Source : the age
Anthony Mundine had plenty of run-ins with Laurie Daley during their playing days. Who can forget Mundine talking about Daley “running on old legs”? Or when he asked why Daley did not do more to embrace his Indigenous past?
But Mundine made a point of catching up with Daley in Melbourne on Tuesday night, and said he was desperate to see Daley succeed against Queensland and silence the knockers.
“He’s a good man, brother,” Mundine said. “It was good to catch up with him. We had a lot of history – he was a nemesis back in the day – but to see what he’s doing now, he’s got an opportunity to close it out.
“The people talking s**t about him, if you ain’t been there and done it, you’ve got no right to say anything. Loz is a legend.”
Mundine was famously known as ‘The Man’, but was happy to bestow that title, momentarily, on NSW halfback Nathan Cleary.
“The man who can get them home on Wednesday night is the general, and that’s Nathan Cleary,” Mundine said.
“I told him, ‘bruh, you’re the man, this is your time, and you need to lead with everything, lead with your energy, your talk, and your actions’. He said, ‘thanks man, I appreciate that’.”
Albo a true Blue
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a surprise cameo at the NSW team dinner on Tuesday night, and sat down with coach Laurie Daley to talk about the Blues’ Origin chances.
‘Albo’ is a passionate South Sydney fan (who can ever forget him casually strolling across Allianz Stadium when Alex Johnston broke the try-scoring record earlier this year), and he was eager to check in on the Blues while in town at the plush Pullman Hotel.
There was plenty of emotion during the pre-game jersey presentations, including when Dylan Lucas, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Jack Bostock received their first jerseys.
James Tedesco received a medal for reaching 25 games for NSW, while Storm coach Craig Bellamy also appeared to hand out the playing tops to the non debutants.
Casey McLean, who was ruled out with quad injury on Saturday, also returned to Melbourne to be with the team.
Turbo back for Manly, maybe Blues
Tom Trbojevic returns from a hamstring injury in what is a boost for Manly – and potentially NSW heading into game three.
The man dubbed ‘Turbo’, however, hoped the Blues could seal the series in Melbourne, and he was not even needed.
“I love NSW and I love Origin, but I haven’t given it much thought – I actually hope they can win the series in Melbourne so there’s no need to make changes then,” Trbojevic said.
“Tolu has been unbelievable for us, and I’m sure he’ll do another outstanding job. Tolu and Haumole [Olakau’atu] have taken a lot of confidence out of being on that arena, they’ve learned so much, and they now realise how much they can influence a game.”
Coach Daley will take extra comfort knowing Newcastle’s Bradman Best and possibly South Sydney’s Latrell Mitchell are also back from injury for game three, and are backline options if required for a potential decider.
As for Trbojevic, he broke down against the Cowboys and was an outside chance of returning against South Sydney in round 14. But the Sea Eagles thought with the bye, the extra time would only benefit their marquee man.
He has enjoyed the revolution happening under good friend and coach Kieran Foran, and said: “‘Foz’ has revitalised the northern beaches. It’s on us to keep riding the wave. I haven’t seen anything like it since I’ve been playing. He’s get my vote for coach of the year, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
My boy Finegan
James Finegan has lost count of the number of times his father, former Wallabies prop Owen Finegan, forced him to watch replays of his famous try in the Rugby World Cup final against France in 1999.
Now the younger Finegan would love to score a long-range try himself when he runs out for the NSW in the under-19s Origin clash against Queensland on Thursday night.
The 18-year-old backrower played rugby growing up, but always preferred league. The Sydney Roosters clearly have high hopes given they recently re-signed Finegan until the end of 2029.
The Bondi club will have no fewer than five players representing NSW, including Rex Bassingthwaighte who made his NRL debut last Friday night.
Owen posed for a photo with James and joked he was glad his son was finally “no longer riding on my coat tails”.
Owen added he had spent a few seasons playing league with Bondi United, and school footy with Roosters royalty, Luke Ricketson.
Lee, Pascoe next venture
There have been whispers former Wests Tigers CEO and chairman, Justin Pascoe and Lee Hagipantelis, and their Global Sports Fund Management Group are interested in buying a stake in the Melbourne Storm.
The Storm’s owners confirmed earlier this year they were not selling out of the club, but had sounded out private equity firms in the hope then can invest in the club’s future training and pathways program.
But Hagipantelis quickly hosed down buying a stake in the Storm, and said there may have been confusion because they had bought professional netball franchise the Sunshine Coast Lightning from the NRL club.
GSF own the Lightning and Canadian basketball team the Ottawa BlackJacks. They also part-own the A-League’s Newcastle Jets.
Now Hagipantelis wants to buy a lower-division English football club.
“We’ve already had a number of Zooms with interested parties, and it’s definitely on the agenda – it would be a wonderful addition to our little portfolio,” Hagipantelis said.
Demon joins Blues
Melbourne Demons coach Steven King popped in to join NSW counterpart Laurie Daley at training on Monday.
Daley said King told him how he spent seven years living on the NSW south coast, and had a keen interest in the game.
Meanwhile, Daley said there were no plans to bring Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy into the box on Wednesday. Brad Fittler had joy using Penrith coach and good friend Ivan Cleary as a sounding board during a one-off appearance in 2023, but Daley was more than content with his team
