Opportunity is what every player seeks and Mason Lino will depart the New Zealand Warriors after signing with the Newcastle Knights. 

Lino, who has played in fewer than 20 games for the Warriors since making his NRL debut may be presented with more opportunities at the Knights.

Although they made the decision to release Lino early, it was not necessarily an easy decision for the Warriors.

“It’s not an easy decision to let Mason go because he is the epitome of a true club man and we all love having him around,” said Vodafone Warriors general manager football Brian Smith.

“He has been totally dedicated to the Vodafone Warriors but we didn’t want to stand in the way of him having a look at options with other clubs.”

The club knew it was only right to allow Lino to pursue other opportunities and wished him all the best.

“His opportunities for NRL football have been limited here and he has more than earned the right to look at the chance of more regular exposure,” continued Smith.

“While we’re sorry to see Mason go we’re also excited for him and wish him all the best.”

The Warriors are a proud club and club coach Stephen Kearney praised Lino for respecting those during his time at the club.

“Mason has always provided a wonderful example to everyone at the club,” he said.

“He has been totally loyal and supportive in all he does,” said Kearney.

“When we needed him, he came into the side and did a really good job for us every time.

“He certainly goes with our blessing and leaves a tremendous legacy.”

Coming through the ranks at the club, Lino has played at all levels for the Warriors and is thankful for the chances he received.

“It’s tough leaving the club because it has been my home and I’m so thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had here but I’m also excited about what’s ahead for me,” he said.

Able to play five-eighth and halfback, the signing of Lino by the Knights now presents some healthy competition.

“Mason is a talented young man,” Knights Player List Manager Troy Pezet said.

“He provides us with good depth for Mitchell, Kalyn and Connor.”

The saga went on for what seemed like an age but it can be laid to rest, with Nathan Cleary today re-signing with the Penrith Panthers. 

Ultimately, it came down to where Cleary felt most comfortable with and that was Penrith.

“I’m excited to re-sign with the Panthers and commit the next six years of my career to the club,” Cleary said of his new 5-year deal.

“There was always going to be speculation but in the end it was an easy decision for me to make.

“This club and this community mean a lot to me.

“Panthers gave me the opportunity to debut as an 18-year-old and I will always hold that close to my heart.”

Cleary is determined to become not only a great leader but to help his side win a premiership.

“I’ve grown up with this team and I couldn’t ask for a better group of players and coaches to work with moving forward,” the young halfback continued.

“I want to become a leader here at the Panthers and I’m determined to help deliver a premiership to Penrith.”

The club itself is thrilled to have their star retained long-term.

“Today is a very special day in our club’s history,” Panthers Executive General Manager Phil Gould AM said.

“Everyone at Panthers is delighted to know Nathan Cleary has committed to this club until at least the end of the 2024 season.

“This is a significant contract for Nathan but it’s also a major investment by Panthers in its own future as an NRL club, and it’s an important signing for the future of rugby league in Western Sydney.”

Gould believes that Cleary’s best footy is still ahead of him and future captain material.

“Nathan is an outstanding young man and I have no doubt he will be a future captain of this club,” continued Gould.

“His best football is still well in front of him and we believe he will be the face of rugby league in this region for many years to come.

“To sign a deal of this significance with a player we have seen develop through our own pathways system, from a young age, is a special moment indeed.”

In a year where Ryan Hoffman and Billy Slater are both retiring, the veteran Melbourne Storm duo will play in another NRL grand final.

Looking to become the first team since the Brisbane Broncos to win back-to-back titles (92 and 93), the Storm now await their opponents.

In the end, steely defensive resolve and too much class got them over the line in a 22-6 win.

There will be a nervous wait and some concerns over an alleged shoulder charge from Billy Slater in stopping a try, however.

The views across social media are rampant; either you think it was a shoulder charge or you don’t.

Despite missing both Paul Gallen and Wade Graham, the Cronulla Sharks would have given themselves every chance to win heading into the match.

