“But you know someone’s football talent [from] the way they move and run, but then you’re looking for their instincts when it comes to the movements of six tackles, how do they move based on the kicker, how are they going to adapt to the play-the-ball, all of those things.
“You watch them play and they make the decision for you. They move in a certain way, they make decisions in a certain way and they’re saying ‘I’m ready to play’.”
Sandon Smith, meanwhile, starts just his second game of the season with Luke Keary to take the reins as senior half against the Rabbitohs and into the finals series.
Externally there had been suggestions of shifting rugby-bound international Manu into the halves and closer to the ball given the Roosters have options out wide like Nawaqanitawase, Billy Smith and Michael Jennings.
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But Robinson was emphatic in backing 21-year-old Smith as his preferred playmaker, pointing to the faith placed in the Gosford native next year as well, when he will partner veteran recruit Chad Townsend while Walker is out injured.
“The decisions that I’ve made for next year around Sandon [being] our guy, the belief in him is sky high to play his style,” Robinson said, with Connor Watson to start at hooker in Brandon Smith’s place.
“He’s been playing it really well. I love the way that he plays the game. The message is go out and be yourself.”
Dragons twin to leave club in Flanagan clean out
Adam Pengilly
Shane Flanagan’s Dragons clean out will include the exit of another regular first-grader with outside back Max Feagai to leave the club.
The off-contract Feagai, who has featured in 13 NRL matches this season, will split with twin brother Mat and leave St George Illawarra after their final-round clash with the Raiders on Saturday.
Flanagan had hinted the Dragons wanted to negotiate with Max to stay beyond this season, but it is expected the 23-year-old will be included as part of the club’s departing players tribute at Kogarah.
Max Feagai is leaving the Dragons.Credit: NRL Photos
Max Feagai has attracted interest from NRL rivals and was only named on the reserves list for the Canberra clash, where both teams are hoping for a miracle to make the finals.
The winner of the Dragons-Raiders clash will squeeze into the top eight if, in the unlikeliest of scenarios, the Knights and Dolphins play out a 90-minute draw in Newcastle on Sunday.
Mat Feagai recently signed a new deal at the Dragons until the end of 2026.
Flanagan has bolstered his squad for next year by recruiting representative stars Damien Cook (South Sydney) and Valentine Holmes (North Queensland).
Melbourne Storm to receive time-honoured JJ Giltinan Shield … before training
Christian Nicolussi
Melbourne’s dominance across 27 rounds of the NRL regular season will be acknowledged when they receive the time-honoured JJ Giltinan Shield – before their captain’s run.
Storm officials said their first preference would have been to receive the precious cargo after they secured first place with victory over the Dolphins last Saturday week at AAMI Park.
But rather than wait until after full-time at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night, where there will only be a small sprinkling of Melbourne supporters, the Storm asked the NRL to hold a low-key ceremony with players and staff before training. NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo will fly south for the presentation.
The Panthers received the JJ Giltinan Shield at BlueBet Stadium last year in front of thousands of fans, and the year before that asked the NRL if they could receive the silverware in the penultimate round because their final game was in Townsville.
“They usually give you the shield on the night you win the minor premiership, but I guess the NRL never envisaged the Panthers losing to the Raiders earlier that day,” Storm co-owner and chairman Matt Tripp said.
“Nobody anticipated us winning the minor premiership with three rounds to go.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy and Dale Finucane of the Storm pose with the JJ Giltinan Shield in 2021.Credit: Chris Hyde/Getty Images
“It would have been great to celebrate with our fans and members that night, but it didn’t work out that way.
“We are still delighted Andrew is making the trip down on Wednesday to acknowledge what has been a great season for us thus far. We didn’t want to be waiting around after the game Thursday night in Brisbane.
“It’s still nice we get to celebrate something special, and it’s probably a good time without the distraction of a game.”
The Storm played in Townsville last weekend, and play Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Some of the greatest scenes in the game have featured players carrying the shield around the ground after grand final wins. The JJ Giltinan Shield was awarded to minor premiers from 1997.
The Storm receive $200,000 for finishing first past the post, with Tripp not prepared to buy into the ongoing debate about whether that prizemoney should be higher. The club has now finished first six times, including 2011, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024.
