SIX TO GO – COLUMN 4

Welcome to the fourth edition of Six to Go, looking at some of the things that have caught my eye over the last week or so in the great world of Rugby League.

1. WHERE ARE THE FANS??

Rangi Chase - star player.

Reading some reports this week, there was some concern that the South Sydney Rabbitohs v. Sydney Roosters game last Sunday attracted a poorer than expected attendance at the ANZ Stadium. A crowd of over 27,000 attended one of the biggest games in the NRL calendar between the two of the clubs expected to challenge for the 2015 Premiership. On the same day on the other side of the world in Super League the Salford Red Devils home game with Wakefield Trinity Wildcats attracted only 2,712 spectators – a pitiful attendance for a team that are improving and were looking to go three games unbeaten and have the likes of Rangi Chase, Ben Jones-Bishop and Michael Dobson on their team.  Salford’s owner Marwan Koukash said last week that the club would lose £15-20,000+ per home game with attendances around the 3,000 mark and that they would need much more than that just to break even as their ground rent is currently amongst the top 3 highest in Super League. Koukash says it will be the most expensive next year as it increases as per the contract agreement and the year after that it will 40% more expensive than any other ground in the competition.

The AJ Bell Stadium was built at a cost of £26m in 2012 and is co-owned by Salford City Council and Property Investment firm Peel Holdings and is shared by Salford and Rugby Union side Sale Sharks.

Marwan Koukash - losing money!!

The question remains is how long will Koukash be prepared to lose this kind of money and support a club that do not have many supporters willing to put their hands in their pockets and back the club even when they are showing signs of improvement. The home hammering in round 2 against champions St. Helens attracted less than 5,000 fans and their next home game against Hull FC less than 4,000 and both of these teams have strong away followings – something Wakefield Trinity Wildcats don’t which resulted in an even lower attendance.

What makes it look even worse is that on the same day 2 attendances in the lower tier Championship were not that far behind as Batley Bulldogs v. Bradford Bulls drew a crowd of 2,223 and the main event of the day saw Featherstone Rovers v. Leigh Centurions watched by a crowd of 2,695 – both the Centurions and Bulls have drawn crowds in excess of double the attendance at the Red Devils on Sunday this season and Featherstone had a crowd of just short of 6,500 for the visit of Bradford Bulls as they opened their new stand a couple of weeks ago.

If the Salford public don’t start supporting the team soon they might see Koukash concentrating more on his dreams of buying an NRL club which appears to have moved a step closer this week as he is reported to have advisers in contact with the troubled Gold Coast Titans who are currently under NRL administration.

2. TOUGH IN LONDON.

Talking about the Championship and relegated London Broncos are finding life tough in the second tier of the game and are by no means having things their own way – in fact I think it is clear to see that sides are relishing the prospect of knocking off the former Super League side and are doing so pretty successfully. The Broncos have won only 2 of their 5 league fixtures so far – those wins coming at home against Doncaster and Workington Town – but they are yet to taste success away from home and have lost all 3 away games to Sheffield Eagles (40-6), Leigh Centurions (25-12) and, last weekend, Whitehaven (18-16).

They attracted only 300 fans to their last home game against Workington and have already lost their coach, Joey Grima, who was released from his contract to return home to Australia for ‘personal reasons’ and this week they have been hit by a triple blow.

Brian Noble - London bound??

Overseas signings Josh Cordoba, formerly of the Cronulla Sharks, and Liam Foran, brother of the Manly Sea Eagles and New Zealand half back Kieran, have both been released from their contracts just 5 games into the year and now full back Richie Mathers, who has tons of Super League experience, will be out of action for 3 months after ankle surgery and this all comes on the back of losing co-captain Nick Slyney for 8-12 weeks as he recovers from surgery to repair a pectoral injury.

The club are talking to experienced Super League winning coach Brian Noble with a view to him having a role alongside interim Head Coach Andrew Henderson – even with Noble’s undoubted talent and experience the Broncos will find it very tough to get in to the Championship top 4 to play in the Super 8’s tournament and have any chance of winning back their Super League place. It doesn’t get any easier this weekend as they have to travel back to Leigh in the Challenge Cup competition.


3. HARDAKER IN TROUBLE....AGAIN!!

Zak Hardaker - could this be the end??

Is Zak Hardaker becoming too much of a distraction and, maybe, a liability for Leeds Rhinos? Hardaker missed the defeat at Warrington Wolves last week because he attended a local police station voluntarily and was questioned regarding an alleged assault on a student in Leeds in February. Academy player Elliott Minchella was also arrested and questioned over the same incident and was stood down from the U19s. Ashton Golding stood in for Hardaker and performed admirably with only 48 hours notice.

Now, Hardaker is a world class full back but his coach Brian McDermott admitted that it was disruptive having to pull him from the squad at such notice and for the reasons they had to do so. Hardaker and Minchella have now ADMITTED the assault but are free to play this weekend as they will not be charged by the Police as they and the victim have come to a community agreement that means that although they will not be charged, they will each pay the student £200 and write a letter of apology!

