Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Queensland and Roosters half Sam Walker plays with the spirit of a wild west gun slinger, and he’s taking that attitude into his contract negotiations as his agents look for an extra $1 million in his deal at the NRL high-flyers.
The Roosters made a well weighted offer worth about $5.6 million over four years with ratchet clauses which will ensure Walker’s pay goes up when the cap increases over the next few years. But contract talks were put on hold this week, and Walker could hit the open market on November 1.
The premiership frontrunners believe Walker’s camp wants closer to $1.7 million a year at the Roosters, or $6.8 million over four years. This figure would be higher at a rival club. So there is a gap of about $1 million between the parties.
It’s not an insurmountable amount.
Walker showed maturity when he suggested putting negotiations on hold this week. It was a show of strength and brought clarity to a process that has been full of uncertainty. The Roosters were left wondering why they had to attend a meeting at all.
About two months ago, there was a quiet ring-around to gauge how serious the Roosters’ interest in Panthers champion Nathan Cleary was. It wasn’t conducted by Cleary’s agent, but instead by those who are close to Walker. They wanted to know if the Roosters were looking to move on from Walker.
There is no club in the NRL who wouldn’t want Cleary. But loving the one you are with isn’t hard when they are of Walker’s calibre.
It was a sign that while Walker is secure at the club, some of those around him have not been as confident about his future at Bondi.
There has been a quiet uneasiness in the relationship. That has come more from those outside the club than Walker himself. But it was all thrown up again when Walker decided to put the brakes on contract talks.
At the meeting with his agents, Clinton Schifcofske and Steve Gillis, Roosters board member Andrew Jolliffe, club general manager Mitch Aubusson and head of recruitment Joel Carbone, Walker took the lead and explained to the group that it was the wrong time to negotiate.
There was no discussion about the contract details. The Roosters would have entered that meeting hoping to walk out with a deal, so they would have been somewhat displeased. But Walker’s desire to put the focus on football was music to their ears.
They may be sitting down with a premiership winner in a couple of months, and their initial offer will definitely be upped. It’s a price they will gladly pay.
Pay-off for a play-off
Rugby league supremo Peter V’landys is open to the idea of dangling a $500,000 salary cap discount to clubs who win any post season competitions the NRL stages around grand final week.
The broad idea of cap relief came from Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould, who mentioned it in conversation when the prospect of extra content for the NRL was raised.
V’landys is eager to give fans and broadcasters more rugby league during grand final week and last week raised the prospect of a third-place play-off for teams who crash out in the preliminary finals.
The $500,000 cap discount is something V’landys can live with. It could be used to give upgrades to players in the following year’s cap, or to assist in buying a quality player.
Five-figure match payments could also be made to players who take part in a one-off game such as the minor placing play-off.
Gould was talking to this columnist about his idea for a knockout competition involving teams that missed the finals and said a good incentive would be a salary cap discount. He is a believer in that initiative rather than a third-place play-off.
These concepts and other items will be on the agenda for the Australian Rugby League Commission when they meet this week.
Roosters just visiting
South Sydney are working on plans to disrupt arch rivals the Roosters on their home turf in their final-round game at Allianz Stadium next month.
There was plenty of drama in their round two clash in March, when Alex Johnston became the game’s greatest all-time try-scorer.
Roosters assistant coach Michael Cheika allegedly chipped Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when he wanted to get in the lift used by the Roosters coaching staff. The Souths fan wanted to get on the field to celebrate Johnston’s magical moment.
Cheika denied the altercation, but others say it happened. Roosters chairman Nick Politis also told his counterpart, Nick Pappas, exactly what he thought of Albo being on the ground with thousands of fans.
But it was the reference to the Rabbitohs as “visitors” on the Allianz scoreboard that really got under Souths’ skin. The idea is to throw that back in the Roosters’ face come September.
As the home side, Souths have control of the signage and are looking at putting the words “visiting team” or “visitors” above the Roosters bench on the sideline.
They want that image to be shown on TV. Ironically, the Roosters had to release a statement defending their decision to do something similar in round two after Pappas raised the issue with the NRL.
“The Allianz Stadium scoreboard referred to South Sydney as the visitors, rather than displaying their logo,” it read.
“This was consistent with the wording used during the Roosters’ corresponding home game against the Rabbitohs last season, and was implemented in good faith by the club’s marketing department in recognition of the rivalry between the two clubs, which spans more than a century.
