INSIDE ❘ TEAM LISTS ❘ STAT ATTACK ❘ SCORES AROUND THE COUNTRY + BRIAN SMITH ❘ SAM BREMNER ❘ AARON WOODS ❘ NEW SOUTH WALES POSTER MORE ROUND 16 Est. 1920 Volume 99. No.16. June 28-July 4 2018 Twitter & Facebook: @bigleaguemag FRENEMIES The ‘Big Three’ to reunite as rivals The Wests .. life.. BEN HUNT Robbie ‘I know I can do the m ember.. job for Queensland’ celebrate .. a full-circle Farah moment KICKING PAMELA OFF WHALEY HERE were a great many risks taken TbyNewSouthWalescoachBradFittler inordertowinStateofOriginthisyear. Firstofall,henamed12debutantsacross thefirsttwogames.Optingforahopeful mentalattitudeandin-formplayersover incumbents such as Josh Dugan, Wade Graham and Blake Ferguson (albeit – some were burdened by injury) was a brave move forasidethatlackedsomuchexperience. However,hetookachancethattheOrigin experience they lacked would be in his favour.Manyhadn’tlostagameoraseries in the dying minutes, and aside from the disappointmenttheymayhavefeltas fans,hadn’tfeltthestingoftryingsohard andstillcomingupshorteveryyear.In trading experience, what he received was confidence – the innocent arrogance of 20-somethings who aren’t afraid, and who don’tgetnervous.Hissecondgamblewas abandoning the long-held narrative that playersaredisturbedbydoingtoomuch media–thatitspoilstheirfocus.InFittler’s opinion,ifaplayerisafraidtospeakfor 15minutes,howishegoingtoviewthe Slater praises Ponga opposition? Those mighty Maroons who havetakendownmuchmoreexperienced andfearsomeBluesteamsinthepast. Ithoughtitwasastrokeofgenius–there after Origin debut have never been so many fantastic stories to come from an Origin camp before. We got AROONS great Billy Slater Slater’s hamstring not fully recovered to learn of the incredible achievements of haslaudedKalynPongaafter afteralengthylay-off. James Roberts, who has defied every dud Mtheyounggunalmoststole “Evenonthebusgettingtothe situationtheuniversehasthrownathim theshowduringQueensland’sheart- game, I wasn’t 100 per cent that it to achieve his dream. We found new ways stopping GameTwolosstotheBlues was going to hold up,” Slater revealed. to appreciate these players and what they on Sunday night. “I’veneverhadaninjurylikethis putnotonlytheirbodies,buttheirfamilies Oneofthemosthypedplayersinthe beforesoyou’vejustgottodivein and friends through, to play Origin football. NRL,theKnightsfullbackwasrushed thedeependandhopefullyyouswim. Ofcourse,Iambiased.ButIdon’tthinkI’m intothesideafternarrowlymissingout It’sbeenafrustratingfewweeks, aloneinappreciatingadecentstoryover on selection for the series opener and By MARTIN butonceIgotoutthereitwasfine. speculation and innuendo. More of it, I say! threatened to break NSW hearts every GABOR OnceIgotthatfirstrunoutofthe @martinjgabor timehegotneartheball. way,Iknewitwasgoingtobeokay.” It took a desperate James Tedesco TheMaroonslookedsettofinish try-savertodenyhimasuperbfour-pointer over the Blues as they always do, and when ondebut,butitwashisworkwithouttheball NSWwerereducedto12menlateinthegame, that had tongues wagging. No one was quite itseemedafaitaccompli.Instead,theMaroons surehowhewouldbeused,butoncehewas failed to take their chances, falling to just their FEATURES injected into the contest in the 29th minute, second series loss in 13 years. 10 BEN HUNT Pongatookcontrol.Hefinishedwith108metres “We’dlikethatlast10minutesagain,wouldn’t 16-17 ROBBIE FARAH and a career-high 29 tackles, drawing high we? Unfortunately we can’t,” Slater lamented. 18 ORIGIN RADIO praise from Queensland’s premier fullback. “Ithoughtthefirst20minuteswasreally 20-21 BRIAN SMITH “Ithoughthewasabsolutelybrilliant,” goodandwecreatedalotofchances. 22-23 CRONKVSTORM Slater told Big League. Weprobablycouldhaveexecutedafewof 24 KNIGHTS V BULLDOGS CLASSIC “He’sareallytalentedindividualwith them a little bit better, but the Blues just areallygoodattitude.He’sgotanextremely workedreallyhardforoneanotherandgot brightfutureinourgameandintheMaroon the rewards they deserved.” UPFRONT 3-15 jerseyaswell.Ifhewasn’tourbestplayeron The defeat means Slater won’t receive the CLUB NEWS 26-29 thefield,hewascertainlyinthetopthree.It dreamfarewellthathedeserves,butteam-mate LITTLE LEAGUE 30-31 wasanoutstandingdebut–youwon’tseemuch Dylan Napa says they’ll use his retirement as NRL TEAMS 36-51 betterthanthat–andIcan’twaittoseewhat motivation for Game Three at Suncorp Stadium. he does in this jersey for the next 10 years.” “ItwasadrivingfactorforusforGameTwo OTHER COMPS 52-56 WiththeStormstarsettobowoutofthe andwecouldn’tgetitdone,”hesaid. RESULTS 56-57 Originarenaattheendoftheseries,theNo.1 “Youdon’treallyneedtoomuchmotivation DRAW 62 jersey is Ponga’s for as long as he wants it. towinanOriginmatch,butthat’scertainly Trouville/NRLPhotos.com Grant Therewasevenaslightchancehecouldhave some