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Tim Sheens says Benji Marshall had his blessing to reach out to Mitchell Pearce and gauge his interest in an NRL swansong with the Wests Tigers, even if the approach was likely to meet a dead end.
It emerged on Wednesday that Pearce, who turns 34 next week, had been sounded out by Marshall over a return to the NRL. Pearce is signed with Super League club Catalans Dragons until the end of this season.
Pearce told NewsCorp that “I don’t really have much to say. Benji called me yesterday and I told him I’m contracted to Catalans. We are top of the table and I want to win a comp in Super League. That’s pretty much it.”
The current Tigers No.2, Marshall is set to become head coach in 2025 when Sheens steps down.
Some interpreted Marshall’s contact with Pearce as an attempt to undermine Sheens, who has continually insisted maligned playmaker Luke Brooks is the answer to the Tigers’ woes.
But the veteran coach said it was no secret the Tigers were on the hunt for a half, and Marshall had spoken to Pearce with Sheens’ blessing. “We’ve been chasing a senior half for a while,” Sheens said on Thursday.
“The conversation was had, he (Pearce) wasn’t interested and he’s on contract – Benji knows him. We’ve been dealing with Mitchell Moses and Cameron Munster … It’s not to replace him (Brooks). We don’t stop recruiting in the middle of the year, it’s an ongoing thing.”
Mitchell Pearce. (Matt King/Getty Images)
The Tigers haven’t won a game with Brooks in the side since April last year.
Sheens also hosed down speculation linking the club with Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton.
“We were getting calls saying, ‘You’ve got to be interested’,” he said. “It’s automatically linked to us because we’ve been looking for a ball player.”
Sheens said he would persevere with pairing Brooks with Brandon Wakeham and deploying Adam Doueihi at fullback.
“They are our best two options, and Adam at the back; he’s a smart player and it’s our logical option,” Sheens said.
Pearce, who turns 34, next week, is embarking on his second season with Catalans in the Super League after leaving Newcastle at the end of 2021.
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The son of Balmain’s favourite son Wayne Pearce played 309 games in the NRL across 15 seasons – 11 at the Roosters where he won the 2013 premiership – and four at the Knights, and had spoken previously about a possible return after his Super League stint to finish his career.
The news is another sign that Brooks will not be re-signed after his multimillion-dollar long-term deal runs out at the end of this season.
Brooks has been in dismal form this season as the Tigers have slumped to an 0-4 start to be on track for the dubious record of back-to-back wooden spoons.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Despite the return of Sheens and the addition of high-profile recruits Api Koroisau, John Bateman, David Klemmer, Isaiah Papali’i and Charlies Staines, they have lost at home to the Gold Coast and a 12-man Newcastle line-up as well as road clashes with Canterbury and Melbourne.
They are rank underdogs for Saturday’s trip to Suncorp Stadium to face the unbeaten Broncos before then facing the Eels, Manly and Penrith as part of a horror stretch punctuated by a bye in Round 7.
Unless they can turn their season around, they face the prospect of heading into their Magic Round clash with the Dragons in May without a win.
South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou believes Joseph Suaalii’s move to rugby union has been inevitable for three years, but scoffed at suggestions his captain Cameron Murray could be next to hop codes.
A Souths junior during Demetriou’s time as an assistant coach at the club, Suaalii last week signed a three-year contract with Rugby Australia worth an estimated $1.6 million per year from 2025.
The move has sparked much interest, with suggestions other NRL players with rugby backgrounds could be lured across to the 15-man code.
Murray, Kalyn Ponga, Will Penisini and Tolu Koula are among those with a schoolboy rugby background similar to Suaalii’s, with Wallabies coach Eddie Jones having previously identified the Souths skipper as a target worth pursuing.
Demetriou said he has had no discussions with Murray, contracted through 2025, about his future aspirations and was unfazed by ongoing speculation. “It’s that far down the line – he’s contracted here for another three years. It’s not something I’ve even contemplated,” Demetriou said.
Joseph Suaalii. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
“Suaalii’s been going to union for three years,” Demetriou said.
“Anybody who’s had a conversation with him knows that’s been part of his plan. I don’t know why anyone’s shocked.
“As for anybody else, I create an environment where people want to play for South Sydney. If that changes, then that’s up to them. It’s not something I worry about, or even think about.”
