Moresby after being denied permission to board the team’s flight to Cairns because paperwork for their entry to Australia hadn’t been finalised.

Kumuls officials were last night trying to arrange for the duo and eight members of the squad from the domestic PNG competition to arrive today aboard another flight. All were travelling on PNG passports.

The setback to the Kumuls’ preparations for their opening match against England next Saturday came amid revelations Somare had written to the ARL seeking to have a PNG team in the NRL.

In the letter, Somare said his government would provide funding to ensure a team was admitted, and he invited NRL officials to travel to PNG to open talks about what was needed for the country to have an NRL team.

“They obviously would have a lot to do but the fact that the government of another country wants to have a team in our competition is a fair rap on Australian rugby league,” ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said.

“The model for them is probably the Gold Coast Titans, who spent about 10 years campaigning to have a team in the competition and had to get a suitable stadium and guaranteed funding before they were admitted.”

PNG is the only country where league is the national sport, and NRL players are treated like rock stars when they visit, as the members of Mal Meninga’s Prime Ministers XIII, who played the Kumuls last month, discovered.

Unfortunately, games in PNG are often marred by crowd problems, and its stadiums are inadequate for NRL matches.

England threat to Roos under Tony Smith

Australian-born Rugby League coach Tony Smith has been entrusted with the English coaching role for the 13th World Cup in a bid to break the host’s vice-like grip on the event. Brother of the NRL’s experienced Brian Smith; Tony has intimate knowledge of the Australians and the form on the board to get the best from his English side.

Australia have had a mortgage on the Rugby League World Cup winning it nine times, including the last six. In most international forms of the game, they are rarely if ever beaten these days and Smith knows it will take something ultra special to knock them off.

The last team to defeat the Australians and take home a Rugby League World Cup was Great Britain way back in 1972.

But Smith - now a British citizen on residency grounds - knows about ending droughts and making history.

As Leeds coach, Smith took the Rhinos to their first English Super League premiership in over 30 years.

He doesn’t have to be told that winning the World Cup is another thing entirely, especially on Australian soil.

But he has already shown he is ready to make bold calls to achieve his goal.

His 24-strong England squad raised eyebrows as Smith opted for explosive pace, taking just four specialist props and overlooking high profile bookend Stuart Fielden.

Reputations meant little to Smith, only form.

As a result 15 of his squad played in the Leeds-St Helens Super League final won by the Rhinos.

There’s also experience - and plenty of it.

His squad’s average age is almost 27 with three at 30 or more - skipper Jamie Peacock, enforcer Adrian Morley and the aptly-named Keith Senior.

The squad’s youngest are exciting Leeds fullback Lee Smith - who won selection with his man of the match Super League final performance as a last minute replacement for Brent Webb - and classy hooker James Roby, both 22.

Redemption is also high on England’s “to do” list Down Under.

First England want to make up for the disappointment of Great Britain bombing out of the 2006 Tri-Nations in Australia when they missed the final, costing coach Brian Noble the national reins.

And there will be no shortage of personal stories of redemption Down Under.

The last time Warrington centre Martin Gleeson was in Australia he made headlines for all the wrong reasons after drinking heavily with Sean Long on an infamous flight back from Great Britain’s heavy Tri-Nations defeat by New Zealand.

Wigan backrower Gareth Hock will also be out to make amends after making the squad following a five-match ban for manhandling a Super League referee.

He played three standout matches for Wigan after the ban to scrape into the squad.

The World Cup campaign also gives Wigan cast-offs Mark Calderwood and Mickey Higham another chance to say “I told you so”.

Since the pair were told by Wigan coach Noble they would not be re-signed, they finished the Super League season in sizzling form and have been snapped up for 2009 by Hull and Warrington respectively.

Smith rewarded them with World Cup selection - no doubt leaving egg on predecessor Noble’s face.

Speed, experience, form - all the boxes have been ticked according to Smith as he faces what would surely be rugby league’s “Mission Impossible”.

But it seems no task is too daunting for Smith.

Taking over the then world No.3 team two years ago, Smith was given one goal when handed the reins - make them the world’s No.1 rugby league team.

The brother of Newcastle coach Brian Smith did not take a backward step, leading Great Britain to a 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand including a 44-0 thrashing of the Kiwis.

But they are mere baby steps on his quest to conquer rugby league’s Everest.

Jarryd Hayne out to prove a point in Cup

THE disappointment of missing out on Australia’s World Cup squad has got Parramatta flyer Jarryd Hayne eager to prove his worth for the Fiji Rugby League World Cup outfit.

The son of former Fiji starl Manoa Thomson, Hayne joined the Vodafone-sponsored side yesterday and is eager to get his first game for his new team.

Hayne remains one of the NRL’s and Australian rugby league’s upcoming talents with a record of 17 tries in just 16 National Rugby League games in his debut year.

Recently missing out on the Australian team while a blow for Hayne, has seemingly only encouraged the 20-year-old to put in a big showing for Fiji and force the Kangaroo’s to take notice.

“It was disappointing to miss the Roos team, sure. But I’m glad that I can open another door with Fiji,” he said.

“It was always going to be the case - if I didn’t get selected for Australia then I would represent Fiji. It’s something I haven’t done before.

“Either way if it’s for Fiji or Australia, I’m going to be happy because I’m playing in the World Cup. I’m still going to have that passion and joy.

“It feels good to represent Fiji. I haven’t had much to do with them because of my NRL career. I can’t wait to put on the Fijian jersey.”

Haynes had to seek special dispensation from the RLIF to play for the Bati after having played for the Kangaroos last year.

International eligibility rules state a player can only switch allegiance once within a stipulated two-year period in the four years between World Cups.

Haynes joins Knights fullback Wes Naiqama and Broncos forward Ashton Sims as Fiji’s star players.

The trio, along with other NRL players, joined the rest of the squad made up of local players for a week-long camp full of “games and activities” on Moturiki Island.

Fiji faces France and Scotland in its pool matches and has already set its sights on winning a semi-final spot.

Haynes said with the right attitude, the team could go a long way to achieving its goal.

“The team generally wants to make the semi-finals and I think we can. If the boys knuckle down, I think we can,” he said.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Email Us: NRLFeedback@gmail.com NRL News - Rugby League · · Login - NRL Results - NRL Rugby League - Sitemap