The Grapple: 30 May 2019

Lead story: Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher revealed that the board was unaware coach Kevin Walters had hired the ‘coach whisperer’, mentalist Bradley Charles Stubbs, calling his exorbitant $5,500 consultation fee ‘f***ing crazy’. Stubbs has been hired by Walters to help give the Maroons a winning edge, banning the words ‘Blues’ and ‘New South Wales’ from camp as well as all talk of their Origin opposition. The renowned mentalist has previously worked with Roosters coach Trent Robinson during last year’s premiership winning season, as well as Michael Maguire when he won the NRL title with South Sydney in 2014.

Review NRL round 11: – Tipsters nightmare-Macca 5/Craig Hewlett 5-

• Nathan Cleary scored the only try of the second-half and guided his team around for the remaining 19 minutes of the match as they ended a six-game losing streak d an inept Eels 16-10 in an average game. Former representative stars Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Josh Mansour responded to their recalls after a week in the Canterbury Cup with strong performances.

• Night to remember on Friday night as the Newcastle Knights resurgence went to another level when they over-powered and out-played Sydney Roosters 38-12 in a spectacular, sometimes spiteful game at Newcastle. Roared on by a raucous crowd of 25,929, the Knights scored five tries to two and were too physical and too fast for the defending premiers, serving notice they are legitimate finals contenders. In registering their fifth straight win, the Knights ended a six-match losing streak against the Roosters stretching back to 2014, much to the delight of their delirious fans who cheered themselves hoarse.
• Led by stars Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga, who both scored tries, Newcastle led 22-6 at half-time after a fast and furious first 40 minutes then went on with the job in the second half.
• Roosters coach Trent Robinson rested halfback Cooper Cronk but was left without a senior playmaker after just eight minutes, when a concussed Luke Keary had to be helped from the field. Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was also charged by the NRL judiciary and faces a two-match suspension for dangerous contact in a contentious tackle on Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga in the game’s 58th minute.
• Titans trounced the Sea Eagles at Manly 36-18-7 tries to 3 for a much needed win

• The North Queensland Cowboys earned their fifth win of the season by upstaging the Raiders 22-16 as Jason Taumalolo carried the Cowboys to victory. The loss by the Raiders, their third in a row, has put an abrupt halt to their early season momentum. The loss was further soured with co-captain Josh Hodgson not playing in the second half after suffering a suspected broken thumb.
• Broncos 8 d Warriors 2 in NZ to make it 3 in a row
• South Sydney’s best start to a season since 1989 saw the Bunnies defeat the West Tigers 32-16. The Rabbitohs 10-1 record leaves them sitting atop the NRL ladder with a winning run that matches their march to the minor premiership 30 years ago. Adam Reynolds who hobbled from the field could be back for South Sydney was cleared of any break in his left leg
• Bulldogs lost 28-6 to Storm at Belmore Oval-Josh Addo Carr 2 tries
• Dragons lost at home to the Sharks 22-9 with a Bronson Xerri hat-trick inspiring the  Sharks victory over struggling Dragons who have lost their last 4 games and now sit 13^th with 8 points just 2 points ahead of the Titans, Panthers and Bulldogs all on 6 at the bottom  of the ladder

SOO squads game 1:

NSW team for Origin I

James Tedesco            Nick Cotric                 Latrell Mitchell

Josh Morris                 Josh Addo-Carr          Cody Walker              Nathan Cleary

David Klemmer          Damien Cook              Paul Vaughan

Boyd Cordner             Tyson Frizell              Jake Trbojevic

Jack Wighton              Payne Haas                 Cameron Murray        Angus Crichton

Ryan Matterson          Victor Radley

Queensland team for Origin I

Kalyn Ponga               Corey Oates                Michael Morgan

Will Chambers           Dane Gagai                 Cameron Munster       Daly Cherry-Evans

Jai Arrow                    Ben Hunt                     Josh Papalii

Felise Kaufusi            Matt Gillett                 Josh McGuire

Moses Mbye               Joe Ofahengaue          Dylan Napa                 David Fifita

Tim Glasby                 Anthony Milford        Kurt Capewell

Local Rugby League:

ISC: Round 11:

Pride lost 30-14 to Seagulls,             Blackhawks 30 d Tigers 6,  Bears 34 d Capras 12