Unfortunately, a good start eluded them. Poor ball control and ill-discipline eventually gifted the Storm a penalty goal to go up 2-0.

Felise Kaufusi then made a half-break, found Billy Slater on the inside before halfback Brodie Croft finished the play off to score.

Slater assisted the first try and got his name on the scoresheet for the Storm’s second.

Outpacing and outgunning Matt Moylan, he made it look all too easy as the Storm went up 14-0.

Another try ensued as a rare mistake from Luke Lewis saw Slater score another try.

Moving away from marker, a gap opened up, as Cameron Smith put in a deft grubber and Slater pounced on it for his second.

Despite the Sharks scoring one try to the retiring veteran Luke Lewis, that was all she wrote.

They were unable to break down the Storm’s resolute defence after that as the Melbournites continue to celebrate at yet another grand final berth.

Despite all the talk surrounding Slater’s shoulder charge, he received support from Lewis.

“He put his body on the line,” Lewis said.

“If someone was to miss a game for something so simple as that, I don’t know what our game is coming to. It’s a contact sport.

“I don’t think there was anything in it to be honest.

“If there’s anyone I’d like to see out there grand final day it’s Billy Slater.

“Hopefully nothing comes of it.”

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan did not mince his words. The near perfect Storm side were just too good for his side.

“We were outplayed in the first half,” said Flanagan.

“We didn’t play our best and were up against a professional outfit that performed near perfection in the first half, and we weren’t good enough.”

Player of the Game:

3. Billy Slater

2. Felise Kaufusi

1. Dale Finucane

 

A late bloomer to the NRL, the St George Illawarra Dragons have rewarded winger Jordan Pereira with a new 2-year deal. 

His new deal will see him remain with the club until the end of the 2020 season.

Since making his debut back in round 19 of the current 2018 season, the winger played in all games up until the Dragons finals loss.

His journey has seen him go many places.

Born in New Zealand, Pereira has lived and played rugby league in Samoa, Perth, Mackay and then the Dragons.

For that reason, the new deal means so much to the NRL journeyman.

“Five years ago I was playing park footy,” Pereira said.

“Now I have to pinch myself considering I’m playing with the likes of Jack de Belin, Tyson Frizell, Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop.

It’s definitely a blessing.”

The stability and security as well as enjoying his time at the club are what Pereira was hoping for.

“It’s really good news for my fiancé and I to add that stability and security to our future,” he continued.

“Being here gives us that extra bit of happiness.

“We wanted to stay and the two extra pre-seasons will be so beneficial to me, particularly for my development.”

Proud to represent the Dragons, Pereira has no plans to relinquish his winger spot in 2019.

“I’m very happy to be running around in first grade now and it’s definitely something I don’t want to give up,” Pereira continued.

“I’m very proud to be representing this club and hopefully there’s more NRL games to come.”

Pereira’s hard-work was praised by the club and it is a sign that it does indeed pay off.

“We have rewarded Jordan for his step up into first grade,” Dragons Director of Rugby League Pathways and List Management Ian Millward said.

“He’s very mature for his age and with another two pre-seasons under his belt, his efforts will become even greater.”

“He’s a focused individual who appreciates the environment he’s in, but also understands what he’s here for.

“He’s played quite a few first grade games now and it’s really pleasing to see his hard work pay off and for him to take his chances.”

In a bid to strengthen their back-row stocks, the Wests Tigers have signed Ryan Matterson from the Sydney Roosters. 

Matterson, who joins the club on a three-year deal, has so far played in 57 NRL games, all with the Sydney Roosters.

His debut came in 2016, and he also for the NSW U20’s side, the Junior Kangaroos and the City Origin side in 2016.

Praising Matterson for his transition into first-grade, Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary looks forward to working with him.

“Ryan is a talented young man and we’re very pleased to have him join the club next season,” said Cleary.

“He has developed in to a quality forward since his debut and we’re looking forward to seeing him grow further at Wests Tigers over the next three years.”

