Souths must fix their spine before low-ball offers tear the club apart
Souths cannot afford to insult Cody
A $300,000 offer for Cody Walker is not prudent salary-cap management; it is a significant low-ball for a player without whom Souths would not have made the eight. He had a strong year, remained relatively healthy until the final game and, despite that dreadful brain snap against Penrith, proved he remains one of the elite five-eighths in the competition.
Of course Walker must accept less at 37, particularly when Souths can offer him a long-term future in welfare, pathways or coaching, but $300,000 undervalues his football before those post-career considerations even begin. The Rabbitohs are still trying to identify their best one, six, seven and nine, while Matt Dufty and Jye Gray have been tried at fullback. Dufty had a good year, but he will not win them a premiership.
Latrell Mitchell is going to November 1 and shares the same camp as Walker and Jack Wighton. Upset all three senior players in one hit and Souths will turn a delicate off-season into a bonfire.
Pay Latrell the million and end the theatre
I’d offer Latrell a flat $1 million: no ratchets, no funny business and no contractual obstacle course. He does not play nearly enough football, and Dane Gagai comprehensively outplayed him in Souths’ most recent September appearance, but Latrell remains an elite match-winner and one of the game’s two greatest box-office attractions.
Souths are weighing up a $1 million offer, and I think Latrell is prepared to accept a reduction from his current $1.2 million deal. I also cannot see him moving to Perth or PNG, particularly after PNG signed Joey Manu. The sensible outcome is that he stays.
This is where Bennett earns his authority. He runs Souths, has the runs on the board and is extremely close to Russell Crowe. I reckon he must intervene, settle both contracts and prevent management’s salary-cap repair job from damaging the football team it is supposed to help.
Holbrook has exposed the Titans’ blunder
Newcastle’s surge from the wooden spoon to within 80 minutes of a grand final has confirmed what Gold Coast should already know: sacking Justin Holbrook was an embarrassment.
The Titans were wooden spooners in 2019, finished ninth in Holbrook’s first season and reached the 2021 finals, losing to the Roosters by one point. He was later dismissed without seeing it coming because Gold Coast thought replacing him with Des Hasler amounted to trading up. It didn’t.
Holbrook, the players and Peter O’Sullivan have transformed Newcastle, while Dylan Brown improved the side and gave it confidence before his injury. The $1.4 million deal was called madness, but O’Sullivan got ahead of the curve. He values players, sets his limit and builds a roster rather than winning the press conference. Gold Coast did the opposite, and the ladder has delivered its verdict.
Cleary deserves the medal, but the foot changes everything
Nathan Cleary should win the Dally M Medal, the only major individual accolade still missing from his collection, but Penrith’s immediate concern is his kicking foot rather than another trophy.
The precise injury and its extent remain unclear, although his preparation will be restricted, his kicking definitely limited and he will not handle the goal-kicking. Penrith are masters at keeping injuries in-house, but secrecy does not make a damaged foot disappear before a preliminary final.
Cleary and Isaiah are champion co-captains, yet the Panthers’ depth remains their great insurance policy. Cody Hopwood and Lachlan Crouch were outstanding, while the competition is suddenly flush with powerful young edge forwards. Penrith keep finding players because their system demands standards rather than reputations.
Klein got it wrong, but the six-again is not killing rugby league
Ashley Klein made the wrong call at the end of Newcastle’s win over the Warriors, and the consequences are severe: he will miss the preliminary finals and I do not think he will control the grand final. Had the penalty been awarded, the score would have been 12-all and the match would have entered golden point.
That does not excuse spectators pelting him with cans and bottles. Klein made a serious error, but he has a terrific record and showed courage returning after his gambling losses became public. Abuse is not accountability.
I also reject the claim that the six-again rule has ruined the game. The system is imperfect and its decisions need far greater explanation, but I will take it over the chicken wings, grapples and wrestling that once suffocated the contest. Constant rule changes must stop, yet rugby league remains a magnificent television product. The terrible finals crowds owe plenty to ticket costs, poor facilities and the comfort of watching from home, not merely the six-again.
Brisbane’s review was designed to save Maguire
Brisbane’s root-and-branch review looks like much ado about nothing because it was reverse-engineered to save Michael Maguire, just as the previous review was designed to remove Kev Walters. I heard the latest process did not speak to a player, which is astounding for a club that went from premiers to 15th.
Maguire is a proven winner whose methods deliver premierships, Origin series and Test success, but they also have a shelf life. Players do not object to hard training; the best clubs never take shortcuts. The problem comes when intensity becomes unrelenting, particularly after two weeks in camp, a weekend home and another two weeks in England.
I think Payne Haas left because he disliked Maguire’s methods and wanted to play under Bennett at Souths. Maguire will begin next season and deserves that chance, but he needs a fast start. If Brisbane stumble again, the hard decision cannot be delayed until the season is already dead.
Canterbury chopped its spine into pieces
Canterbury were the second-biggest disappointment of the season because their spine became a weekly experiment. After finishing in the top four, they fell to 12th with 11 wins and 13 losses, scoring 10 fewer tries while players were left on eggshells.
Stephen Crichton is one of the world’s best centres, not a five-eighth. Lachlan Galvin deserved the club’s player-of-the-year award, but he should have played six beside Sean O’Sullivan, an organiser who could free Galvin to attack with Jacob Preston and Viliame Kikau. Parking Matt Burton also removed the side’s most powerful territorial kicking weapon.
Cameron Ciraldo must own the season. Reed Mahoney’s departure hurt, Josh Curran appeared in the centres and Bronson Xerri drifted in and out. Jason Taylor has now departed despite possessing one of rugby league’s sharpest analytical minds. The game-playing around Canterbury must stop; settle the one, six, seven and nine, then give combinations time to breathe.
Cronulla need brilliance, not more dependability
Cronulla’s consistency is admirable, but dependability alone will not break Penrith’s grip or win a premiership. The Sharks have ranked second to Penrith across five years of ladder finishes, yet they still lack the X-factor possessed by the competition’s most dangerous sides.
With Jesse Ramien and a winger leaving, Cronulla must find, develop or acquire a genuine game-breaker. Another honest seven-and-a-half-out-of-ten footballer will merely preserve the status quo. The Sharks do not need more reliability; they need someone who makes defensive plans irrelevant.
Never write off Gallen
Paul Gallen should not be dismissed against Big Nelson simply because one man is seven feet tall and the other is about 5-foot-10. Gallen is an elite athlete, a hardened prize fighter and a man who treats physical punishment as an administrative inconvenience.
I saw him spar Peter Graham at Smeaton Grange when Gallen was still raw, and his courage was frightening. He later went toe-to-toe with Justice Hooley and simply refused to disappear, even when that contest should have been stopped.
Gallen will do less sparring this time and says this is his final fight. I would not be surprised if he wins because his experience and power can trouble Nelson. Styles make fights, and stubbornness has always been Gallen’s preferred style.
