TO: NZRL Staff, Districts and Affiliates and Board

FROM: Cushla Dawson

DATE: 24 August 2009

RE: Media Summary Tuesday 18 August to Monday 24 August 2009

Broken ‘Tank’ blow for Kiwis: The Kiwis and Wests Tigers have been dealt a hammer blow with the season- ending injury to blockbusting wing Taniela Tuiaki. The league's top tryscorer had been in line for a place in the Kiwis' Four Nations touring party for the tournament also featuring the Kangaroos, French and Great Britain in England and France later this season.

Bulls regain league cup: Raucous cheers broke out around the dressing room as the Canterbury Bulls celebrated co-coach Dave Perkins' 50th birthday by regaining the Cup. The Bulls beat arch-rival 32-30 in yesterday to kick off their National Provincial Premiership (NPP) campaign.

Pressure builds for Kiwi boys: While several Kiwi players in the NRL are showing good form in the leadup to the naming of the Four Nations squad, the injury toll is also rising. As Kiwis coach, I've been pretty happy with the recent performances of many players in the NRL. My side the Storm played Newcastle last Monday night and while the loss was painful, the silver lining if you want to call it that was that two guys pushing for New Zealand honours Zeb Taia and Junior Sau had excellent games.

Bartercard National Provincial Premiership kicks off. NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle today confirmed that Bartercard continues to be a cornerstone partner of the national game. “This is now the 10th consecutive year that Bartercard has been the major sponsor of the , which demonstrates their strong commitment to our game” says Doyle.

NZRL and Sky Television announce long term partnership: The and Sky Television today announced they had signed a four-year contract, one of the longest in the NZRL’s history. Chief executive Jim Doyle said the NZRL was delighted terms had been reached on such a significant broadcasting agreement.

Tigers Rugby League looking to the future: Dannevirke Tigers Rugby League Club has officially signed on to the Club Assist programme run by Sport Manawatu. The Tigers have a lot of involvement with the community and want to ensure that they are a strong viable club that can be part of the local sports scene long-term.

Broken ‘Tank’ blow for Kiwis The Kiwis and Wests Tigers have been dealt a hammer blow with the season-ending injury to blockbusting wing Taniela Tuiaki.

The league's top tryscorer had been in line for a place in the Kiwis' Four Nations touring party for the tournament also featuring the Kangaroos, French and Great Britain in England and France later this season.

But "The Tank" will not play again this year after breaking his leg in the Tigers' 18-26 loss to the Eels in a thriller at the Football Stadium on Friday night.

Kiwis coach Steve Kearney, writing in his Sunday News column, was sympathetic about the big wing's plight.

"I really feel sorry for Taniela because I know he has worked extremely hard to get himself into a position where he is challenging for a test jumper and he'll be very disappointed with this setback."

A crowd of almost 35,000 was treated to some stunning technical play from both sides with brilliant for the Tigers and shining for the Eels with a stunning kick and chase for the final try of the game three minutes from time. Parramatta captain , the world cup-winning Kiwis skipper, has revealed a no-holds-barred mid- season meeting between the players was the turning point in a season that has seen the Eels go from wooden spoon candidates to premiership contenders.

It was impossible to think the Eels would be anywhere near the finals back in round 12 when a struggling Cronulla side ended a run of nine successive defeats with a 13-10 win at a freezing , leaving the Eels third-last on the ladder.

And Cayless said that game was the moment when the players felt something had to be done to stop their season spiralling out of control.

"After the Cronulla game we had a chat as a team and said we have to do everything we could to improve," Cayless said.

"We didn't want to go to the bottom of the table which is where we were heading.

"And after that meeting we went up to Newcastle and got a good win and we have picked up momentum from then and it is a credit all of the players and the staff to be where we are now."

The Eels chalked up their sixth successive victory on Friday and are the in-form team leading into the final two weeks of the season.

THE METRE-EATERS of the NRL are suddenly on a hunger strike.

St George Illawarra's 2009 premiership drive has hit a speed bump with their first back-to-back defeat of the year, a 2-12 loss to at WIN Stadium in on Friday night jeopardising their minor premiership chances.

And just as it was in the 24-12 defeat in last week, the Dragons lost their go-forward against the Broncos, making just 1197m.

It was their second worst yardage gain this year, following the 1211m in Canberra, and well down on their season average of 1452m.

Centre Matt Cooper says the Dragons are finding it difficult getting out of their own half, not even a favourable 8- 4 penalty count helping them get momentum against a defiant Brisbane side.

"We just didn't get any field position," said Cooper.

"Their line speed was great and we were struggling to get out of our half.

"That was probably a major issue for us so we have to look at that.

"We're still on top of the table, but you don't want to be going into the semis with losses under your belt."