“If this genuinely caused the level of concern suggested, we will cease doing so.
“This approach was taken in the spirit of the rivalry, and the Roosters acknowledged and appreciated the jest shown at Sunday’s NSW Cup fixture at Redfern Oval, where the scoreboard referred to the Roosters as the ‘visitors’.”
The Bunnies will be playing more games at Allianz Stadium from next season. They will be hoping for better crowd numbers than the reported 19,000 who attended the Eels game last week.
There is some talk that the crowd was actually 13,000.
Red Bull to give young Bulldog wings
The Bulldogs are going all out in their attempt to get their future halfback Mitch Woods back on the field by sending him to a world-class high-performance centre in either Austria or Los Angeles.
Woods is seen as central to the Bulldogs’ long-term success.
One of the club’s corporate partners, Red Bull, has offered access to the expertise and personal training at their high-performance and rehabilitation centre.
The facility is favoured by surfers, skateboarders and BMX riders on the Red Bull roster, who can access hyper-specific diagnostic and performance equipment.
The Bulldogs have invested heavily in Woods, a talented halfback, from an early age. Unfortunately, due to repeated hamstring injuries, he has been restricted to only a handful of lower-grade appearances in the past three seasons.
The centre in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, is used by hundreds of elite, Red Bull-sponsored athletes, Olympians and action sports professionals for training, rehabilitation and sports science testing.
Some of those who have used the centre include Olympic and world champion fencer Miles Chamley-Watson, professional big-mountain skier and climber Johnny Collinson, Australian professional surfer Jack Robinson and professional breakdancer Courtnae Paul.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for Mitch to source some alternative specialist rehabilitation,” Bulldogs GM Phil Gould said.
“We are so grateful to the people at Red Bull, not only for their generosity, but the thoughtful offer to assist our football program. We had a Zoom meeting with their management team last week and they couldn’t have been more helpful.”
Selling De Ceglie
Perth Bears chief executive Anthony De Ceglie has employed a new media adviser and from what we are hearing, he will need him to spin some favourable stories about the Bears boss.
There is still unrest about De Ceglie’s position at the Bears. His media man has strong News Corp ties, which will help keep some of the press off his back. Some of Perth’s favourite journalists were sent Bears jerseys last week as part of the sweetening process.
As nice as the jumpers are, they won’t count for much if the unrest around De Ceglie grows.
Sticks and stones
Corey Parker v Ricky Stuart is the feud we didn’t know we had. Or at least we had forgotten about.
Parker ripped into the Canberra coach for his press conference bake of Corey Horsburgh. Stuart was furious last Sunday after Horsburgh was sent to the sin-bin for slapping Knights centre Dane Gagai in the Raiders’ 30-24 loss to Newcastle.
“We should have gone 26-all and there was a brain explosion. It was a f—ing brain explosion, and we lost the opportunity,” Stuart said after the match.
By Tuesday, Stuart had axed Horsburgh for Saturday’s clash against Cronulla.
On SEN radio, Parker accused Stuart of “gaslighting” Horsburgh.
Turns out the pair have a history. Stuart took offence at some of Parker’s work as a critic in his time as a writer and panelist for Fox Sports.
On one occasion, Stuart was due to be on a panel with Parker but refused to appear with Parker, who was removed. The pair are both strong-headed and neither will back down from their respective positions. It’s one to watch.
Another year of Tupou
Winger Daniel Tupou is a real chance of playing a final season, his 16th, with the Roosters. He has no real desire to play in England, and he has the club record of 313 games, held by another Roosters favourite Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, in his sights.
There is no more loved Rooster than “Toops”.
A mate who had it all
Wallaby and Ireland international Brian Smith, who passed away this week, was a big part of my life as a journalist in his peak years and as a friend in the immediate time after it.
From a columnist’s point of view, Smith had it all – dual codes, dual country representative, handsome and a man about town. He was great copy.
He was highly motivated, professional and a deep and interesting man who allowed me to get to know him as a friend.
Smithy was intense and intelligent and knew the value of press.
He would have been a huge star in today’s NRL. He had the work ethic of a Nathan Cleary with a kick and pass that was compared to Ricky Stuart, who was a good mate.
He leaves behind a family who should be proud of everything he achieved.
Miss you, Smithy.
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