Shock $900k rebel swoop for Souths gun; Dragons lock in exiled star \u2014 Transfer Whispers<\/a><\/p>\n‘Greatest recruitment blunder ever?!’ | 03:01<\/p>\n
Living back in Sydney could open doors to set him up post career.<\/p>\n
He would be the perfect fit for a big club like Souths.<\/p>\n
If Metcalf was to consider his options for 2027, the mail is he probably will want to go to a club where he could at least challenge for a premiership sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d imagine that would rule out a start-up club like the Perth Bears.<\/p>\n
The Dragons have also indicated they want to buy a top line seven and they have the money to burn.<\/p>\n
But would Metcalf consider the Dragons as a more likely premiership contender ahead of the Warriors at this point?<\/p>\n
At the Rabbitohs he could walk into a squad with the likes of Latrell Mitchell, Cam Murray, Jack Wighton, Campbell Graham and Brandon Smith, and they will have the salary cap space available in 2027 after Walker retires and Dodd is gone.<\/p>\n
The Rabbitohs have given no indication they are even considering going after Metcalf, with the focus on how they can turn things around next year.<\/p>\n
But if the Rabbitohs have been guilty of one thing in recent years, it\u2019s thinking short term when it comes to their recruitment.<\/p>\n
They have made some diabolical decisions going back to when Adam Reynolds was forced out the door because they wouldn\u2019t offer him more than one season to stay.<\/p>\n
The mistakes have continued right through to the signing of Dodd, a decision no one seems to want to stand up and take accountability for.<\/p>\n
They won\u2019t want to be in this same position another 12 months down the track.<\/p>\n
SOUTHS NEED TO THINK BEYOND BENNETT<\/p>\n
The options for next year when it comes to available top-line halfbacks are very thin.<\/p>\n
Names at the top of the list include Sandon Smith who is likely to be let go from the Roosters given Daly Cherry-Evans\u2019 pending arrival, while Hugo Savala is contracted until the end of 2026 but could potentially also get a release with boom youngster Toby Rodwell waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n
Melbourne\u2019s Jonah Pezet is another possible option, although Cameron Munster\u2019s long-term future will determine that.<\/p>\n
If Munster is given permission to join the Bears as their marquee man (as the tea leaves appear to be reading at the moment), Pezet will be staying at the Storm.<\/p>\n
There is also talk Pezet could be offered out on loan next year similar to when Harry Grant went to Wests Tigers awaiting Cameron Smith\u2019s retirement.<\/p>\n
Parramatta and Newcastle are keen on Pezet.<\/p>\n
In relation to the Bunnies, do they make 2026 the priority, or should they wait until a player like Metcalf is available for 2027?<\/p>\n
With Jahrome Hughes recently extending at the Storm, Metcalf is now the most valuable playmaker free to negotiate with rivals come November 1.<\/p>\n
He looks to be on target for a massive pay day regardless of whether he stays at the Warriors or returns to Australia.<\/p>\n
Cam Munster free to explore Perth switch | 02:22<\/p>\n
Bennett does have a rap on Jamie Humphreys who had a great start to the season but struggled as the year wore on, while Jayden Sullivan has done a decent job in the games he\u2019s played.<\/p>\n
The Bunnies have also signed young Dragon Jonah Glover for next season, while Bennett is also not closed to the idea of giving Jye Gray a crack at partnering Walker in the halves.<\/p>\n
Souths also have two talented youngsters coming through the system in Terrigal juniors Matt Humphries and Taj Alvarez who teamed up in SG Ball this year but are probably at least two years away from being NRL ready.<\/p>\n
Humphries has jumped from Ball to Jersey Flegg and now NSW Cup in a matter of months, while Alvaraz was killing it before he busted his collarbone at the recent Australian Schoolboy trials.<\/p>\n
But the fact the club has already agreed to give Walker another season purely because they don\u2019t have a better option is probably proof they are not yet NRL ready.<\/p>\n
Whichever direction Souths end up taking for their next long-term marquee playmaker they need to get it right, and it will go beyond Bennett\u2019s term at the club which currently expires at the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
GUS EXPOSES WHY NRL PUNTERS ARE STILL TREATED LIKE MUGS<\/p>\n
Through his contempt for the media and even his own Channel Nine colleagues, Bulldogs boss Phil Gould has again exposed a massive issue the NRL can\u2019t continue to ignore.<\/p>\n
It relates to the growing sports betting industry, and why the NRL has an obligation to follow the lead set by American sport and make clubs publicly disclose all player injury information.<\/p>\n
The Australian Financial Review reported earlier this year that the NRL is now pocketing more than $50 million annually from wagering agreements.<\/p>\n
But where sports like NFL and NBA force teams to give full and complete transparency on all injuries and sickness, here in the NRL punters continue to be treated like mugs.<\/p>\n
Gould was at his condescending best on Monday night\u2019s 100% Footy when he refused to give any clarity about the seriousness of Lachlan Galvin\u2019s hand and ankle injury.<\/p>\n
Ahead of this weekend\u2019s top four showdown against the Warriors, Gould was questioned by SMH NRL reporter Michael Chammas if there was anything to be worried about in relation to scans Galvin went for.<\/p>\n
Gould responded: \u201cThey don\u2019t send you for scans unless you\u2019ve got something to worry about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the doctor. I don\u2019t read the scans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by Emma Lawrence if Galvin had suffered the injury during the game, Gould added: \u201cHe didn\u2019t pick it up carrying his bag to the game, Emma.\u201d<\/p>\n
Revealed: Panthers alleged 2nd breach | 00:46<\/p>\n