Also praising Matterson is Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe, with the back-rower to join the club in November.

“Ryan is another excellent addition to our playing squad and we’re all looking forward to having him for the coming three seasons,” said Pascoe.

“We’ve worked hard to bring players to the club who will have an impact on and off the field and Ryan is another great example of this.”

All coaches eventually aspire to coach first-grade or re-enter that arena and David Furner will once again get that chance. 

Furner, currently an assistant at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, will return to a head coaching position.

Previously, he was head coach of the Canberra Raiders for five seasons in addition to numerous assistant roles.

The former Leeds player drew praise from Souths General Manager of Football Shane Richardson.

“I would like to thank David for his service to our club over the past two seasons,” said Richardson.

“He has played a leading role in returning our team to the top four.

“He goes on to a great club in Leeds and I’m sure he will be a success as their Head Coach.

“He goes with our blessing and we wish David, his wife Kellie and his family the best of luck in the UK.”

Although his coaching future beyond this year is sorted, Furner looks forward to finishing the year with the Bunnies.

In a dogged contest at AAMI Park, it was the Melbourne Storm who prevailed over the South Sydney Rabbitohs courtesy of a late Cameron Munster field goal. 

Having never won at AAMI Park nor in Melbourne in 15 games, it was an uphill battle from the start for the Rabbitohs.

Finals footy always goes up a gear and this game was no different; both teams giving it their all in a physical contest.

Souths would draw first blood as a cross-field kick was spilled by Josh Addo-Carr and Dane Gagai was there to pounce and score.

Adam Reynolds missed that conversion but would atone for it soon after, slotting a penalty goal to put the Bunnies up 6-0.

An overlap then gave the Storm their chance to score and they took it.

Swift hands eventually saw centre Curtis Scott score for the Storm with Smith converting, locking scores up at 6-apiece.

Souths captain Greg Inglis was flattened by a Suliasi Vunivalu hit leaving him with sore ribs and a possible non-return.

He would return, however, going to on to score twice.

Both sides went tit-for-tat, as the scoreboard went back and forth.

Suliasi Vunivalu opened his finals account after Billy Slater evaded a defender and popped a basketball-like pass to the winger.

Putting the Storm up 10-8, the Bunnies responded with a try of their own.

Running to the line, Robert Jennings managed to keep his arm off the ground and pop an offload to Inglis for his first try.

A spectacular try then ensued for the Storm on the stroke of half-time.

The much maligned Brodie Croft stood up when it mattered, busting through the Souths defence to make a break.

With the Souths line up and a fullback ahead of him, Croft kicked to the right wing with a flying Fijian in Vunivalu getting to the ball first and scoring.

The second half could not have started worse for the Bunnies; George Burgess was sin-binned for blocking a runner in the lead-up to a try.

That did not phase Souths, however, who still managed to score with a man down and level things up.

Reynolds put in another cross-field kick and the ball was plucked out of the air by Inglis who scored despite steely resolve from Slater.

The Bunnies would then score another try; Robert Jennings getting one of his own when he scored in the left corner.

Not to be denied, though, the Storm hit back with two straight tries of their own, both to Cheyse Blair.

Then, with someone needing to step up, it was Munster who etched his name into finals folklore.

With everyone expecting Cameron Smith to step up, Munster coolly waited in the wings, slotting the field goal to give the Storm a win and a week off.

Munster’s overall performance drew praise from captain Smith.

“He had some really crucial plays for us – a couple of half line-breaks and setting guys up,” Smith said.

“He’s becoming more and more confident within himself to do that.

“Each time I see him come back from a representative game, he’s more confident about his ability and what he can produce on the field.”

Souths coach Anthony Seibold says his side has nothing to turn around as you usually win when you score 28 points in a game.

“We don’t need to turn it around, we know what we need to do. We build pressure with effort, that’s our game model that’s served us well all year,” Seibold said.