The victim of the assault must be a Rhinos fan if he is allowing two of their players to give him a kicking and he is willing to accept a letter of apology – obviously the £400.00 he will be getting in compensation will give him a good few nights out on the lash and that will be a cause for a major celebration.

Elliot Minchella

Minchella is a young 19 year old kid who was out with a Rhinos first team player in a massive Rugby League playing town and both are fit and good looking boys so will get their fair share of attention – he needs to be counselled and looked after by the club but Hardaker is 24 years old, has been around professional rugby league for a while now and should know better.

This is not the first time he has been in trouble – he was kicked out of the England World Cup squad in November 2013 and was fined £2500.00 and given a written warning by the Rhinos after they carried out an internal investigation and found that he had acted unprofessionally while on England duty and last year he was banned for 5 games for a homophobic comment whilst playing for the Rhinos against Warrington Wolves.

The fact that Hardaker, and Minchella, have acknowledged the assault took place is BAD and the Rhinos should throw the book at their star full back rather than make him available to play this weekend in their big game against the Warriors. Head Coach Brian McDermott has told the media today that the club will not brush this under the carpet and are taking the matter very seriously indeed with Chief Executive Gary Hetherington now heading up the internal investigation after returning from a scouting trip in Australia.

The Rhinos must take a hard line on this and even though no charges will be brought the club’s punishment must send out the right message to young supporters that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and they cannot hide behind the fact that no charges have been brought by the authorities – the FACT is that both players have ADMITTED the assault and the club must judge on this fact above all else.

Remember that Hetherington tried to block the Catalans Dragons signing of Todd Carney because he had been photographed trying to urinate into his own mouth in Australia last year, an act that led to his sacking by Cronulla Sharks, and in his alleged words ‘’We’d be appalled if the application is granted because it would damage the integrity and profile of Super League.’’

I couldn’t agree more Gary now let’s see you meat out some just punishment at your own club.

4. CARNEY TO THE NRL??

Todd Carney was sorely missed by his new team Catalans Dragons at weekend at Hull KR, in the second half anyway!!! His team led 20-4 after 35 minutes with half back partner Scott Dureau running the game before the home side went on to hit the Dragons for 46 unanswered point to lose the game 20-50. Carney missed the game with a broken rib and will be out for another few weeks but at least he had some good news this week.

Todd Carney - talented!!!!!

It was announced earlier in the week that the talented half back had won his case for unfair dismissal against his former employers, Cronulla Sharks, who were ruled to have not followed due process in the events leading up to his sacking for the ‘’bubbling’’ photograph that was published last year (apparently there is a word for trying pee into your own mouth!!!! – Who knew???)

This decision could lead to Carney suing Cronulla and could also lead to his return to the NRL - something which seemed impossible after his latest misdemeanour and after having been sacked previously by Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders. This was brought into focus by Manly coach Geoff Toovey who admitted Carney was in his thoughts after it was confirmed that Kieran Foran would be following Daley Cherry Evans out of the Sea Eagle door at the end of 2015 after signing a 4 year $4.7m deal with arch rivals Parramatta Eels.

With those 2 contracts off the books it will leave the Sea Eagles with a significant amount of money to throw around and they will want to show their fans some intent and make big name signings – they don’t come much bigger than Sam Burgess and it could be worth a pop if he fails to make the England Rugby World Cup squad at the back end of the year. New Manly CEO Joe Kelly knows Burgess personally from his time at the Rabbitohs and Sam’s older brother Luke recently signed on at the Sea Eagles until the end of 2016.

5. KEEP PLAYERS SAFE.

I caught the North Queensland Cowboys v. Newcastle Knights game at the weekend which has obviously provided one of the major talking points of the sport this weekend. Now, I am not going to go on about the rough treatment of Jonathan Thurston throughout the match because as far as I am concerned playmakers are fair game as long as the treatment they receive is within the rules of the game.

However, the FACT is though that THAT tackle was not within the rules of the game and what has amazed me this week is the fact that all of the attention has centred on Beau Scott whilst his team mate Chris Houston has been forgotten about.

Jonathan Thurston

The incident came about when Thurston stole the ball in a one on one tackle and was quickly into contact with Houston and then Scott – it is Houston who lifts Thurston’s right leg and at the same time Scott has his left arm on the back of Thurston’s neck meaning that the international half back, although not lifted beyond 90 degrees and with his left foot still on the floor, was placed in a dangerous position and the combination of the Houston leg lift and Scott’s arm behind JT’s neck meant that when Scott took him to ground, with force, he was only going to go head first – there was nothing JT could do to prevent it, he was going to get hurt – fortunately he was not hurt seriously and carried on in the game.


This is a link to the tackle on Thurston:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYHqdbvYNWE

Chris Houston - played his part!

A bit of a scuffle ensued, the incident went to the judiciary committee and they have ruled that although the tackle was ‘dangerous’ and put Thurston at an ‘’unacceptable risk of injury’’ they would only charge Scott with a ‘Grade One Dangerous Contact’ and that Houston would not be charged at all. For me, it is clear that the tackle would have been nowhere near as dangerous had Houston not lifted Thurston’s leg – so how he gets away without a charge makes no sense to me, he played a major part in the tackle going from tough to dangerous.