The loss has put the Dragons' once vice-like grip on the minor premiership in danger, with the Bulldogs capable of drawing level on 36 competition points when they meet the tomorrow night.

With the Dragons facing the more difficult run to the finals with South Sydney (away) and Parramatta (home) in the final two weeks the red and whites need to rediscover their winning form quickly.

But there is no panic in the camp. Cooper says if anything the back-to-back losses will only make the Dragons hungrier for the ultimate success at the end of the year. AAP

(Source: Sunday Star-Times, 23 August 2009)

Bulls regain league cup Raucous cheers broke out around the dressing room as the Canterbury Bulls celebrated co-coach Dave Perkins' 50th birthday by regaining the .

The Bulls beat arch-rival Auckland 32-30 in Christchurch yesterday to kick off their National Provincial Premiership (NPP) campaign. However, they caused a few flutters for their fans as Auckland amassed 16 unanswered points in a frenetic final quarter at Rugby League Park. The northerners hammered at the red-and-black line in the dying seconds, but 's pushed pass brushed Shaun Metcalf's fingertips and the knock-on gave the Bulls a grateful reprieve.

Perkins said the Bulls were "pretty proud" to wrest back the venerable trophy after losing it to Auckland in last year's provincial grand final.

"We spoke about that during the week with some of the older guys speaking to the new guys about how much it meant."

He praised rookie props Leo To'omalatai and Alex Todd who "worked hard through the middle". Todd almost created a try with a barnstorming bust that left Auckland Albert Short sprawled on the deck before he was assisted from the field.

Lively wing Junior Salevao scored a slick try in the first spell and bristled with aggression on attack and saved a certain try with a bone-rattling hit in the second spell.

The Bulls survived a slow start that saw them concede a soft try to Auckland dummy half Vince Fatu.

For the next 50 minutes, they had the visitors under the cosh, constructing some clever tries as they clinically completed their tackle sets.

Hooker Nathan Sherlock captaining Canterbury for the first time in place of flu-stricken skipper Jonny Limmer was as artful as ever on attack.

His inside passes created havoc in the Auckland ranks.

Big Chris Bamford crashed over as he expertly ran onto a Sherlock special. Centre Craig Smith pushed off a defender to score and Sherlock loomed up in support of Jonny Aranga for the Bulls' fourth try to set up a 22-4 lead. However, chunky Auckland interchange forward Jesse Ioapo scored either side of halftime to spark a mini- comeback.

The Bulls seemed safe after Smith scored his second try and industrious second rower James Baxendale batted away a tackler and sprinted for the line for a 32-14 lead after 53 minutes.

It was one-way traffic thereafter as Rick McCamish and Alfred Williams hit back for Auckland and former Cantabrian Shaun Metcalf dashed 65 metres to score after intercepting a Josh Reuben pass. Aaron Woodhouse's goal cut the deficit to two points and made for a nervous finish. Auckland lost the ball in a lunge for the line.

The Bulls were down to one fit reserve, but Tonga Mounga limped back on despite a knee injury and almost scored from his own deft grubber kick.

Perkins said the Bulls had played disciplined football in the first half.

"But we went completely away from everything in the second half, gave away three or four penalties in the first 10 minutes and they got a bit of a roll on.".

Canterbury Bulls 32 (Craig Smith 2, Junior Salevao, Chris Bamford, Nathan Sherlock, James Baxendale tries; Simon Mounga 4 goals) beat Auckland 30 (Jesse Ioapo 2, Vince Fatu, Rick McCamish, Alfred Williams, Shaun Metcalf tries; Aaron Woodhouse 3 goals). HT: 22-14. Referee: Steve Toms (Christchurch).

(Source: Tony Smith - The Press, 24 August 2009)

Pressure builds for Kiwi boys While several Kiwi players in the NRL are showing good form in the leadup to the naming of the Four Nations squad, the injury toll is also rising.

As Kiwis coach, I've been pretty happy with the recent performances of many New Zealand players in the NRL. My side the Storm played Newcastle last Monday night and while the loss was painful, the silver lining if you want to call it that was that two guys pushing for New Zealand honours Zeb Taia and Junior Sau had excellent games.

Two other guys who weren't involved in last year's World Cup in and Taniela Tuiaki have also impressed.

Although, as I write this column, we are counting the cost of another serious injury with already ruled out this time to Taniela, who limped off the ground with a broken leg on Friday night.

I really feel sorry for Taniela because I know he has worked extremely hard to get himself into a position where he is challenging for a test jumper and he'll be very disappointed with this setback.

At the same time, I know he'll bounce back and I wish him well in recovery.

Obviously, I'm not about to sit here and start saying who is going to make the final squad when it is announced for the Four Nations.

There's too much footy left to be played and in all likelihood we'll be struck down by some more injuries such as Taniela's before the season's out.

