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The AFL is laughing all the way to the bank while its chief provocateur, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys, is being forced to defend the NRL’s broadcast deal.
With the AFL’s $4.5 billion seven-year deal with Foxtel and Seven swamping the contract that the NRL renewed with Foxtel and Nine during the pandemic, league officials are in damage control.
According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, the NRL is considering asking Foxtel back to the negotiating table to ask for tens of millions of dollars in compensation due to a “perceived verbal agreement” that the pay-TV broadcaster would look after the league after it was willing to do a deal during the pandemic uncertainty.
The ARL Commission is opening itself up to more criticism after being lampooned for claiming it had a handshake agreement with the NSW Government over stadium funding.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet eventually diverted the funding set aside for upgrades to suburban stadiums to assist with disaster relief after the recent flooding in the state.
It is believed the AFL will be earning $100-$200m per year from its broadcast deal than the NRL and club bosses are unhappy that head office has sold the game short. V’landys has repeatedly refused to divulge the actual dollar figure that the NRL will receive from its broadcast deal.
The NRL, according to the SMH, had tried to institute a “most favoured” clause in its deal with Foxtel which would have prevented them from paying more for their AFL contract. It was rejected.
South Sydney have been dealt a hammer blow ahead of their semi-final against Cronulla with prop Tom Burgess charged twice for his two minutes of mayhem on Sunday.
Burgess was on Monday morning left facing a minium two-week ban for his high shot on Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco, along with a further $1800 fine for another hit on Matt Lodge a minute later.
Already battling to overcome a concussion in time for Saturday’s clash with the Sharks, Burgess will now need to go to the judiciary and downgrade if he wishes to play again before the grand final.
However even that comes with a risk given he would cop an extra week if he fights the charge and loses, meaning his season would be over.
The Rabbitohs forward was not the only player feeling the heat out of the brutal elimination final that kept Souths alive and ended their rivals’ campaign.
Roosters veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has been handed a grade-two dangerous contact charge for the head slam that left Burgess concussed, resulting in a minimum three-game ban.
The charge is the fifth of Waerea-Hargreaves’ season, and again a further week will be added if the prop attempts to fight it at the judiciary and loses.
Any ban would be carried into the World Cup for New Zealand, and if selected, he’ll miss the entire group stage. If he is not picked, it will carry into next season at club level.
Roosters lock Victor Radley has avoided any charge despite accounting for two of the seven sin-bins at Allianz Stadium.
Radley’s first indiscretion was for a right-handed jab aimed at Milne in the first half.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
He later ran in and sparked a melee when he saw Souths prop Tevita Tatola pressing on the head of teammate Egan Butcher.
But neither incident was deemed worthy of further sanction in the eyes of the match review committee.
Radley and Waerea-Hargreaves were shielded from speaking to the media on Sunday, but five-eighth Luke Keary was left to rue their indiscipline.
“Those boys will try that fine line,” Keary said.
“But we just couldn’t separate that physical side from then going, ‘hang on what’s the situation in front of us and how can we exploit it’?
“As a team, we just didn’t do it. We were poor.”
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Souths winger Taane Milne is also facing a fine for his high shot on Joseph Suaalii, while Suaalii has been charged for raising his knees in a tackle as he returned a kick in the second half.
He was not penalised at the time, but the teenager now faces a $1800 fine.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson admitted on Sunday their lack of discipline in a game where there were 15 penalties proved their undoing.
“I feel like we definitely had opportunities,” he said.
“So we lost the game through not controlling the physicality or the overcompensation for that physicality, and then also how to execute.”
Demetriou had a cheeky dig at head office post-game over the strange recent decision to allow Panthers rookie Taylan May to serve a two-game ban for an off-field incident at the start of next season.
“We’ve got the benefit of using the suspensions next year – that’s a new policy that we use, isn’t it? Can we do that? The fans want to see them play. I’ll have a word to Peter (V’landys), we’ll get a petition going, the fans will show their interest and we’ll serve it next season.”
Cameron Smith fears there’s worse news to follow Melbourne’s early NRL finals exit with the long-time former skipper expecting star playmaker Cameron Munster to leave the club.
Munster put off a decision on his playing future until after the Storm’s season was over but with Canberra eliminating them from the premiership race on Saturday night, Smith expects him to announce that 2023 will be his last in Melbourne.
A former teammate of Munster, Smith felt that the 27-year-old would have already re-signed if he was going to given the Storm had matched an offer from new entry the Dolphins.
“If I’m brutally honest, if he was going to commit to the Melbourne Storm and sign on and extend his contract, he would’ve done so by now,” Smith told SEN radio on Monday. “That’s my gut feeling.
“He’s been at the club since he was 16 years of age and we’ve heard (Munster’s manager) Braith Anasta come out and say the Melbourne Storm offer is in the area where it should be, so what’s holding him back?
“I’d love him to stay but I feel like he will be going to the Dolphins.”
Cameron Munster. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Munster hinted about a move back home to Queensland, where his partner is also from, in a pre-finals press conference.
A new dad, he said he had to consider what was best for his young family.
“If it was only about myself then I’d love to stay but at the same time I’ve got a young family that I need to worry about and obviously (Bianca) is from Queensland so we need to make sure we will make the right decision,” Munster said.
Melbourne’s week one exit was their worst finish since 2014 and Smith said it would be tough to cover the departure of a number of key forwards with the Bromwich brothers, captain Jesse and Kenny, and Felise Kaufusi to the Dolphins while Brandon Smith has signed with the Sydney Roosters.
“They’re four premiership players and four representative players so they’re losing a whole heap of experience,” the retired great said.
“They are four players that are also in their starting 13 so it’s a big chunk of their starting side out of this team.
“This is going to be a big challenge for the club and Craig Bellamy as coach.”
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