Parramatta’s halves mess is self-inflicted & next year the excuses stop
Volkman has earned the jersey, Parramatta created the problem
Ronald Volkman deserves the first crack at five-eighth next year. He has resurrected his career, produced his best football recently and earned his position, which makes Parramatta’s recruitment of Jarome Luai look increasingly awkward.
The Luai negotiation was probably completed before Volkman’s surge, but that does not remove the congestion. Parramatta have Mitchell Moses, Luai and Volkman for two positions, with Luai staying only one season before heading to Papua New Guinea. That is not clever depth. It is an expensive traffic jam.
I still think Volkman is a good signing. Canterbury were having a serious look and could have paired him with Lachlan Galvin, although Galvin has been their best player for at least a month and is growing into the job. Halfbacks can be developed; Cooper Cronk went from centre to one of the great careers, and Galvin can make the same positional transition.
Parramatta’s coach gets next year to prove this rebuild has a pulse. The promised natural improvement has not arrived, the defence still swings between encouraging and chaotic, and two more years on a contract cannot become permission to loiter near the bottom.
Brisbane turned a minor stupidity into another leadership failure
Brisbane should have owned the Alex Glenn embarrassment immediately. Glenn made noise under Melbourne’s kicks trying to force mistakes, the NRL directed clubs to stop it and Glenn apologised to Brisbane chief executive Dave Donaghy. That should have ended it.
Instead, Donaghy called it a non-issue. Arrogant. It was an issue to Melbourne and supporters who do not want cheap rubbish creeping into a national competition. Nobody needs a royal commission, but Brisbane needed two sentences: we spoke to Alex, we are sorry, it will not happen again.
Pressure is no defence for refusing to own an obvious mistake. Brisbane took a small problem and advertised their dysfunction.
The Roosters rested the spite out of rugby league’s best feud
The Roosters have taken air out of the South Sydney rivalry by resting their players. They can finish only third or fourth and do not yet know their finals opponent, so the football logic is obvious, but rivalries are built on emotion rather than spreadsheet logic.
The previous scoreboard stunt, when South Sydney were listed merely as “visitors”, was magnificent needle because it infuriated Nick Pappas and gave the Roosters exactly the reaction they wanted. Souths should save any retaliation for a battleground that matters.
The Jai Arrow arrangement also softens the hostility. The Roosters approved his designation as an extra man, giving him the chance to register his 100th game after Johnny Ledesma alerted Wayne Bennett to the situation. I reckon that will be a magnificent rugby league moment.
And Souths belong in the east. The government built Allianz Stadium, not the Roosters, so South Sydney have every right to play there. The old Homebush explanations were spin. Fans should stop swallowing it.
A voluntary trial proves nothing
The winner’s kick rule must be compulsory during the trial or the exercise is a fraud. It was used only three times in a high-scoring game last week because players overwhelmingly oppose it and captains can simply avoid it.
The rule is supposed to test whether forcing the scoring team to kick off can halt momentum. Fine. Test it properly. Compulsory use would expose whether it works, fails or creates the lopsided scores associated with its Super League history.
There are obvious tactical problems. A long restart offers better field position and can produce an attacking set through aggressive defence, while Melbourne once defended for an age, scored from a length-of-the-field intercept and then had to defend again. The good play earned no advantage.
The NRL may impose the rule regardless. It has done that before. At least collect honest evidence first.
Webster deserves the gong, but the judges may chase the ladder
Andrew Webster has produced the best coaching job, but he probably needs the minor premiership to secure coach of the year. He has regenerated his halves, survived injuries and player losses, and driven the Warriors from roughly seventh last year into the fight for first.
Justin Holbrook has taken the Knights from last to sixth, an enormous rise that demands respect. Ivan Cleary also belongs in the argument because Penrith, after four consecutive premierships and last season’s dreadful start, have returned to the top of the competition.
The danger is the judges’ natural bias towards the minor-premiership coach. If Penrith claim it, Cleary could jump both rivals. I understand the logic, but Webster’s adaptability gives him the edge.
Nathan Cleary should also finally win the Dally M. He has more often than not been Penrith’s best player, while Aaron Clark has had an exceptional season and shapes as the genuine surprise contender.
Luai copped a double standard & Max King move makes sense
The outrage over Jarome Luai travelling to Papua New Guinea was selective rubbish. The Tigers had two days off and Luai used them to travel, while Nathan Cleary also left the country during time off to watch Jet make his first-grade debut in New Zealand. One trip was attacked. The other produced warm family applause.
There is no meaningful difference in commitment, recovery or preparation. I think Luai is a little unpopular and the Chiefs are unpopular, so critics grabbed the easiest stick available. Judge the act, not the bloke.
Max King becoming another Chiefs signing also looks likely, although it is not properly confirmed. He was not necessarily unwanted at Canterbury, but I think they were comfortable letting him leave while he pursued Origin-level money. The Chiefs can offer less while tax-free earnings improve the real return. That is smart business for a good clubman chasing a major contract.
Kill automatic bunker referrals & force accountability
The bunker has become an unaccountable weekly vandal. The NRL admitted the weekend’s overturned try should have stood because Ashley Klein had the better view and there was no conclusive evidence to reverse him. That is not a grey area. It is the bunker ignoring its own threshold.
Thomas Jenkins then lost a try after picking Jacob Kiraz’s pocket through a bizarre interpretation nobody had seen before. Jenkins has 28 tries, Alex Johnston has 29, and that decision may cost a breakout player the season’s top try-scorer award. These mistakes carry consequences.
I’m sick of apologies without punishment. Somebody must pay a professional price for repeated professional failure.
Restrict bunker involvement to the captain’s challenge. I reckon that immediately removes 90 per cent of referrals, restores authority to the referee and ends most of this weekly circus.