All I'm saying is it's always a pleasing sign to see a number of Kiwi boys in good form.

At the same time, obviously one issue that's going to creep up in the next fortnight is the fact quite a few of our test players are going to stop playing football once the regular NRL season is over.

The reality is that it's quite possible the first game of footy they'll play after round 26 in early September is the test against Tonga in mid-October.

That's more than a month without a game of league and it's an issue. That's undeniable.

Of course, it's something I'm more than aware of and the period from the end of the last game of each player's season until we come into camp as a full-strength unit is extremely important.

Looking back on last year's World Cup campaign, I felt the way we managed this area was certainly a contributing factor towards our success.

Last year, while many of our blokes were playing finals footy, Hayden Knowles our head trainer at the time worked hard with those based in Sydney who weren't part of it, three times a week.

That's going to be the same strategy this year. Dane Norton will put the Warriors boys through their paces and Hayden will be doing the same in Sydney.

This year, given the NRL table is such a logjam, I wouldn't be able to even tentatively tell you which of our Kiwi boys will be sitting out the finals yet.

Regardless of who is in that group, what I can say is that period of time when some of our guys aren't getting any footy under their belts will be vital for us as we build towards the Four Nations.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is always a need to monitor the workload of our players given the demands that are placed on them from week to week and season to season.

It's our responsibility as the coaching and high performance staff (medics/conditioners) to take individual circumstances into account and make the appropriate adjustments to each individual's training schedule.

New contract not far off

I'm off contract as Kiwis coach at the end of this year's Four Nations tournament and I'm currently working through negotiations with the NZRL to stay on beyond that.

I don't envisage too many issues cropping up there.

The next 12 to 18 months is certainly an important period for New Zealand league and I definitely want to be a part of it.

One of my challenges during that time will be to help bring through the next generation of Kiwi players. The number of Kiwi players plying their trade is at an all-time high but I'm also conscious that we shouldn't forget about guys at the next level down.

They are just as important to me.

As I said before, nothing's been signed off on the contract quite yet but it's not too far away.

(Source: - Sunday News, 23 August 2009)

Bartercard National Provincial Premiership kicks off. NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle today confirmed that Bartercard continues to be a cornerstone partner of the national game. “This is now the 10th consecutive year that Bartercard has been the major sponsor of the national competition, which demonstrates their strong commitment to our game” says Doyle.

Following yesterdays announcement of a long term partnership with Sky TV, the semi-finals and grand final of the Bartercard Premiership will be shown live and also delayed on free to air.

“It’s tremendous for our premier provincial competition and many of the country’s best locally-based players that these matches will be given such great exposure by Sky as well as free-to- air television,” he said.

Bartercard Chief Executive Paul Bolte said “Bartercard is pleased to continue our longstanding association with Rugby League in New Zealand and we are looking forward to the next season of Bartercard Premiership."

Doyle also announced players involved in the Bartercard Premiership would be able to push their claims to be chosen in a Bartercard Premiership Selection which will face a touring Samoan team at ’s No 2 ground on October 10.

“The players for this selection side as well as the coaching and management staff will all be chosen from those involved in teams in the Bartercard Premiership,” he said.

“This is an important initiative we intend to continue as a representative pathway for players in this country who are not playing for NRL or English clubs or at other levels overseas. We also want it to provide opportunities for our locally-based coaches, referees and management.

“At the same time, we see this as a chance of working closely with our Pacific neighbours by involving them in this concept.”

The Bartercard Premiership will begin tomorrow with Waikato hosting Wellington in Ngaruawahia, followed on Sunday by Auckland opening its title defence against fierce rival Canterbury in Christchurch. The northerners will also be defending the Rugby League Cup in the contest at Rugby League Park.

In Sunday’s other clash Taranaki will face Bay of Plenty at New Plymouth’s Yarrow Stadium.

Each of the Bartercard Premiership matches will also be preceded by curtain-raisers by teams contesting the NJC (National Junior Competition) 18s and 16s, so providing a three-match football feast at each venue over the next five weekends.

After the fifth round of games on the weekend of September 19-20, the top four teams in the Bartercard Premiership progress to semi-finals on the weekend of September 26-27, with NJC grand finals played that weekend based on the top two placed teams in each grade. The Bartercard Premiership grand final is scheduled for October 3.