“We defended for 10 minutes there with 12 men, when George [Burgess] got sent to the sin-bin, and that really solidified our effort.

“We came through the other side so that’s another good take-away for us. But normally when you score 28 points you expect to win a game of footy and we didn’t.”

Player of the Game:

3. Greg Inglis

2. Cameron Munster

1. Brodie Croft

Since joining the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Sam Burgess has quickly become a fan favourite. 

Now, the cardinal and myrtle faithful will get to see him in action for even longer with his new deal until 2023.

Regarded as one of the best forwards in the game, Burgess’ re-signing is a huge boost for a Rabbitohs team on the rise.

Since debuting back in 2010 for the club, Burgess has played in 160 NRL games.

In that time, he was won an NRL premiership in 2014 and represented England on numerous occasions.

Burgess has had two stints with Souths so far; the first ending with a 2014 premiership, before he returned to Australia in 2016.

In between, Slammin’ Sam joined Bath in the Aviva Premiership and also played for England in rugby union.

Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold did not mince his words. In his eyes, Sam is the best forward in the game.

“In my opinion, Sam is the leading forward in our game,” Seibold said.

“He is an inspirational leader through his actions both on and off the field.”

Seibold went on to praise just how much of a help Burgess has been in Seibold’s first year as an NRL head coach.

“He’s been a tremendous help in my first year as a Head Coach along with ‘GI’ (Greg Inglis) and ‘Sutto’ (John Sutton),” the Bunnies coach continued.

“Since he’s been here at the Rabbitohs, he’s demonstrated how much Souths means to him and I’m very happy to know that he will finish his career here at South Sydney.”

The decision was an easy one for Burgess who labels himself as a Rabbitohs man.

“I’m a Rabbitohs man. It’s as simple as that,” Burgess said.

“The Club aligns with everything I’m about and my values, so it was an easy decision for me to extend my contract out to the end of my career.

“We spent a bit of time working out the contract as it is my last one, but Souths have always shown faith in me and I feel like I can repay that faith over the remaining years I have on the field.

With so many greats to have played for Souths over the years, Burgess wants to leave a similar mark like they have.

“I wasn’t interested in the player market or anything like that.

“I’m interested in leaving behind a legacy, being a small part of the fantastic history of this great Club.

“Players like John Sattler, Bob McCarthy, Ron Coote and Clive Churchill – they’re all remembered at this Club for what they have done. I love the history and I want to leave my mark as well.”

Shane Richardson also praised the re-signing of Burgess.

“Sam is one of the best players in the game, hands down, and with this contract extension he will play his entire NRL career with the one Club, the Rabbitohs,” Richardson said.

“He is an inspirational player for his teammates and an inspirational person to the broader South Sydney community.

“He has made a home here at South Sydney; he is bringing up his young, expanding family here in South Sydney; and he is set to go down in the Club’s history as one of its greats.

The Penrith Panthers have made a surprising decision to release Corey Harawira-Naerea from his playing contract in 2019 to sign with the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Recruited from NZ, Harawira-Naera was a part of the Panthers 2014 NYC premiership side.

With 44 NRL games at the Panthers to his name, the club admits the decision to let him go was difficult.

“The decision to allow Corey a release from his contract was a difficult one,” Panthers Executive General Manager Phil Gould AM said.

“Firstly, it’s a matter of future salary cap management for our club.

“Secondly, it is such a wonderful opportunity for Corey with his new club.”

There was nothing but praise for the Kiwi native, however, despite the confirmation of his release.

“Corey came to us from New Zealand as a teenager and developed through our junior pathways and house-parent program,” Gould continued.

“He is now a quality NRL regular with obvious representative potential.”

With room to improve in 2019, the signing of Harawira-Naera gives the Bulldogs an imposing back-row for the next four years.

“Signing someone of Corey’s calibre and potential is a great coup for the Bulldogs and comes on the back of a strong finish to our 2018 season,” Bulldogs CEO Andrew Hill said.

“Dean Pay and his coaching staff have helped develop some talented young players this year.

