NRL NEWS: Panther charged with assault, DCE signs, Gus gets COVID, ARL power grab for Origin

Penrith rookie Taylan May has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm by Queensland Police over an incident which occurred in November.

The Panthers issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon after the winger was charged on Tuesday to say the incident happened while May was on an end-of-season break.

“The club was made aware of the incident at the time, informed the NRL Integrity Unit and undertook an investigation into the matter. The club subsequently implemented disciplinary measures against May, while giving fair consideration to the circumstances of the incident, and deemed the matter finalised.

“The NRL has not imposed any disciplinary measures against May, therefore he is eligible for NRL selection. As the matter is now before the courts, the club will make no further comment until those proceedings have concluded.”

May’s older brother Tyrone played in Penrith’s grand final win but was sacked by the club for a social media post in which he was unapologetic for a previous sex tape convition.

The 20-year-old played one NRL match last year and has scored five tries in two appearances for the Panthers over the past two weeks in emphatic wins over Newcastle and Souths.

DCE locked in until 2025

Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans will finish his career with the club after agreeing to a contract extension until the end of 2025.

The Sea Eagles formally announced the deal on Wednesday with the veteran halfback a chance of becoming the club’s most capped player if he stays injury free.

Cherry-Evans has played 265 matches for the Sea Eagles and sits fourth on the record list for most first-grade games played for Manly behind Cliff Lyons (309), Steve Menzies (280) and Anthony Watmough (278).

“Life has become the Northern Beaches and I wasn’t really interested in finding out if there’s a better lifestyle out there, to be honest,” he said.

“I’ve never felt as though the club is never in a premiership window, that’s just sort of the club we are at the moment. It’s the Sea Eagles, so you’re always there to compete. I’d love to be able to win a premiership again in the later half of my career but that’s just my mentality – every year is a chance to win.”

Club chairman Scott Penn was overjoyed to extend the skipper’s deal which had been due to expire at the end of next year.

“He is our club captain, an inspirational leader and this contract extension will take him well past 300 games for the Sea Eagles.”

Cherry-Evans has scored 72 tries, kicked 136 goals, and 25 field goals for 585 points for Manly since making his NRL debut for the Sea Eagles in their 2011 premiership-winning year.

COVID puts bite on Gus

Cantebury general manager Phil Gould has been laid low after contracting COVID-19, posting on social media that “it’s no fun at all”.

The Channel 9 commentator put up a message on Twitter on Wednesday morning to thank his well wishers for their support.

“Thank you for all the kind messages. Means a lot. Unfortunately Covid has really got me at the moment. It’s no fun at all. I know people report they hardly had symptoms, but it’s far from that with me. I sincerely hope none of you get what I’ve got. Best wishes, stay healthy,” he wrote on Twitter.

Gould’s Bulldogs started the season with an encouraging win over the Cowboys but have crashed to three straight defeats, the worst of which was a 44-0 shellacking at the hands of the Storm last weekend.

They travel to Penrith on Sunday with halfback Kyle Flanagan recalled to the top grade for the first time this season.

ARL making power play for Origin from NSWRL

The NSWRL has been served a legal letter from the ARL Commission threatening to pull its funding in a move which could lead to the NRL taking control of the State of Origin team.

Both parties have been feuding since the controversial NSWRL boardroom elections in late February when Roosters supremo Nick Politis and Bulldogs legend George Peponis quit over Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta being told he was ineligible to be a director over a “conflict of interest”.

The ARL Commission has told the NSWRL that it has until Friday to call for a new election or its multimillion-dollar funding will be pulled.

In the letter signed by Commission chairman Peter V’landys, he has also warned the NSWRL that they would be contacting the state body’s members to consult them on a direct funding model.

This means they would basically cut the NSWRL out of the loop so that NSW Cup clubs and other community bodies would be part of the ARL Commission’s set-up rather than the state organisation.

It has the potential to lead to the NSWRL losing control of the men’s and women’s State of Origin sides, which is its largest source of revenue.

 “If the NSWRL fails to remedy the matter, the Commission can have no confidence that the NSWRL is capable of properly discharging its obligations under which the Commission provides funding to NSWRL in respect of the administration for rugby league in NSW and the State of Origin respectively.”

NSWRL CEO David Trodden is yet to respond publicly to the demands.

Gallen says Tigers need to back or sack Maguire

Former NSW captain Paul Gallen would re-sign coach Michael Maguire for “another three or four years” if he was in charge at the Wests Tigers.

Gallen told Wide World of Sports Radio that nobody appears accountable at the club for its current state of disarray and the roster needs a major overhaul.

“I think they’ve got to back him or move on, back him or sack him, so to speak, back him and say he’s going to be the coach,” Gallen said.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“I’d sign him for another three or four years. It’s going to take this club, in my opinion, another two or three years to get out of this because of the contracts they have at the moment.

“So, back him and sign him for a longer-term deal and let him try to get the club out of this and play on through it, or otherwise you’re going to have to move on.

“You’re better ripping off the band-aid sooner rather than later.”

var request = new XMLHttpRequest();

request.open('POST', '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php', true); request.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded;'); request.onload = function () { if (this.status >= 200 && this.status