First-round fixtures this weekend are:

Saturday:

At Paterson Park, Ngaruawahia NJC 16s – Waikato v Wellington, 12.30pm (No 2 ground) NJC 18s – Waikato v Wellington, 1.00pm Bartercard NPP – Waikato v Wellington, 2.30pm

Sunday: At Rugby League Park, Christchurch NJC 16s – Canterbury v Auckland, 12.30pm (No 2 ground) NJC 18s – Canterbury v Auckland, 1.00pm Bartercard NPP – Canterbury v Auckland, 2.30pm (also Rugby League Cup defence)

Sunday:

At Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth NJC 16s – Taranaki v Bay of Plenty, 12.30pm (No 3 ground) NJC 18s – Taranaki v Bay of Plenty, 1.00pm Bartercard NPP – Taranaki v Bay of Plenty, 2.30pm

For full team lists and fixture information refer to www.leaguenet.co.nz

(Source: www.leagueunlimited, 21 August 2009)

NZRL and Sky Television announce long term partnership The New Zealand Rugby League and Sky Television today announced they had signed a four-year contract, one of the longest in the NZRL’s history.

Chief executive Jim Doyle said the NZRL was delighted terms had been reached on such a significant broadcasting agreement.

“It’s exciting for the game in this country that we’ve been able to sign up such a long-term partnership with Sky Television,” he said.

“This gives us a great platform to plan for the future and develop an on-going relationship with Sky.

“The Kiwis’ success at the Rugby League World Cup last year gave the game a wonderful boost in New Zealand and this arrangement with Sky can only help us to give the sport even greater exposure.”

Richard Last, Sky Television’s director of sport content and new media, said the network was thrilled it was now able to work with the NZRL on a long-term basis.

“Rugby league ranks as one of the most popular sports with our subscribers and we welcome becoming the official home to the Kiwis for the next four years,” he said.

“They’ve given us much to celebrate in recent years especially the World Cup final, one of our highest-rating programmes last year.”

Doyle said the contract would see Sky covering the Kiwis’ internationals for the next four years starting with the one-off test against Tonga at the International Stadium in Rotorua on October 14 followed by the inaugural Gillette Four Nations series in England and France.

The Kiwis’ first match in that tournament is against in London on October 24 followed by France in Toulouse on October 31 and England in Huddersfield on November 7. If New Zealand finishes first or second among the four teams, it will play in the final at Elland Road in Leeds on November 14.

“The broadcasting contract also takes in the annual against Australia and, as well as that, Sky will cover the semi-finals and final in our Bartercard National Provincial Premiership,” said Doyle.

The NPP, starting this weekend, is contested by six provinces – Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Wellington and Canterbury – at senior under-18 and under-16 level.

(Source: www.leagueunlimited, 20 August 2009)

Tigers Rugby League looking to the future Dannevirke Tigers Rugby League Club has officially signed on to the Club Assist programme run by Sport Manawatu. The Tigers have a lot of involvement with the community and want to ensure that they are a strong viable club that can be part of the local sports scene long-term.

This year the club has taken on two junior sides in addition to their senior team, and is putting a lot of effort into ensuring that they develop these young athletes holistically, not just on the sporting field.

Through club member Shamyus Edwards, who many locals may know from the Tararua Youth Centre, the juniors have been trained in fitness, and also in areas of health and wellbeing such as nutrition and developing personal goals.

Sport Manawatu's club development coordinator, Tamara Scott, who heads up the Club Assist programme is excited about working with the Tigers.

"They [the Tigers] are such a positive group and are focused on not only the sport of rugby league, but also what it can do for the community and the personal development of the club's members" says Scott.

The focus for the Tigers is on formalising many areas of the club and putting measures into place to ensure that they are sustainable and can develop further in the future.

This includes work on strategic planning, volunteer development and recognition, and ensuring financial sustainability.

Scott says, "sports groups need to move away from just focusing on each season as it comes and start looking at long-term planning and financial sustainability to make sure they will still be around in years to come.

There's so much competition out there in terms of other sporting codes and also other leisure activities that getting members and volunteers is getting more difficult and is something that warrants attention.

The Tigers signing on to Club Assist shows that they are committed to ensuring they are able to cater well for their members and the local community in the future."

Jeanne O'Brien, secretary for the club is looking forward to working through the Club Assist programme and seeing the club move forward. "It's positive to see a club with a vision and passion to move in a direction that best supports it's community through the medium of rugby league.

Sports can create so many opportunities from increasing motivation & health, developing community spirit & pride, mentoring, opening doors to future education in sports medicine, coaching, managing, meeting new people, the list goes on. Dannevirke Tigers Rugby League Club has always had a strong presence in the Tararua Community and has a reputation throughout New Zealand and overseas.

Our club want to focus on developing juniors to become great seniors and to do this we need dedication, desire and determination and by watching what the Dannevirke Tigers have done to date - there seems to no problem with this on and off the field."

The club will have the support of the Tararua district coordinator Natarsha Nikora and Miss Scott to complete their Club Assist work.

When the work has been completed the club will be presented with the Club Assist Award and a letter of reference, but the biggest achievement will be ensuring the club will be around to support Dannevirke's future rugby league players.

(Source: Manawatu Standard, 19 August 2009)