More than $3 million of talent back for Manly in season opener

Manly were missing more than $3 million worth of talent in their forward pack at the end of the 2025 season.

Taniela Paseka ruptured his Achilles in round three, Haumole Olakau’atu had a shoulder reconstruction, Nathan Brown underwent surgery to repair a ruptured bicep, while stalwart Jake Trbojevic was sidelined as he managed ongoing concussion concerns.

So it is a relief for coach Anthony Seibold that all four return for their season opener against the Raiders on Saturday night. They will be joined by Kobe Hetherington, who won a premiership with the Broncos in 2025.

“You need an ounce of luck in regards to player availability and unfortunately – we missed a lot of forwards last year,” Seibold said.

“But it gave guys like Ethan Bullemor an opportunity to play more minutes, and we feel like he developed and improved as a player, but we want to have a squad that’s healthy and vying for selection.”

Seibold said the injury to Paseka was particularly important. The Manly coach believes he has the potential to be among the best props in the competition.

“He’s a premier front row, and he performed really well when he was in the team,” Seibold said. “He had a trial, which was good for him to get under his belt for confidence, and he’s a big addition for us ... I thought before I came here [Sea Eagles], he’s got so much potential as a front-rower.

“I feel like he was heading towards being a top five front-rower before his injury last year. I’ve got that much faith in him as a player – I feel like he’s come into the best part of his career.”

The loss of Paseka was compounded when Olakau’atu went down injured.

“Haumole’s played Origin, played for Tonga, and he’s our vice-captain, so he’s an influential player,” Seibold said. “I think he played 11 or 12 games before he dislocated his shoulder. We tried to get him back playing again and unfortunately, he did it straight away ... him and Taniela were big exclusions last year.

“So for him to have a full pre-season, it’s been a good preparation for him. He was able to do full contact around Christmas time, so he’s been able to do plenty of hard work. We didn’t play him in the trial, we had a scrimmage against the Dragons, and he played a full scrimmage there, so he’s tested himself against opposition. He’s another big addition for us.”

Hetherington, who played every game for the Broncos in 2025, is still a way off being fully match fit, Seibold said, after he had both knees “cleaned up” along with a groin operation, and he will play limited minutes off the bench.

However, team veteran Trbojevic will once again start in the No.13 jersey after missing the final four matches of 2025 due to concussion issues.

Trbojevic will wear headgear in the 2026 season, which he trialled in the pre-season, and Seibold said Trbjoevic and the club were confident they had done everything right to get him back on the field.

“Obviously, the back end of last year we didn’t play him [Trbojevic] the last four games, and that was to make sure that his wellbeing and his welfare were being looked after in regards to a couple of concussions that he had over the last 18 months,” Seibold said.

“He’s done a lot of work on his neck strength ... there’s a lot of research around strengthening of neck and reduction of concussion issues. So he’s put in an enormous amount of work in that space, Jake, and he’s obviously wearing headgear, which I think has been well documented, and he gave it a go in the scrimmage against the Dragons. He’s been wearing it at training, so he’s gotten used to wearing that, and he’s really looking forward to getting out there.”

Blues relocate in bid to win Origin

Blues coach Laurie Daley has revealed NSW camp will shift from the Blue Mountains to the Central Coast in a bid to wrestle back the State of Origin shield.

There will be other significant changes in the Blues preparation for the upcoming series, with Craig Bellamy stepping down as Daley’s adviser to concentrate on his club commitments with Melbourne.

Speaking at the NSWRL season launch at its centre of excellence at Sydney Olympic Park on Wednesday, Daley said the Blues will move to Magenta Shores resort on the Central Coast.

“Teams have gone there before. The Blue Mountains was really good, it’s just a matter of wanting to do something a little bit different,” he said.

The Blues will prepare on the Central Coast for the first two games, with negotiations being finalised to switch to one of the Blues’ previous home bases, at Kingscliff in NSW’s Northern Rivers, for the final game in Brisbane.

In his first stint as NSW coach, Daley lent on the late Bob Fulton as his adviser. When he returned to the role, that task was handed to Bellamy, but the Storm coach will now focus on his NRL job.

