Rugby league is not a boring game, on or off the pitch, even during the off season.
Yesterday it was reported that Titans superstar centre James Roberts may be a free agent following a forged signature on his latest contract.
Although I expect Roberts to rightfully take advantage of the situation and renegotiate an increased contract with the club who took a big punt on him, the situation is an embarrassing one for the club.
If Roberts is to become a free agent following the error, he would be well within his rights to walk out on the club and sign elsewhere.
Given the fact the Titans missed out on landing a marquee recruit for 2016, they really hung their hat on holding onto their star attacking weapon.
Roberts, the Dally M centre of the year, set the competition alight despite playing in a side that finished just one win from the bottom of the table.
His 16 tries and 15 line breaks were a rare highlight in an otherwise horror season for the Titans.
If he were to walk from the club, the Titans would be left without their star attacking weapon, and their future recruitment would surely suffer a huge blow.
Even though it looks as though Roberts may stay at the club, the club has suffered a big hit in terms of its image.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs of Sydney, the Wests Tigers have announced that not only will Robbie Farah remain at the club next season, but he is unlikely to play NSW cup as previously threatened.
It’s a far cry from the tough talk by Tigers officials that their captain would be moved on to allow the club to usher in a new wave of future stars.
Add to that reports that both of the Tigers young halves, who the club have invested heavily in, are yet to commit long term, and all is not well in Tiger town.
As recent as a few weeks ago the plan at Concord was to move Farah on, reinvest the money he is on elsewhere, and build around the halves partnership of Moses and Brooks.
The Tigers allowed Blake Austin and Martin Taupau to walk from the club in order to retain their young halves pairing, and face a horrible situation should one, or both, opt to look elsewhere.
The club has lost face over the past few weeks following the backlash by fans and former stars at the club, who have rallied behind the popular captain.
Jason Taylor’s backing down from a major, club changing decision, could be the right move in the end, but it has fans questioning his authority at the club.
The Nines Could Be Key To Kick Starting Barba’s Resurgence
With the drawing of the pools for the preliminary rounds of the 2016 Auckland Nines, I started thinking about the make of the side each team would send over.
Some sides take the competition more seriously than the others, but one club who has a brilliant opportunity to make good use out of the two-day event is the Sharks.
This could be the opportunity they need to allow Ben Barba to play himself back into form.
Talk is that Shane Flanagan will deploy his potential game breaker from the bench again in 2016, which makes sending Barba to the event a minimum risk, huge pay off decision.
Should he injure himself, the Sharks have the likes of Paulo, Brown or Cleland to play the utility role off the bench.
Should he find confidence and form playing in the wide spaces that the nines competition affords, not only could he lead to the Sharks to the nines title, but he could lead the Sharks to the promise land.
Despite landing the likes of Maloney and Townsend in the offseason, Barba firing remains key to the Sharks title hopes.
A few breaks and a handful of tries in the nines could be the kick start Barba needs.
It’s a risk I’d certainly be taking if I were in the Shark hot seat.
Sea Eagles to leave the nest?
The Sea Eagles look set to sign former Kangaroo Dylan Walker, in a move that will further strengthen one of the NRL’s most potent backlines.
His likely signing will see him join the likes of Marty Taupau and Nate Myles in Trent Barrett’s new look Manly side.
His signature may also trigger a quick fire sale on the Northern Beaches as the club looks to manage its salary cap going forward.
Peta Hiku, despite recently being part of the New Zealand squad in their series against England, looks the most likely to make way to accommodate Walker.
Walker or Lyon are likely to fill in at five-eighth, with the other to play in the centres, while young gun Tom Trbojevic will surely find his way into the side.
I can’t imagine Hiku being too happy playing NSW cup, which looks like his future should Walker sign for the club.
A possible move to the Titans could be of huge benefit to both Hiku and the Titans.
Former NSW utility Jamie Buhrer may also be urged to look elsewhere, and I can’t imagine he’d have too much trouble finding a suitor.
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