“The addition of Corey to the squad will add both quality and strength to our forward pack for next season and beyond.”

Not only did the Penrith Panthers keep the minor premiership race well and truly alive, they also killed a 5 year losing streak against the Melbourne Storm.

Having only won 1 of the last 18 games against the Storm, the boys from Penrith were in for quite a challenge however, the challenge appeared a little lessened with the late withdrawal of Billy Slater due to personal matters and Cameron Munster and Brodie Croft due to injury.

Despite the players lost, the Storm still put up quite a fight in front of their home crowd finding themselves first on the board early in the game through a penalty conversion from the skipper.

Just seven minutes later Josh Mansour responded with a powerful solo try which found him fighting off three Melbourne defenders to muscle the ball down for the first try of the night.

The tables turned for Mansour very quickly, however, when he left his team down to 12 men after he was deemed to have grabbed the arm of Justin Olam restricting him from possibly scoring a try.

The professional foul sanction proving quite costly to Penrith as their frustration quickly took over the game as displayed through a very uneven penalty count.

The Storm looked to capitalise on the advantage, over coming an initial no try, with a try to Felise Kaufusi who finally broke the Penrith defense wall which had stood so strongly until that moment.

Cameron Smith was sweet with the boot to convert the try and found himself lining up just 3 minutes later after a Tyrone Peachey tackle was deemed head high.

Uncharacteristically, the skipper missed the conversion but not even a full minute later the Panthers found themselves down to 12 men again with James Tamou in the bin after repeat penalties.

Smith couldn’t miss two in a row and slot the goal sweetly to take his team’s lead to 6 points.

2 minutes before the half time siren rang and the Panthers pounced on a penalty conversion chance late in the half – this goal proving to be Nathan Cleary’s only successful shot at goal all night.

The second half looked to have started off bright with young debutant Scott Drinkwater crossing the try line only to have his moment denied due to an obstruction.

The Panthers jumped at the opportunity to level up the scoreboard and just minutes later, Mansour was over for his double after some individual excellence from Waqa Blake.

As time quickly ticked on, the Storm looked to be showing signs of weakness as they missed their star players who provide extra creativity in attack.

The Panthers were looking to load the points on with Blake getting himself on the score board this time off a perfectly weighted James Maloney kick. A kick which definitely cemented the importance of the veteran half in this team.

The two teams continued to tussle hard for the next 20 minutes with lots of near moments of brilliance – including a no try to Olam – but the Panthers, through Blake again, put the dagger into the Storm as he got himself a double.

The night wasn’t finished, though, with a new contender for try of the year going to Christian Crichton after he managed to acrobatically grab himself an intercept from Cheyse Blair to take the lead to 12.

Nathan Cleary’s boot was the only real concerning signs for the Panthers, keeping the Storm ever so slightly still in the game.

A 12 point lead quickly dropped to 6 through the young boy on the park. Amazingly, the debutant Drinkwater managed to score himself a try even after being denied in the first half and the Storm kept the faith alive at AAMI Park.

The Storm threw everything they had at the Panthers in the final minutes with some very near misses but some brilliant defence, particularly from Cleary and Regan Campbell-Gillard, granted the Panthers their 2 points.

Panthers coach Cam Ciraldo admits that he could not be prouder of his side’s performance.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” Ciraldo said.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks.

“Just the way they prepared all week gave us a real confidence coming down here.

“The way they hung in here tonight, I couldn’t be prouder of their effort.”

Still a chance to win the minor premiership if results go their way, Cam Smith admits that the Storm are lucky to even have a chance to win it.

“Winning the minor premiership would have been really nice, but if you look at the way our season’s panned out,” the Storm captain said.

“It’s quite a remarkable effort to be quite honest to have the Melbourne Storm sitting second and playing a game in the last round to wrap up the minor premiership.”

Player of the Match:

3. Waqa Blake

2. Josh Mansour

1. Scott Drinkwater