Tripp preferred a discussion about who earned what during the NRL finals. As it stands, the NRL collects all gate takings through September, with a club like Melbourne limited to what they can earn for all their hard work through the year. A full house at AAMI Park generates north of $500,000 for the Storm.
Melbourne will host a qualifying final, most likely on Saturday week, and should they win, host a preliminary final on the Friday night, which is a public holiday in the Victorian capital because of the AFL grand final the following day.
Storm turn fixture woes into minor premiership win
Roy Ward
When Melbourne Storm looked over their draw for the 2024 season, a tilt at the NRL minor premiership would have been the furthest from their thoughts.
The club wasn’t happy to have seven home games packed into the first 11 rounds and just one home clash in the last five weeks of the season.
The worst of that stint came in the final two rounds of season with a short turnaround into an away game in Townsville followed by a final-round clash with Brisbane Broncos in Brisbane on Friday night.
Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy and Storm players pose for a photo with the JJ Giltinan Shield on Wednesday.Credit: Getty Images
Yet somehow the Storm have overcome those hurdles and a injury disruptions to Cameron Munster (13 games) and Xavier Coates (12 games) to claim their sixth JJ Giltinan Shield as minor premiers.
This latest honour comes as the Storm move to 14 consecutive seasons in the finals. Twelve of them have ended with finishes in the top four.
The lack of a late-season home game meant the Storm opted to have the trophy presented inside an empty AAMI Park on Wednesday with just the players, club staff, some media and a coffee cart brought in for the occasion as NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo handed over the shield.
Storm chief executive Justin Rodski couldn’t help but add a “good question” when Abdo was asked if the league’s planners erred by not making sure Melbourne had a home game in the last two rounds.
“If only the draw was that simple,” Abdo said.
Soward and Saints to part ways
Dan Walsh
The Dragons have told NRLW coach and former NSW Origin star Jamie Soward he won’t be retained beyond the 2024 season.
Soward was informed on Monday of the club’s decision by chief executive Ryan Webb, and it is unclear at this stage if he will see out the remainder of the season.
Dragons NRLW coach Jamie Soward.Credit: Getty Images
He declined to comment when contacted by this masthead but indicated he is keen to continue coaching next season and wished a Dragons playing group stacked with young talent nothing but the best.
Soward put his hand up to take over as NSW women’s State of Origin coach in June after incumbent Kylie Hilder oversaw a third loss in four years, raising the prospect of a shake-up pending a NSWRL board review.
“I want to interview if there’s a chance,” Soward, who worked as a NSW assistant in 2022, told AAP at the time. “I’d love to coach the Sky Blues.”
Soward, who won a premiership with St George Illawarra in 2010, has coached the Dragons NRLW team since 2021, but the team has struggled since the competition expanded to 10 teams in 2023.
Under Soward’s leadership, the team played in the 2021 grand final, where they lost 4-16 to the Roosters, and reached the semi-finals in 2022 where they lost 30-6 to the Knights.
The Dragons missed the finals series in 2023, when they finished seventh on the ladder after just three wins for the season.
In 2024, the club have posted just two wins so far with three weeks left of the regular season, but they thrashed beat the Eels 42-14 last weekend and stunned two-time premiers Newcastle with a 18-10 victory earlier in the season.
Whitehead hit with lengthy ban for season-ending tackle on Smith
Billie Eder
Canberra’s Elliott Whitehead has been hit with a lengthy ban and up to $5000 in fines for three separate incidents on Sunday, including a hip-drop tackle on Sydney Roosters’ hooker Brandon Smith that is feared to have ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Whitehead, who is off to Super League next year, has been slapped with a minimum three-game suspension for the dangerous contact, along with a minimum $3600 in fines for tripping James Tedesco and contrary conduct on Angus Crichton.
The Raiders veteran was sent to the sin bin on two separate occasions for the incidents involving Smith and Crichton in the Raiders’ 14-12 victory over the Roosters.
The charge means Whitehead will almost certainly miss his final game as a Raider after nine seasons at the club, with the 34-year-old off to England next year, unless he can get the ruling overturned at the NRL judiciary.
Whitehead’s suspension is compounded by a season-ending fractured cheekbone and broken nose for Raiders fullback Jordan Rapana, who suffered the injury during a collision with Tedesco in the early minutes of the match. Rapana is also off to play in England next year.
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