However, Scott has avoided suspension and he and Houston are free to take their places in the Knights team to play on the Gold Coast against the Titans.

I must admit I had my heart in my mouth when I saw the tackle and my immediate thought went back to the Alex McKinnon tackle and the devastating aftermath that that created – another tackle that included a leg lift and drive but that did not take the player beyond 90 degrees. Remember, Melbourne Storm forward Jordan McLean received a 7 week ban for his part in the McKinnon tackle which I don’t think was anywhere near as bad as Houston’s and Scott’s and the Knights management also pushed for Jesse and Kenny Bromwich to be charged as well for their part in the tackle.

This is a link to the tackle on McKinnon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-BmKXU12yE

More recently, Parramatta’s Junior Paolo received a 9 week ban for a Grade 3 dangerous throw on Manly’s Matt Ballin in round 1 of this year’s competition.

This is a link to the tackle on Ballin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KMlsoWp1rc

I also realised that the Knights players had ‘Rise for Alex’ emblazoned prominently across their shoulders in relation to their injured colleague and this incensed me even more that players from the Knights club with all that they have seen their team mate go through could put an opposition player in a dangerous position by lifting his leg and driving him head first in to the ground – I would have thought that the club management would have sent out an edict to it’s players never to put an opposition player in the position that has caused so much carnage to a friend’s life.

I know the players involved have officially been dealt with but I would hope that someone at the club, be it management, coaches or team mates, would have a word with them and tell them to make sure that kind of tackle does not happen again.

6. RFL RED FACED AT RED HALL!!

Sport England, the Government and Lottery funded body that provides grants and funding to enable sports governing bodies to, amongst many other things, increase participation numbers in sport threw a bit of a shot across the boughs of the RFL this week when it cut the amount of money provided DIRECTLY to the governing body for failing to meet targets agreed with Sport England in 2013-14 – the target, primarily, involved increasing the number of people who were actively involved in playing Rugby League.

The RFL were awarded just over £17m in the award period for 2013-2017 and the decision has now been made by Sport England to remove 10% of the remaining funding for the period, £573,133.00, away from the RFL to be used on local community projects supported by Super League clubs using their facilities and staff – basically Sport England are not happy with the work done and the initiatives that the RFL have put in place since the award was made. The money to the sport has not been reduced but it is clear that Sport England do not have full confidence in the administration at Red Hall, the RFL Head Quarters, to deliver the targets that have previously been agreed.

The RFL have reacted positively to this slap in the face, as you would expect from the masters of positive spin, but it is clear that they have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of Sport England and to ensure that there is not another major cut to the funding received in the next award period from 2017 to 2021. The RFL’s funding from Sport England was £29m in 2009-2013 and was cut by £12m in the most recent award period for missing 13 agreed targets.

In this day and age it is very difficult to get young children away from their comfort zone of warm bedroom, TV, Sky, Xbox, IPad and IPhone onto a cold and wet playing field getting bashed about by kids bigger than them and more emphasis must be put on physical fitness, discipline and respect, self-confidence, life skills and above all else friendship to make this great sport of ours more attractive to youngsters and the right image MUST be projected onto their TV screens, IPads and IPhones.

A bit of extra time thinking..

A massive congratulations to Adrian Morley who made his 300^th Super League appearance at the weekend in Salford Red Devils win over Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. In total Morley has made over 500 career appearances which include 149 for Leeds Rhinos, 113 in the NRL with Sydney Roosters, 6 during a short Grand Final winning stint with Bradford Bulls, 173 for Warrington Wolves, 30 for Salford City Reds and a huge 47 international matches for Great Britain and England making him the most capped British player of all time – he really can be counted as a modern day legend of rugby league and he celebrated last Sunday with a 50 metre break against the Wildcats. How the like of Morley, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai can get themselves out of bed after playing a top level rugby league match at their ages is beyond me – I was glad to retire from amateur rugby league at 30 – but maybe that says more about me!!!!!

Here's a few links to some of Morley's greatest moments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOdKzxAxhU0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWqvmGddkyw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqBZa1HLvQ8

Some chatter about player movements and Canberra Raiders former Queensland State of Origin and Australia prop David Shillington is on the radar of Hull Kingston Rovers to replace the recently retired, and former Canberra prop, Mick Weyman. Shillington is vastly experienced with nearly 200 NRL appearances for the Roosters and Raiders, 8 State of Origin appearances and 14 international caps. He is currently out of favour at the Raiders but broke his thumb at the weekend playing for the Mount Pritchard Mounties in the New South Wales Cup competition. His contract is up at the end of the year and he is one of the highest earners at Canberra and that may be a stumbling block – I think it may also depend on whether Hull KR can off load Ryan Bailey.

New Zealand international centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall, currently at the Roosters, is reported to have signed for St. Helens from next year and Kiwi international prop forward Sam Rapira has announced he will be leaving New Zealand Warriors and heading for Super League – as yet he has no deal tied up but it is expected Leeds Rhinos, who could be losing Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai and St. Helens, who could see Mose Masoe ask for a return to the NRL, will be the front runners for his signature.