The big concern is, what happens if the team doesn’t take off? Do NRL clubs have to pay back the money, or is that the responsibility of the NRL?
Perhaps the real anger will come from taxpayers who are giving money to NRL teams over a project that may not get off the ground.
The funding promise is based on China not gaining a foothold in PNG. It has been reported that Australia can withdraw the funding at any time and without cause. But the whole idea of a team in PNG does not sit comfortably with many people in and around the game. A rugby league side being a political pawn is difficult to stomach.
Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape (left) and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese announce a PNG rugby league team in December.Credit: Kate Geraghty
But the clubs are primarily concerned with their own bank balances and survival.
And here’s another fact to consider when it comes to PNG: the lure of tax-free income has been dangled in front of players and staff. We have been told it has been rubber-stamped by the Australian government. And the NRL also says players and staff won’t pay tax on property they have in Australia that could have been considered investment properties because players had moved to PNG and were no longer living in them.
The NRL says it is confident the PNG franchise will be a success.
Mal content to stay with Bears
There are growing concerns about Mal Meninga’s judgment and ability to be the head coach of the Perth Bears given the actions of the now clubless recruiter Ezra Howe.
Those concerns are coming from NRL head office and externally.
The NRL is investigating allegations Howe was unofficially working for the incoming club while still contracted to the Gold Coast Titans. Howe was the man many expected to build the inaugural Bears roster.
The NRL is investigating the allegations after the Titans lodged a complaint.
Where it would be a problem for the NRL is if Meninga was aware of Howe’s actions. We asked Meninga that via text. All we got back was: “Good question.”
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo with Bears coach Mal Meninga and CEO Anthony De Ceglie.Credit: Getty Images
Meninga is aware questions are being asked about how he beat coaches with more recent NRL experience to land a job as big as the one at expansion club Perth, when he has not coached at club level for more than two decades.
Meninga’s last big club job was at the Titans, where he oversaw culture and performance. The Titans didn’t thrive in those areas. Meninga has also been a figurehead at the Raiders, where he coached 125 games, and was of course in charge as Queensland won nine State of Origin series between 2006 and 2015.
There are also concerns about Meninga’s ability to handle the scrutiny and nuances of the modern game. On occasions when the Kangaroos were under pressure during his tenure as coach from 2016-24, he was not comfortable. More importantly, Meninga has gone missing during the Bears’ recruitment crisis.
Meninga has deals with Fox Sports and SEN radio, and he speaks at length to those media outlets.
The North Sydney Bears fans celebrate following the announcement of the new Perth team.Credit: Steven Siewert
It has been suggested Meninga may walk away from the Bears job.
Without prompting, he said: “I am fully committed to the Perth Bears and willing to jump all the hurdles.”
Meninga was told two weeks ago that he would not get his way with Howe as his recruitment chief. He was not pleased.
Much of the criticism being directed at Meninga relates to his two main requests as Bears coach: he wanted David Sharpe as his general manager of football, and Howe as his recruitment boss.
Rugby league great Mal Meninga has been appointed coach of the Perth Bears, but questions are being asked about his recent NRL experience.Credit: Getty Images
Like Meninga, Sharpe has an impressive resume, including “nearly four decades of distinguished experience across law enforcement and sports integrity”, according to the NRL media release. He is a former Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner and CEO of Sport Integrity Australia.
However, he is relatively short on experience at the NRL coalface. Building a club and helping assemble a roster needs street smarts and cunning. Sharpe will need that more than his impressive gift of the gab.
Fingers are being pointed at Meninga for championing Howe. Regardless of what Howe did or did not do, it’s a black eye for the Bears, who can’t afford to be seen as a problem club.
The NRL is distancing itself from Howe. Will it distance itself from Meninga, too?
Meninga’s appointment and questions about it are being directed to the NRL, who own the Bears. Meninga is a favourite of ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys. Or that’s how his appointment has been portrayed. However, V’landys was also the man who led the charge to cut Meninga’s health Kangaroos salary.
Meninga is being positioned as a key attraction for recruiting players, but that could be tarnished by the Howe issue and his support for him.
Ramsey going, going, Gong
Cody Ramsey has been through a lot worse than an uncertain footy future with the Dragons only offering him a train-and-trial deal. But that’s where he is right now.
Ramsey, 25, had almost 900 days away from the game he loved because he was struck down with ulcerative colitis, a serious inflammatory bowel disease that at one point threatened his life.
