Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters has revealed he’s interested in taking up the new job at the Perth Bears.
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Would be great for him to get it.
So he’s not on the Fox call.
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Ben Dobbin (Nine employee as well) on MMM saying that he’s spoken to friends at Seven and “not one of them” had anything nice to say about DeCeglie. James Graham and Gorden Tallis saying it’s more a business community appointment because of his Perth background.
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For the second straight year, St George Illawarra have hung on to beat the Brisbane Broncos by 30-26 at Suncorp Stadium.
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Maroons name 20 man squad for State of Origin opener.
— Adam Jackson (@AdamJackson_9) May 18, 2025
Toia, Fermor, Loiero to make Origin debuts. pic.twitter.com/XcFlBeDW3F
Update
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The New South Wales Blues have called Cody Ramsey, Hamish Stewart, Jacob Preston and Adam Doueihi into camp as they prepare for Game 1 of the 2025 State of Origin series.
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I’m not sure about the idea of using a suspended player (Jacob Preston) in the Blues camp for training reasons… I don’t think that is a good look.
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Wow!
The crazy results continue… the 15th placed Dolphins have beaten the ladder leading Bulldogs 44-8! (still remarkable even if it’s Origin affected).
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Still impressive given this is the Dolphins’ first ever NRL match at the Olympic Stadium.
The result also sees them complete the Grand Slam of beating every club in the competition.
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Five games, five upsets!
I imagine most tippers will be 0 from 5 for the round.
Great win by the Raiders in the wet in Auckland.
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Yes i have a duck. It also depends on if your tipping comps include State of Origin
Having said that i’m still happy my team got a win
Yes, though Penrith were awful, i can’t recall a defending premier ever struggling so much the following year.
Knights seem to be a better team with Fletcher Sharpe at fullback than when Ponga plays, which sounds very odd to be saying!
Yeah it does. Also the notion that Penrith weren’t at full strength. Neither were the Knights. Ponga on Origin duty, Saffiti, Best, Marzhew out injured amd Adam Eliott went off during the game and Leo Thompson was crook. So the Knights were down on troops too.
The tipping for this season is crazy.
Knowing my luck, if i choose one round to pick all the underdogs, there will be no upsets at all for that round. loll.
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Disregarding the Melbourne Storm from 2009-10, I can recall the following premiership hangovers from this century:
- Bulldogs (premiers 2004, 12th in 2005) - after beating the Brisbane Broncos (then the competition leaders) by 29-22 in round 20, they lost their final six games, two of them by 52 points in back-to-back Friday nights vs Parramatta and Wests Tigers.
- Wests Tigers (premiers 2005, 11th in 2006) - never really got going in their premiership defence in 2006; I also found it odd that Brett Hodgson took the captaincy from Scott Prince prior to the season though I think the latter’s impending move to the Gold Coast Titans had something to do with it. They are the last defending premiers to fail to reach the finals the following season due to not winning enough games; this of course disregards the Melbourne Storm who finished as wooden spooners in 2010 after having their 2007 and 2009 titles stripped from them due to salary cap breaches.
- Broncos (premiers 2006, 8th in 2007) - lost their first three matches and at one stage during round 11 they sat last on the ladder; though moved off it after thrashing the Knights by 71-6. Limped into the finals then got thrashed 40-0 by the Melbourne Storm in the fourth qualifying final, which doubled as the 2006 GF rematch.
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Man bites Bear: ‘new CEO to be taught lesson’ over tabloid past
One of Perth’s most prominent businessmen has delivered an excoriating spray towards former Seven West Media executive and new Perth Bears chief Anthony De Ceglie, saying he and many other senior figures across the city will be actively cheering for the former newspaper editor to fail in his role.
John Poynton - a former Reserve Bank board member, veteran investment banker and prominent company director who along with his wife, Di Bain, was the target of numerous negative stories during Mr De Ceglie’s time as editor of Seven West Media’s The West Australian newspaper - told The Australian that the NRL had made a major blunder in appointing Mr De Ceglie to the helm of the new club.
The enmity between Mr Poynton and Seven West Media major shareholder Kerry Stokes has been the stuff of legend in Perth and dates back decades.
Mr Poynton … said he believed there would be many other senior people in Perth who would be opposed to Mr De Ceglie’s involvement in the Bears.
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Especially since Canberra probably play less wet weather footy than any other side!
Some food for thought - I think Harry Grant will be the next Queensland Maroons captain once Daly Cherry-Evans decides to retire from representative football.
DCE is also the last remaining player from any of the Maroons sides that won eight consecutive series between 2006-13 (he debuted in Game II, 2013).
FWIW, Darren Lockyer and Steve Price made their official Origin debuts in 1998, meaning the Maroons dynasty has a lifespan of 27 series (in other words, every series - and by extension match - since 1998 has featured at least one Maroons player who would play/played in any of their 2006-13 series victories).
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