As if it wasn\u2019t bad enough treating his own colleagues with such disrespect, Gus didn\u2019t seem to give a damn that he was also short-changing the viewers watching the show.<\/p>\n
The following day the Bulldogs\u2019 team sheet didn\u2019t make it any clearer when Galvin was named in the starting team, but with both young Mitchell Woods and Toby Sexton also on the extended bench.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not as if it\u2019s the first time a club has played ducks and drakes when it comes to player injuries because it happens in the build up to almost every game, every single week of the season.<\/p>\n
Many will also argue clubs and particularly coaches are only protecting their players by keeping everyone in the dark in respect to injuries, especially rivals who no doubt would target injured players.<\/p>\n
And for that reason clubs will say it should not be their responsibility to inform the public of anything that may influence betting markets.<\/p>\n
Yet if the game wants to prosper from growing gambling proceeds, surely there is an obligation to at least provide punters with greater transparency.<\/p>\n
It would also help protect the game from potential integrity issues.<\/p>\n
While all injuries have the potential to influence betting markets, it\u2019s particularly the case when the player in question is in one of the key spine positions, as Gavlin is playing halfback for the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
DOGS GROW TIRED OF GALVIN SOAP OPERA<\/p>\n
There is talk the Bulldogs players are getting sick and tired of having the spend almost every interview talking about Lachlan Gavlin.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s gone on for months now, and while they don\u2019t blame Galvin for what has transpired, they are said to be over playing their bit parts in the ongoing Galvin soap opera.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t surprise given every time you here one of the Bulldogs players interviewed the only questions that seem to get any airtime relates to Galvin.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s his messy exit from the Tigers, how he has settled in at the Dogs, is everything okay between Galvin and Toby Sexton, and now Galvin\u2019s injury is the latest chapter.<\/p>\n
If you thought you were over reading about it, think how the other Bulldogs players would be feeling.<\/p>\n
Was the NRL too soft on Penrith trainer? | 03:42<\/p>\n
DO PANTHERS NEED REMINDING OF THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF?<\/p>\n
It was commendable Ivan Cleary coming out this week and sticking up for his trainer Corey Bocking <\/a>after he was suspended for five games following the Jayden Campbell goal kick fiasco against the Titans.<\/p>\nCleary conceded Bocking was doing it tough and Cleary thought the punishment was harsh given Bocking is paying for past indiscretions by other Penrith trainers.<\/p>\n
But given that is the case, perhaps Cleary should have pulled the trainers into line before now.<\/p>\n
So it didn\u2019t get out of hand to the point where Bocking has become the so-called scapegoat for past so-called innocent mistakes.<\/p>\n
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo pointed out this week that this was the sixth time since 2021 the Panthers trainers have been in strife for breaking the rules.<\/p>\n
I reckon the NRL got the punishment close to spot on with the five-match ban and the $50,000 fine for the club.<\/p>\n
If anything, I would have gone harder on the length of the ban to ensure it doesn\u2019t happen again _ regardless of whether it was innocent or intentional.<\/p>\n
Maybe Ivan needs to sit the Panthers trainers down and read them the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf will become the NRL\u2019s hottest property in the coming months, likely to command in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18743,41646,40371,10748,1813,64,63,689,41673,14868,4567,3193,5084,1653,36262,4430,41666,41644,41672,763,41661,11402,41656,41652,5098,4578,4575,4580,4570,14872,23995,41654,4617,1082,41668,33215,10747,4529,41671,41645,41670,25291,673,10668,677,4585,11396,46,41658,41648,41653,41659,41647,41657,41650,40694,7889,4571,41660,41665,41655,41662,41663,4439,85,670,3501,41649,41664,4440,41669,41667,41651,1651,3439,4515],"class_list":["post-48997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-adam-reynolds","tag-american-sport","tag-andrew-abdo","tag-andrew-webster","tag-ankle-injury","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-betting-markets","tag-brandon-mychal-smith","tag-cameron-munster","tag-cameron-smith","tag-campbell-graham","tag-cody-walker","tag-corey-bocking","tag-daly-cherry-evans","tag-emma-lawrence","tag-englishman-lewis-dodd","tag-five-match-ban","tag-fox-league","tag-hottest-property","tag-hugo-savala","tag-integrity-issues","tag-interview-talking","tag-ivan-cleary","tag-jack-wighton","tag-jahrome-hughes","tag-jamie-humphreys","tag-jayden-campbell","tag-jayden-sullivan","tag-jye-gray","tag-key-spine-positions","tag-lachlan-galvin","tag-latrell-mitchell","tag-long-term-marquee-playmaker","tag-lord-gould-of-brookwood","tag-luke-metcalf","tag-marquee-man","tag-marquee-playmaker","tag-massive-pay-day","tag-matt-humphries","tag-michael-chammas","tag-new-south-wales","tag-newcastle","tag-oceania","tag-panel-debate","tag-paul-crawley","tag-perth","tag-player-injuries","tag-player-injury-information","tag-premiership-contender","tag-premiership-force","tag-reason-clubs","tag-reason-talks","tag-rebel-swoop","tag-recruitment-blunders","tag-salary-cap","tag-sandon-smith","tag-season-ending-knee-injury","tag-shelf-halves","tag-so-called-innocent-mistakes","tag-so-called-scapegoat","tag-soap-opera","tag-south-sydney-rabbitohs","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-talented-youngsters","tag-team-sheet","tag-terrigal","tag-toby-sexton","tag-top-line-halfbacks","tag-valuable-playmaker","tag-warriors-halfback","tag-wayne-bennett","tag-western-australia","tag-wests-tigers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}