Jets lost 62-8 to undefeated comp leaders SC Falcons –Harry Grant and Jon Reuben doubles; Todd Murphy try and 9 goals-Falcons lead ladder by 4 points from Bears and Seagulls

Cutters 16 d Dolphins 12      Devils lost 34-34 to Seagulls and  Hunters 24 d Magpies 22

Round 12 this weekend: Sat: Cutters/Jets, Tigers/Pride, Seagulls/Blackhawks and Dolphins/Hunters

Sun: Capras/Devils, Seagulls/Magpies and Falcons/Bears- match of the round with 1 v 2 –cracker of a game at SC Stadium – 2.30pm

SCGRFL Vantage Homes Cup Div. 1: Round 9: half-way point: Beerwah 26 d Kawana 12; Gympie lost 26-18 to Noosa; Caboolture d Nambour 28-6 and Maroochydore lost 30-8 to SR; Caloundra-bye

Round 10: Beerwah/Maroochydore, Caboolture/Noosa, Kawana/Caloundra and SR/Nambour – Gympie- bye

Div. 2B: Kilcoy top of the ladder from Beachmere- all 3 games this weekend at Jack Spicer Oval- great afternoon of rl

Brisbane RL A-Grade: Round 9: Seagulls 48 d Dolphins 20, Magpies lost 24-28 to Diehards and Panthers 24 d Tigers 20

Women’s competitions:

SEQ Div. 1: Brothers d Wests, Souths d Logan and Easts hammered Toowoomba

Runaway Bay lead Div. 2, Redlands lead Div. 3 Green and Beaudesert and Logan share Div. 3 White

SCGRFL: Gympie d Noosa, Caboolture d Nambour and Maroochydore d Beerwah/Sth Burnett-Gympie 6 points clear on ladder

• Women’s RL: the 2019 Women’s National Championships in Burleigh started this afternoon with NSW Country chasing back-to-back titles while future representative honours are on the line across the four-day tournament. Six teams in action – NSW Country, NSW City, Queensland Country, south East Queensland, an Affiliated States side and an Australian Defence Force team.
  • 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

Rugby League News:

• Let’s hope all will be ok for GREG Inglis who was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic as the retired NRL legend struggles with life after football. Inglis has entered a facility for treatment for mental health issues. He will also be treated for alcohol issues.
• Penrith may have claimed a scrappy victory over the Eels to resurrect their nightmare start to the season, but things are far from rosy in the Panthers clubhouse. The club is reportedly facing a massive salary cap crunch, and are increasingly desperate to offload multiple stars to free up cap space over the long term. Josh Mansour, James Maloney, and Dylan Edwards could all be headed for the exit door as the Penrith hierarchy attempts to balance their books.
• Congrats to Trent Loiero from Sunshine Coast Falcons who has been named in the QLD u/18 team to play NSW on 5 June before the opening match of the State of Origin series.
• 18 days is a long time in RL after Wayne Bennett directly and emphatically shut down speculation of a reunion with James Roberts. Well lo and behold the miracle of miracles when yesterday, Roberts was released by the Brisbane Broncos and signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a mid-season NRL switch. Roberts, 26, has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal that runs to the end of 2021. He had been linked to the Rabbitohs after falling out of favour in Brisbane but South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett recently denied a contract would be offered.
• Announced yesterday that the 2019 NRL Women’s Premiership Grand Final will be played immediately prior to the men’s grand final on October 6 and that the results of this month’s Magic Round in Brisbane saw crowd numbers up 12.5%, NRL digital engagement up 10% and TV numbers up 2%.
• English Super League table:

Wigan 9^th

Man of Steel Leader board: Blake Austin -20, David Fifita -18 and Jackson Hastings -15

NRL: Greg McCallum:

• The Australian Rugby League Commission has axed any plans for a possible Wildcard Weekend, with no immediate changes to be made to the structure of the Telstra Premiership finals series. The NRL floated the concept in March, which would have involved the teams finishing ninth and 10th on the ladder playing off against the seventh- and eighth-placed teams, with the winning sides to advance to the finals. The top six teams would have the weekend off but yesterday, ARLC chairman Peter Beattie said the decision had been made to stick with the current finals format.

·       Dally M Leaderboard

NRL Round 12