Grapple tonight.

The Grapple: 23 May 2019

Let’s get started by acknowledging the passing of former New Zealand captain Quentin Pongia after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 48. Pongia was a member of Canberra’s 1994 premiership winning side, and played 137 matches during his top grade career, representing the Raiders, Warriors, Roosters and Dragons. He underwent surgery in November to remove a tumor from his bowel.

Review NRL round 10: – Tipsters nightmare

NRL ladder

ISC: Round 10:

Tigers 4 lost to Seagulls 16, Devils d Cutters 42-18, Pride lost 43-0 to the Bears, Falcons 34 d Blackhawks 10 to make it a perfect start to the season- 10 from 10- 6 tries to 2 and Todd Murphy 5 goals from 5 attempts -118 points for the season, Jets 36 d Magpies 20, Seagulls d Hunters 28-6 and Dolphins 52 -10 over the Capras

SCGRFL Vantage Homes Cup Div. 1: Round 8

Beerwah 19 d Stanley River 12- 2 tries each but Mathew Kidd’s 5 goals difference and fg goals 6 from full-time-leading points scorer with 73

Noosa 24 d Maroochydore 18

Kawana 24 d Gympie 16 after Kawana led 10-6 at half time

Caloundra 18 lost to Caboolture 34 – 7 tries to 4- disappointed to let the 4 tries in;

Nambour – bye

Division 2A: Wins to Bribie, Coolum, Beerwah, Maroochydore and Caboolture- Coolum on top by 6 from Caboolture

Division 2B: all 3 games at Kilcoy on the weekend with wins to Palmwoods, Yandina and Beachmere d comp leaders Kilcoy 28-8-Mitchell Braun double and Jake Wood 4 goals-led 14-4 at half time

Under 18’s: Wins to Beerwah- all 3 against SR; Noosa, Kawana and Caboolture while Beachmere and Nambour played a 22-all draw  -Kawana on top on 32 points

Women: Wins to South Burnett/Beerwah over Nambour, Maroochydore d Caboolture –Gympie lead the ladder by 6 points

Brisbane RL A-Grade: Bye round last weekend

Rugby League news:

• Cooper Cronk- chat more about that announcement with Macca after 6.40 tonight- and with a $1m war chest do Nick Politis and Trent Robinson go to market to find a big-money star? The player link that won’t go away is Brisbane forward Tevita Pangai Jr. (who has formally committed to Tonga, ruling himself out of State of Origin just days before the Blues squad is to be named)
• Upgrade other contracts or replace Cooper- Luke Keary to the No.7 jersey and Latrell Mitchell to no.6- Mitchell has played at five-eighth this season already and has stated his desire to wear the jumper full-time.
• The Rabbitohs are on a raid to poach the 21-year-old superstar from the Chooks and it’s likely the club will be willing to open the purse strings and upgrade Mitchell’s deal from next season.
• Mitchell Moses is off-contract and yet to agree to a new deal with Parramatta.
• Sam Walker, son of former NRL player Ben Walker, is high on the Roosters’ radar. Walker is a rugby union product but plays the 13-man code on weekends for the Ipswich Jets under-18s in the Mal Meninga –but this is long term
• So what is wrong at Penrith with coach Ivan Cleary saying he’s got a plan and it’s “going to be sweet” but he admits deep issues are engulfing the NRL club. What the problems are and how he intends to fix them are topics, the embattled coach is refusing to divulge.
• News yesterday that axed former Penrith captain Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has reportedly requested an immediate release from the embattled Panthers so he can join a rival club before June 30.
• Women’s RL:
  • NSW Country will be chasing back-to-back titles at the 2019 Women’s National Championships in Burleigh from May 30 with future representative honours on the line across the four-day tournament. Six teams will compete at the championships with NSW fielding Country and City sides, while Queensland have named a Country side and South East Queensland team. An Affiliated States side and Australian Defence Force team will also return with a host of up-and-coming talent representing areas from across the country.
  • Draw
• Pool 1: South East Queensland (SEQ), NSW City, Combined Affiliated States (CAS)
• Pool 2: Queensland Country, NSW Country, Australian Defence Force (ADF)
• Day 1 – Thursday May 30: 12.00pm – CAS v NSW City and 1.15pm – ADF v NSW Country
• Nine NRL players are being shopping around to clubs in England ahead of the 2020 season. Reportedly being shopped are Daniel Alvaro, Aaron Gray, Kyle Turner, Jeremy Latimore, Kurt Capewell, Corey Jensen, Ray Stone, Max King and Sosaia Feki. All players are off contract with their clubs at the end of the season. It’s yet to be seen which players will make the move overseas, but Jensen has already been linked with a move to Wigan.
• Jackson Hastings could be back playing in Australia in 2020 with an “out-of-town” club.
• The Super League record for the most people at a regular season game was broken over the weekend when 31,555 turned up to watch Catalans beat Wigan 33-16 at the Nou Camp. The previous record was 25,004 at Wigan v St Helens in 2005. It was the first ever rugby league game to be played at FC Barcelona’s home ground, and it was a couple of former NRL players who starred as David Mead bagged a double while Sam Kasiano and Samisoni Langi also crossed.
• Super League ladder after Round 15: St Helens 28 points, Warrington 22, Catalans 18, Hull FC 18, Castleford 16, Wakefield 16, Salford 14, Wigan 12, Huddersfield 12, Leeds 8, Hull KR 8, London 8.

Preview local games:

ISC: Round 11:  Pride vs Seagulls      Blackhawks vs Tigers  Bears vs Capras

Jets vs Falcons            Cutters vs Dolphins   Devils vs Seagulls Hunters vs Magpies

SCGRFL: Round 9: Beerwah/Kawana; Gympie/Noosa; Nambour/Caboolture and Maroochydore/SR; Caloundra-bye

Brisbane RL A-Grade: Round 9: Seagulls/Dolphins, Magpies/Diehards and Panthers/Tigers

SEQ Women: Division 1: Wests (1^st)/Ipswich (2^nd), Tweed/Logan and Toowoomba/Easts

NRL: Greg McCallum:

Cooper Cronk-360 NRL games and counting

SOO selections

NRL Round 11