Ahead of Friday’s game against Melbourne, Demetriou welcomed Mario Fenech to training at Redfern Oval, the Rabbitohs legend addressing the playing group after the session.
After a week in which South Sydney farewelled club legend John Sattler, Demetriou said it was important to continue honouring former players.
“Mario’s given us some good advice. Stay disciplined otherwise you’re on death row, he reckons. It’s always good to see him,” Demetriou said. “It’s what we do well as a club, recognise the past and really respect it.”
The Rabbitohs have endured a testing opening month of the season on and off the field, with a tough draw, a run of injuries in the forward pack and Sattler’s death.
Ricky Stuart is at ease with his star five-eighth Jack Wighton testing the NRL’s open market, but hopes he remembers what the club has done for his career when signing his next contract.
Wighton sent shockwaves through the competition when he declined a player option for 2024 in favour of assessing external offers, with reports suggesting at least 10 clubs have already made contact with his management.
But Stuart, who’s consistently talked about his admiration of Wighton, says he’s got every right to test the market and find his worth as the 30-year-old seeks a longer-term deal.
“Jack knows I want him here, that’s the most important thing for me,” he said. “He knows my feelings about him as a person and as a football player and I want him to be a Raider, but that decision is taken out of my hands, that’s up to Jack.
“I haven’t spoken to Jack about it, but it’s not uncommon for a number of players that have those clauses in their contracts … over the last 12-18 months, there’s been a number of players who have tested the open market. Jack’s got to make a decision to make, so that’s where it’s at.”
Canberra CEO Don Furner has said the club will do everything they can to keep Wighton, not taking his declining the option as a sign he wants to leave.
Wighton also turned down a player option on his last contract in 2019 in favour of testing the market, before penning his new five-year deal with the Raiders.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
He was with the Green Machine as a junior before his NRL debut in 2012, Stuart suggesting it was a textbook example of how a club can work with young talent for the benefit of both parties.
He also pointed to the support the club has given him, including standing by him when he faced assault charges in 2018 that eventually netted him a suspended jail term.
“I’m at ease with it because I know we do everything we possibly can for Jack and his family,” Stuart said.
“We got Jack as a 15-year-old player here, the club has done a wonderful job for Jack, stood by him in all sorts of different circumstances.
“We’ve stuck right beside him and he’s a great example for a lot of other young players out there what we can do for young players that come with this club.
“Jack’s ability and the club’s support, where it’s got Jack as a player is a great example for what we can do for other young men and women.”
Milestone man Victor Radley can thank his days as an apprentice carpenter for the depth of his footy knowledge, which coach Trent Robinson rates second only to that of Cooper Cronk.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘Victor the Inflictor’, Radley has become one of the NRL’s most colourful characters on the back of his on-field ferocity and high work-rate.
But as Radley prepares to step out against Parramatta on Thursday night in his 100th NRL game, Robinson paid tribute to an aspect of the middle forward’s game that has long flown under the radar – his footy smarts.
More than 100 different players have represented the Roosters at first-grade level in Robinson’s 11 seasons in charge but the coach said only four-time premiership winner Cronk trumped Radley in his knowledge of the game.
“He’s probably second only to Cooper in sitting in a meeting and the knowledge he can take on and then repeat,” Robinson said.
“His footy knowledge is incredible, which he wouldn’t get credit for because he plays the other card often. He absolutely bleeds red, white and blue on the field, but (also) off the field.
“Everything he does for the Roosters community, and the love that he has for this area and club, is second to none.”
Radley’s knowledge can be put down in part to his commitment to the club, but also to his pre-NRL days, when he worked under his father as an apprentice carpenter. On the worksite, Radley had one particular duty that helped train his brain.
“He had to get all the lunch orders, so his memory had to be really good,” Robinson said. “He said he never got a lunch order wrong, out of all the 15 guys on site.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
“His memory retention came from being an apprentice. He’s lived and breathed footy his whole life and he’s loved it so much that he thinks it’s cool to know everything in footy.
“The big games that he’s played in and the intensity that he brings to our game, it’s great to bring up 100 games for him.”
Thursday night also marks 50 NRL games for young Roosters halfback Sam Walker. The 20-year-old said after a slow start to last season, the Roosters were focused on banking early wins this year.
“We’re building as a team,” Walker said. “We probably want to get a couple more wins, we sort of left it a bit late last year.”
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