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Should have made my post clearer. I rate them both but it appears like they're backing Croft at halfback for the remainder of this season. While it is obviously not Hughes' best position I feel as if they're a bigger threat with him there than Croft at the moment.

No they aren't. Bellamy said he is picking the halfback every week depending on the team in question who they are facing. They were ripping on Bellamy last night on 360 for still not having a halfback locked down yet this close to the finals and that it was ridiculous to think that they could have two different halfbacks in two weeks in the finals
 
No they aren't. Bellamy said he is picking the halfback every week depending on the team in question who they are facing. They were ripping on Bellamy last night on 360 for still not having a halfback locked down yet this close to the finals and that it was ridiculous to think that they could have two different halfbacks in two weeks in the finals

True! I didn't hear Bellamy say that. I assumed Croft was going to be backed through the finals given he's there now.

I find it so strange when the competition is pretty much there for the taking that Bellamy wouldn't have one or the other nailed down. Perhaps it's to keep Croft on his toes but it doesn't suggest the coach has much confidence in either of them.
 
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There are reports of a blow-up in the Dragons dressing room after the Bulldogs game.

A couple of the young guys, Dufty being one of them, were reportedly on their phone after the game grinning and just not showing they really gave a shit so James Graham unleashed on them accusing them of not taking the situation seriously enough.
 
There are reports of a blow-up in the Dragons dressing room after the Bulldogs game.

A couple of the young guys, Dufty being one of them, were reportedly on their phone after the game grinning and just not showing they really gave a shit so James Graham unleashed on them accusing them of not taking the situation seriously enough.
Didn't Graham make 27m or something though?
 
Didn't Graham make 27m or something though?

he did ... his problem was probably more that they were grinning and laughing after such a shithouse performance
 
Not surprised about Dufty. Talk about the massive pea heart effort when Remis Smith ran around him for that length of the field try. It was embarrassing for a so called speedster of the comp.
 
Not surprised about Dufty. Talk about the massive pea heart effort when Remis Smith ran around him for that length of the field try. It was embarrassing for a so called speedster of the comp.
It's not even an isolated incident. I'm yet to see him lay a finger on a player who has broken the line.
 
No they aren't. Bellamy said he is picking the halfback every week depending on the team in question who they are facing. They were ripping on Bellamy last night on 360 for still not having a halfback locked down yet this close to the finals and that it was ridiculous to think that they could have two different halfbacks in two weeks in the finals

Yeah, and Bellamy also said that the 7 jersey was Hughes' to lose (as reported also on 360)

Bellamy probably just playing mind games
 
TPAs to drop with Slater and Thaiday retiring
Thu 30 Aug 2018, 07:56 PM
The retirement of Billy Slater and Sam Thaiday is set to result in a dramatic fall in the total value of third party agreements, with the star duo responsible for up to 25 per cent of earnings from private sector TPAs between them.
Salary cap allegations against Cronulla have sparked renewed debate about third party agreements but the NRL revealed earlier this year that there had been a sharp decline in private sector TPAs since 2016, and that trend is expected to continue.
While some clubs argue that TPAs should be capped or scrapped as they favour one-town teams such as Slater's Melbourne and Thaiday's Brisbane, others point out that rules were loosened after Greg Inglis was almost lost to the game and Israel Folau's return from AFL was blocked.
The salary cap breaches by Parramatta in 2016 and Manly this year involved illegal third party agreements, while the investigation into the Sharks is over an unreported TPA and some believe that such practices would become more prevalent if the NRL introduced greater restrictions.
The overall value of all third-party agreements is forecast to drop from 13.1 per cent of the salary cap in 2016 to 6.4 percent this season, including:
  • Marquee player allowances, capped at $600,000 per club;
  • Whole of game sponsorship leveraging, often with State of Origin sponsors or government organisations;
  • Tools of trade, usually contra deals for boots or headgear; and
  • Arm's-length agreements, which are private deals between players and sponsors.
Slater to miss Panthers match
Of most significance is the reduction in private sector TPAs from $5.68m to $3.76m in the past two years.
This represents a halving from 5 percent of the value of the $7.1m salary cap in 2016 to 2.5 per cent of this year’s $9.4m ceiling for player payments.
The $3.76m is shared between 93 players but two – understood to be Melbourne’s Slater and Brisbane’s Thaiday - earn 25 per cent of that amount between them.
Slater has well documented TPAs with Australian Bananas and Powerade, while Thaiday has deals with media companies and a number of government and indigenous organisations in Queensland.
The pair have been able to secure such deals because of their wide-reaching appeal and they are likely to continue after they retire.
Another six stars, including Storm captain Cameron Smith, earn the next 25 per cent of third sector TPAs, with 11 more players receiving a further 25 per cent.
Of the other 74 players who share the remaining $940,000, 43 of them receive $10,000 or less.
Deals between players and private sponsors not associated with their clubs comprised 53 per cent of all TPAs last year, with a further 20 per cent being in the form of marquee player agreements and 19 per cent from whole of game sponsorship leveraging.
In total, 198 players had some form of third party agreement – of whom 164 were State of Origin or Australian, England or New Zealand internationals.
thaidays-180616nh41.jpg

Broncos forward Sam Thaiday. ©Nathan Hopkins/NRL Photos
Melbourne had the highest value of private sector TPAs, totalling $788,000 last season.
Brisbane and Penrith had $550,000 each, while only one other club totalled more than $300,000 and six clubs were below $100,000 in private sector TPAs.
The NRL is undergoing a review of third party agreements and one CEO told NRL.com they should be capped or scrapped completely as one-city teams such as the Storm, Broncos, Cowboys and Warriors have an advantage over their rivals.
However, another official from a non-Sydney team said the NRL would risk losing star players to other codes if they weren’t able to boost their income from third party agreements.

From the NRL site. The crap written about us having millions of dollars advantage is obviously overstated.
 
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...g/news-story/531e78f3bddc2d6488cf0d5eb306aea2

Filter smoking some funny ones.

Says the team that wins the minor premiership should get 500 or 1 million salary cap exemption for the following year. Lol.

But Fittler believes the club should be rewarded by essentially getting an increase on their salary cap for next season.
The idea is to help successful clubs retain their best players, whose value generally increase on the back of the team’s performances.
“The thing that matters most to clubs is salary cap spending, and the thing I would do is allow for the minor premiers to have half a million or a million dollars salary cap exemption,” Fittler told Channel 9 on Sunday.

“Because you come first what happens is all your players become more valuable to other clubs, so you don’t have the ability to keep them at your club.
“If you give them an exemption — a million dollars, $500,000 — all of a sudden your good players could stay at the club."

If that's seriously the argument, you may as well just argue for the removal of a salary cap all together.
 
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I think Fittler has spent too much time with hippies.
 
Fittler is a pretty big idiot. Him winning an Origin series with a gun NSW team has papered that over a lot.
 
Once again, the ladder at the end of the regular season shows just how important injuries are.

The Top 4 (all on 34 points) have all had a relatively unscathed season, and at the business end they're all just about at full strength. The Storm's missing stars on the weekend will likely all be back for the finals.

Teams 5-8 have fared a bit worse with injuries. We've had Gillett & Bird out just about all year, and have just about had a different pack on the park every single week. Panthers had a bunch of injuries to start the year, and are only just getting their troops back, though their current form doesn't reflect that. The Dragons had a post-Origin slump with, again, their pack being changed just about every week with injuries to key forwards, and with Widdop out the last month or so they're now drowning. The Warriors are always up & down, but have seemed to live & die on Tohu Harris' health. And Johnson was out for a good chunk of the mid-season.
 
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