Another year. Another slew of remarkable story-lines in rugby league.
PARRAMATTA’S YEAR FROM HELL
Not even Hollywood’s best horror sciptwriters could have written this. It began with the season-ending loss of Anthony Watmough to a debilitating knee injury that resulted in an ongoing payout standoff; Corey Norman and Junior Paulo were issued police warnings for consorting with criminals; Norman was later suspended for eight games for a crude sex tape; and Semi Radradra was also charged with domestic violence and almost left for rugby union (twice). But the worst blow came from the stripping of 12 competition points for salary cap cheating that also ended in the eventual dismissal of the board, football manager and CEO. Last but not least, star recruit Kieran Foran lasted just nine games as captain before he was sensationally granted a release for personal issues.
NSW POLICE LOOK INTO CROOKED MATCHES
If salary cap cheating wasn’t enough, then revelations three NRL matches were being investigated for match-fixing was another hammer l blow to the league. The NSW Organised Crime squad dropped the bombshell on the eve of the NRL finals series that strike force Nuralda had been commanded to look into at least three NRL games, two of which involved Parramatta and Manly. It was enough to force gambling identity Eddie Hayson to call his own press conference to defend his reputation.
SHARKS TURN PORCH LIGHT OFF
One year after North Queensland claimed their first-ever premiership, Cronulla ended a 49-year drought with a fairytale 14-12 win over Melbourne to send the Shire into a month-long party. The triumph – just two years after the club was brought to its knees by the controversial peptides saga – was tainted by Andrew Fifita’s public support for one-punch killer Kieran Loveridge. Star fullback Ben Barba was also released after being hit with a 12-game ban for testing positive a second time under the illicit drug-testing program.
PEARCE’S AUSTRALIA DAY ATROCITY
It didn’t take long in the new year for the NRL to cop its first black eye, with Sydney Roosters star Mitchell Pearce filmed making unwanted advances on a woman, urinating on her couch and then simulating sex with her dog. The drama resulted in Pearce being stripped of the co-captaincy, fined $125,000 and suspended for the first eight games of the season – seven of them ending in losses that all but ruled the Roosters out of the finals race by April.
HAYNE PLANE MAKES RETURN FLIGHT TO NRL
It was the return flight from San Francisco to Australia that was supposed to stop via Rio, but in the end Jarryd Hayne’s shock bid for the Olympics landed him in a desperate return to the NRL. Only problem was that it wasn’t at hometown Parramatta, instead creating a red button circus at the Titans. He initially delivered upon return, including a dramatic game-winning golden point field goal in Campbelltown, but flamed out with his teammates in week one of the finals.
GALLEN’S BLUES SNUB MAROONS ORIGIN TRIUMPH
NSW were chastised as “disrespectful” by their Queensland counterparts after retiring skipper Paul Gallen and his Blues teammates turned their backs during the Maroons’ victory speech following the 2-1 series win. The Blues publicly denied fleeing intentionally, although were believed to be privately seething over the Maroons’ heavy sledging in game three.
FARAH-TAYLOR DIVORCE FINALLY ENDS
It was the dark cloud that hung over Concord for over 12 months, and finally ended in Robbie Farah drinking a tinnie on the ledge of the famous Leichhardt Oval scoreboard and taking up a two-year offer with South Sydney. Stepping down from the captaincy last summer after being dropped by coach Jason Taylor last year, Farah played just nine games in 2016 but wasn’t seen again after the State of Origin series.
MENINGA CALLS OUT BENNETT
Mal Meninga passed his first real test as new Kangaroos coach with an undefeated Four Nations tour in the northern hemisphere, but not before making a beeline for England rival Wayne Bennett in a newspaper column. Meninga accused the supercoach of undermining his authority as Australian coach.
JOHN GRANT v NRL CLUBS
Any chance of a quiet summer was speared when ARLC chairman John Grant reneged on an agreed funding model, prompting four club chairmen to walk out of a November meeting. Grant’s position is now hanging by a thread after 14 of the 16 clubs, together with the NSWRL, called for an extraordinary general meeting on December 20 to vote for Grant’s head.
BUNKER FALLS INTO NRL HOLE
It was trumpeted as the innovation that would make big in-roads into refereeing errors and decision-making, but all the NRL got was a big headache. Banned from taking aim at match officials, NRL coaches instead zeroed in on the new $2 million Eveleigh bunker as the game adjusted to its virtual Big Brother. A confusing crackdown on players touching referees during matches also became a source of frustration.
WARRIORS COACH EMBARRASSINGLY DEMOTED TO ASSISTANT
Just as it looked as though every NRL coach was going to survive the axe for the first time in a decade, the Warriors opted to demote Andrew McFadden to assistant coach following yet another disappointing season by the perennial underachievers. The club ushered in Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney in the hope of drawing the best out of its international-heavy roster.