Cody Ramsey in action for the Dragons in 2022.Credit: NRL Photos
He has some powerful backers in his corner as attempts are being made to get him a start in England. Ramsey has not played enough games to qualify to play in England under that country’s complex work visa requirements. Players must meet the Rugby Football League’s criteria for a UK work visa. But Ramsey’s time out of the game counts against him.
Dragons board member Mark Coyne has tried to use his contacts to help Ramsey overcome that rule. He has not had any luck.
The matter has now been referred to Peter V’landys. He will go to war with the UK’s governing body.
Ramsey was a star on the rise before his illness. He has bravely fought back from a place where many thought he couldn’t.
The reward is a limited deal – one he doesn’t want to settle for.
He is certainly grateful that the Dragons helped him through some horrendous times. He won’t forget that. But he wants more.
After conquering his health battles, anything that happens on the field is neither scary nor overwhelming. He thinks his best days on the field are still ahead of him, and if it has to be at a rival club, so be it.
It is another issue the Dragons will need to deal with.
Who’s responsible for act of Dodd?
The Rabbitohs need a lucky break after a year punctuated by injuries and the failure of their star signing Lewis Dodd.
Rabbitohs recruit Lewis Dodd was never the star the Rabbitohs hoped he would be.Credit: Steven Siewert
The word coming out of England is that Dodd is set to link with French Super League club Catalans. That’s what English clubs are telling my sources, and if that happens to be the case, it’s a huge win for South Sydney as Dodd has not been able to find a home in the first-grade side.
The blame game around the signing of Dodd is a sensitive subject in the corridors of power at Maroubra. No one wants to own the decision to contract him for more than $2 million on a three-year deal.
There have been worse signings, but this one is being used to question the Rabbitohs’ recruitment strategy.
It’s easy to kick a club while they are down, but the purpose of this item is not to do that but rather try to clarify who signed off on the deal.
From those who are heavily involved in the process, the word is that coach Wayne Bennett was not part of the decision. His scathing assessment where he questioned whether Dodd can make it was as clear an indication as any that Bennett was not part of the decision to sign him.
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett.Credit: Getty Images
When asked in August if the decision to release Dodd from his contract early was based on his price tag or poor form, Bennett said: “It might not even be his form, it might be his ability.”
It was Bennett’s way of making the point.
I’ve been assured that the deal was done before Bennett had been approached to come back to the club. There has been a line of thinking that Bennett instructed Souths chief executive Blake Solly and the man who went to the UK to meet Dodd – recruitment head Mark Ellison – not to return from England without the half’s signature. But I have put that to people involved in the process who say that is not correct. They told me that Bennett played no role in the Dodd decision.
All clubs make recruitment errors, and South Sydney can’t hide from this.
In fairness, the player who was allowed to leave the club – Lachlan Ilias – has not kicked on at the Dragons either, and they are trying to move him on again, too. That decision by the Dragons isn’t as expensive as the Dodd mistake, but it shows other clubs can get it wrong on high-profile halves.
Las is more for Richo
Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson has been the biggest opponent of the Las Vegas season openers. But he has made this concession: “We will go to Vegas … we want to play against PNG there.” I’m not sure if he is joking, but he asked to be quoted on that.
Willie go to the UK?
Willie Peters being positioned as a Kangaroos assistant coach is a great reward for a talented and good person. But I interviewed new Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters on the Big Sports Breakfast on Sky Sports Radio a few weeks back and I raised the idea of having an assistant coach based in England. Walters did not like the idea.
Yet, here he is with an England-based coach in Peters, who is in charge of high-flying Hull KR.
Hull FC coach John Cartwright was also sounded out, but he wants to come home.
At least Walters has the Australia-based Gorden Tallis on his team.
Cents of disappointment
What are the Kangaroos players going to earn for their Ashes tour? A total of $13,000 each.
It’s not a huge amount for professional athletes at the end of a long year. But it’s the going rate.
Players will be out of pocket by the time they pay for families to come over and cover the cost of accommodation.
Voss doing?
Dan Ginnane’s promotion to the seat formerly filled by James Hooper on NRL 360 has been a smooth and well-deserved one. He is an excellent caller and good performer on the panel.
Does it mean that he is now the No.1 caller at the network?
It is interesting that Andrew Voss is not on the show. Voss has strong, well-crafted opinions on his radio show, and he is no stranger to making big calls. He also has hosted his own shows. It’s difficult to determine what the deciding factor is leaving Voss out of that equation. He would be a more than capable panel member.
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