Daley said Bellamy, who won’t be replaced, will always be welcome if he had any input for the team.

“I’ll always keep the door open for Craig,” Daley said.

Daley may be required to select a new winger given Zac Lomax remains in league limbo after settling his court case with Parramatta.

“I want to see all the best players play,” Daley said.

“When you’ve got a bloke like Zac who played Origin last year – he’s one of the best wingers in the game, he plays for NSW – so from a personal point of view I would have liked to have seen him back.”

Asked if he could foresee a way for Lomax to push for Origin selection this year, Daley said: “It all depends on when he came back and what he was playing like and all that. I don’t even know what he’s doing, to be fair.

“You never close the door on anyone, do you? Zac is a player that, at his best, is world class. With him not being with a club, if he got back in a couple of weeks’ time and he was playing and playing well, of course he’d be considered.”

The new representative eligibility rules will allow players who have previously represented England and New Zealand to play Origin, should they meet specific criteria. That could open the door for the likes of Cronulla prop Addin Fonua-Blake and Roosters back-rower Victor Radley make their debuts for NSW.

Asked specifically if Fonua-Blake is a player of interest, Daley said: “Most definitely, he would be. We’ve been really impressed with how he’s played; he’s a real leader of that [Cronulla] forward pack.

“I know he’s expressed his passion and interest, which is good. So if he plays well, like all players that are eligible, we’ll consider him.”

Souths’ 18-month, $3.5m headache finally ends

South Sydney’s four most influential players, Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, captain Cameron Murray and Jack Wighton, have finally been named together on the same team sheet for the first time in 18 months.

But the Rabbitohs are still being forced to contend with rotten injury luck, with veteran forward Jai Arrow facing at least another six weeks out with nerve damage in his shoulder.

After the NRL granted an exemption for young half Ashton Ward to play against the Dolphins on Sunday from outside the Rabbitohs’ top 30 squad, Wayne Bennett has been able to name one of the strongest line-ups of his second spell in charge at the club.

Not since Mitchell went down with what proved a season-ending foot injury against Parramatta in July, 2024 have he and Murray (the Rabbitohs’ two biggest earners, on an estimated $1.1 million each) played alongside each other.

Since Wighton signed with the club at the start of that season, the four stars, who take up a combined $3.5 million of Souths’ salary cap, have played together just five times from a potential 48 games.

A largely settled off-season has raised hopes that Souths will finally be able to keep their brightest stars on the paddock this season, though that was tempered on Tuesday with uncertainty around Arrow’s immediate future.

Specialist investigation into ongoing nerve damage in the ex-Queensland forward’s shoulder has proven inconclusive according to the club.

Arrow, 30, “will undergo a course of treatment with the specialist over the next four-to-six weeks to see if the nerves in his shoulder settle,” a Souths statement read.

While Arrow and hooker Brandon Smith (calf) remain sidelined, the Rabbitohs injury toll is a far cry from the eye-watering casualty ward the club has endured over the past two seasons.

Alex Johnston (hamstring) and Bud Sullivan (infection) have both been named to play in recruit David Fifita’s first game for Souths, while the Dolphins welcome star forwards Tom Gilbert and Thomas Flegler back from lengthy lay-offs.

Elsewhere, Manly have named playmaking prodigy Joey Walsh on the bench for his second NRL game behind veterans Luke Brooks and Jamal Fogarty on Saturday night, when Fogarty takes on his old Raiders outfit.

Canberra will play former Knights skipper Jayden Brailey off the bench ahead of last year’s breakout star Owen Pattie, who will start the season in NSW Cup to build up his minutes.

Penrith will be without Liam Martin against Brisbane, though the NSW and Australian back-rower is expected to miss just one game due to a calf issue. Broncos veteran Ben Hunt has been named as a bench utility with Corey Paix to start at hooker.

Sua Fa’alogo starts at fullback for Melbourne in Thursday’s clash with Parramatta after Ryan Papenhuyzen’s exit from the club, while Nick Meaney shifts to the wing to replace Xavier Coates (Achilles). Former Storm playmaker Jonah Pezet will line up opposite his old teammates in his Eels debut.