extra motivation for us. We’ll be doing COVER PHOTOS: BRETT CROCKFORD/NRLPHOTOS had his first taste at the back on Sunday had everything we can to win Game Three for him.” PHOTO: Round 16 BIG LEAGUE 2018 3 Kiwisfacehome truths after Denver By STEVE MASCORD EW Zealand players haven’t Nbeen as outspoken in support of the Denver Test astheEnglishbecausetheNZRL isstillwinningbacktheirtrust, accordingtohighperformance manager Nigel Vagana. Promoter Jason Moore said the controversial mid-season international between New ZealandandEnglandintheUS is“morelikelythannot”tobe onagainin2019–despitethe NRL and clubs warning they will not release players. That prompted James Graham todeclarehewillgoanyway,in years, from alleged misuse of “LookatEngland.IfWayne defianceofanyclubedict,and sleeping tablets and energy Bennett says ‘we’re going’, it coachWayneBennetttocallfor drinks to captain Jesse Bromwich willbesetupproperly.We’ve thefighttobeginimmediately. andteam-mateKevinProctor lacked that in New Zealand for New Zealand have been less becoming embroiled in a cocaine awhile.” bullish–beforeandafterthe game,won36-18byEngland. scandal last year. Fullback Dallin Watene- “Forourplayers,ourwhole The nosedive in image has Zelezniakpredictedthelikes environment at the New Zealand been mirrored in results, drawing of Shaun Johnson, Roger RugbyLeaguethroughoutthe withScotlandandlosingtoFiji Tuivasa-Sheck, Bromwich and countryhasn’tbeenasorganised and Tonga in historic lows for AdamBlairtoreturntothefold overthelastfewyearsasit the proud black jersey. forthisyear’sEuropeantour. couldhavebeen,”saidVagana. “We brought over a lot of Butheadmitted,whenitcomes “Thatweighsontheplayers’ young guys [to Denver] but with to injury, club comes first. minds.–‘Aretheygoingtoget alotofthechanges–we’vehad “I know how much it means to this right, or not? Because anewCEOstart,MichaelMaguire them.Theyhadcircumstances I’ve seen them get some stuff hasjusthadhisfirstTest–we’re thatmeanttheycouldn’tmakeit wronginthepast.DoIjumpin?’” gettingbetteratbuildingstability that were outside of their control, NewZealandcampshavebeen and the foundations of the butIhavenodoubtthatwhenthey beset by controversy in recent league,” Vagana said. can, they will play for us,” he said. Tonga troops set sights on Kangaroos By MICHAEL BLOK year against Australia and that’s we want to get some opportunity something we are really pushing to play tier one nations,” he said. ONGA have beaten Samoa ashardaswecantomakehappen,” It’s not just the coach who has Ttwiceinarowandknocked Woolf said. confidence the fixture can happen, over the Kiwis in last year’s World “I’ve got to give Mal Meninga with winger Daniel Tupou excited Cup–nowtheywantacrackatthe a wrap. The first conversation to bytheprospectoffacingthe world champions. gettheballrollingtherewaswith Aussies and Kiwis. With Jason Taumalolo and Mal. He jumped at the opportunity “There’salotoftalentinthis Andrew Fifita leading the charge straight away and every time Tongan team,” Tupou said. forthepacificnation,thelikelihood I’ve spoken to him it’s something “Weknowwecanmatchit of Tonga facing the Kangaroos at that he’s rightbehindand wants with the likes of Australia and theendoftheseasonisincreasing to make happen.” New Zealand. We’re capable of bythedayafterTongacoach Woolfhasagenuinebeliefhis playing against them and we Kristian Woolf confirmed he side can compete with the best could even beat them. and Mal Meninga are pushing teamsintheworld. “It would be massive if we Hyoung Chang/Getty (Denver), Gregg Porteous/NRLPhotos.com Gregg Hyoung Chang/Getty (Denver), (Naiqama) for the two sides to face off. “I think we can match anyone gotachancetoplayAustralia “There’sbeenalotoftalk whenwe’replayingthatwayand and to get that opportunity PHOTOS: about a game at the end of the we’ve been quite vociferous in that would be a blessing.” The Dragons have scored 154 points in their past four games at WIN Stadium. UU Cronulla fullback Valentine Holmes has 4 BIG LEAGUE 2018 Round 16 ISSN: 0311-175X Editor: Pamela Whaley Subeditor: David Piepers Staff Writers: Michael Blok, Martin Gabor, Darcie McDonald Contributors: Fiona Bollen, Michael Burgess, Will Evans, Ben Everill, Ben Hunt, Adam Long, David Middleton, Nick Tedeschi, Andrew Voss Art Director: Craig Loughlin-Smith Sydney Oval. Designer: Tina Colwell expectations? General Manager Retail and .I‘veplayedinthe Circulation: Brett Willis support has been National Advertising Manager: ed by the amount Bowie Phillips (02) 8045 4779 re. It was little Marketing and Circulation Executive: cs when we ran Nick Tsolakis ted and needed Production Director: Mark Moes f.Iusedtobe Production Manager: the boys, so to Chrissy Fragkakis rt was amazing. rowd watching BIG LEAGUE Level1,2HoltSt, to be able to