Former Bronco denies criticising coach Maguire with social media ‘like’

Adrian Proszenko

Former Brisbane forward Alex Glenn has rubbished suggestions he disrespected coach Michael Maguire by liking a controversial social media post.

Glenn, who works for the Broncos as a game-day host, vehemently denied bagging Maguire after liking a post with the headline quote “What I do keep hearing a lot is Madge’s name being mentioned … but not in positive ways.”

It’s a quote attributed to Mark Geyer on Maguire’s coaching methods. Below that, there’s a subhead stating: “Pressure is beginning to build around Broncos coach Michael Maguire. Will we see Brisbane go back-to-back this year?”

Glenn clarified that he was liking the latter part of comment, rather than questioning Maguire’s approach.

“Any suggestion that I was expressing negativity towards Madge is an absolute joke and completely unfounded,” Glenn said in a statement.

“I am a massive advocate for Madge and only liked the post because it asked the specific question, ’Will we see Brisbane go back to back this year?

“I liked the post only to affirm my support on that specific point. All our fans know that no one cheers harder for Madge and the Broncos than I do.”

Glenn, who helped host a tour group of Broncos supporters to England for the World Club Challenge, also released a video explaining himself to ensure he wasn’t taken out of context.

Another former Broncos forward, Martin Taupau, was sacked after he liked an Instagram post questioning Maguire’s methods last year.

Maguire coached the Broncos to the premiership last season, just a year after guiding the Blues to a State of Origin series victory. However, some pundits continue to question whether his hard-nosed approach to training is sustainable.

Glenn insisted he isn’t one of them.

“Everyone knows that I support Madge and have always loved that he is coming to this club because hard work always beats talent,” Glenn said in the video.

“What I mean by that is, if you’re having a cry or whinge about being trained too hard … then you are in the wrong industry …

“You have to train your arse off to be champions and the boys were proving that last year … Don’t go out and try to create a divide between me and the club or me and Madge. It ain’t gonna work, I support him through and through.”

Decision that helped Bulldogs down Dragons was almost too close to call

Christian Nicolussi

Bronson Xerri was adamant the ball was stripped. Ryan Couchman and his St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan were convinced it was a loose carry by Xerri.

As for the NRL, the call was so tight that sources with knowledge of the situation not authorised to speak publicly said the bunker would not have had sufficient evidence to over-rule the original decision.

The controversial penalty awarded to Xerri by referee Grant Atkins in the 89th minute of Sunday’s golden-point thriller was the biggest talking point out of the season opener in Las Vegas, with the Dogs allowed to march downfield and set up captain Stephen Crichton for the winning field-goal with six seconds left on the clock.

A furious Flanagan said afterwards: “It’s a loose carry every day of the week, without a doubt. We didn’t get the rub of the green, that’s for sure.”

But Xerri insisted the right call had been made, revealing the Bulldogs had worked on their ball control over the summer.

“It was definitely a strip, I was confident, and if they had ruled it was a knock-on, I would have definitely told ‘Critta’ [Crichton] to challenge it,” Xerri said. “I back myself. We do a lot of reps [making sure we hold on to the ball].”

Unsurprisingly, Couchman took the opposing view. “I thought it was a tough call,” the Dragons prop said. “The referees have to make a decision, they do their best, but I’m disappointed with it. I didn’t think it was a strip.

“My first thought was to challenge. ‘Gutho’ [co-captain Clint Gutherson] said, ‘We don’t have a challenge’, so my next thought was to try and stop a field goal.

“Not walking away with the two points, that’s what’s deflating. It was a tough loss, but the boys put in a good effort, and we should be super proud.”

The NRL’s club relationship manager of elite officiating, David Fairleigh, sent a memo to all coaches just last week with a list of rule changes and interpretations, which included stealing the ball.

“Stealing the ball will be determined by the defending player(s) actions,” Fairleigh wrote. “These actions may include striking at the ball, gripping and pulling at the ball or pulling a ball carries arm to dislodge the ball.”