Payne Haas out of Brisbane Broncos-Penrith Panthers grand final rematch – MASHAHER

Hastings the latest casualty of $5m halves headache

More than $5 million of play-making talent will be replaced by cut-price second-string options in the NRL this weekend after Jackson Hastings became the latest high-profile halfback casualty.

Adam Reynolds ($800,000 a year), Jahrome Hughes ($850,000), Cameron Munster ($1.25 million) and Luke Keary ($850,000) all rank among the game’s highest earners and most influential halves, but all will be missing in round three due to injury and, in Hughes’ case, suspension.

Jock Madden will steer Brisbane around in place of Reynolds (knee) after almost joining grand final rivals Penrith a few years ago, and impressive Storm youngster Jonah Pezet combines with utility Tyran Wishart against Newcastle.

Knights coach Adam O’Brien has dropped Hastings, opting for recruit Jack Cogger to partner Tyson Gamble after a 0-2 start to the year.

Hastings was a pivotal figure in Newcastle’s fairytale finals run last season, but is viewed as a similar game-managing half to Cogger, who could no longer be carried as a bench utility with Jayden Brailey also returning from injury.

O’Brien reportedly gave Hastings permission to sit out Tuesday’s training session after being told of his relegation.

Meanwhile, Trent Robinson has opted for young half Sandon Smith to replace Keary in Friday’s clash with arch-rivals South Sydney, keeping Joey Manu at centre with Billy Smith named in the Roosters’ extended reserves.

Off-contract back-rower Angus Crichton gets his first game of 2024 as Siua Wong is dropped, and Connor Watson returns as bench utility after missing all of last season through injury.

The Rabbitohs have named 24-year-old Matraville local Dean Hawkins at halfback in place of Lachlan Ilias, who will play the NSW Cup curtain raiser, with Shaquai Mitchell and Richie Kennar also axed, the latter for Jack Wighton to make his club debut.

Wests Tigers playmaker Jayden Sullivan also reverts to the bench against Cronulla after an underwhelming club debut in Canberra, replaced in the starting side by veteran Aiden Sezer after he has nursed a hamstring issue.

Payne Haas has been named by the Broncos for Thursday’s grand final rematch and, according to coach Kevin Walters, will defy a knee issue to play if he comes through Wednesday’s captain’s run, while Penrith will be without James Fisher-Harris (shoulder).

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has resisted making wholesale changes following Sunday’s 38-0 capitulation to the Dolphins.

Francis Molo (suspension), Jacob Liddle (concussion) and Hame Sele (hamstring) are all unavailable, bringing Jesse Marschke in to make his NRL debut at hooker against the Cowboys and rising young prop Viliami Fifita onto the bench.

Josh Addo-Carr’s shoulder injury will keep him out of Canterbury’s clash with the Gold Coast on Saturday, while Parramatta have named highly rated teen Blaize Talagi to debut at centre against Manly on Sunday.

Mitchell could have dealt with things better, says Wighton

South Sydney players insist Latrell Mitchell could have selected his words more carefully after he came under fire for an expletive-laden post-match radio interview.

The players introduced a swear jar on Monday after Mitchell dropped the F-bomb nearly half a dozen times on Triple M following the loss to Brisbane.

On the same day Lachlan Ilias was axed for Friday’s grudge match against the Sydney Roosters, Souths players said Mitchell was aware he had crossed the line.

They added it was unfair to slam Mitchell as a poor role model based on one interview.

“I had a look at [the interview] this morning, and I’ll be honest, he could have dealt with things in a better way,” Mitchell’s good friend Jack Wighton said. “But it’s Trell, and things seem a bit bigger when it’s Trell.

“We made [a pact] over the off-season that even if it’s right or wrong, we need to tell each other the truth. And we won’t be perfect.

“He’s got a big heart. It could have been handled differently, but it’s not something we’ll carry on about.”

Skipper Cam Murray, who celebrates 150 NRL games, said he would never swear during a live interview, but profanities were hard to escape across all platforms in the modern era, including podcasts.

“I swear a lot, just not in front of the camera, but that’s me,” Murray said.“The good thing we do at this club is embrace everyone and empower everyone to be themselves.

“I’m sure if Latrell had his time over again, he’d be a bit more selective with his words. But that’s what happens when you grab someone 30 seconds after a game, emotions are still running high, you have a competitor who just wants to win, and there’s a lot of frustration in the air.

“I don’t see too much wrong with it. Anyone who knows Latrell deep down knows all he wants to do is win, he wants to back his team, he wants to be the best team player and empower his team.

“I had a chat to him about it, just to get his perspective, and check in and that’s all he said. That’s Trell being his authentic self. If you deep dive into it a little bit, I know people are asking how he’s supposed to be a role model for kids, but I think it’s unfair to judge him on one interview.

“I also think in an indirect way he’s showing people that’s his true self, and he’s giving people permission to be their true selves by him doing that.

“Everyone swears these days, you can’t put a podcast on without hearing swearing, you can’t scroll through social media without swearing. That’s the world we live in.”

Senior Souths officials and coach Jason Demetriou spoke with Mitchell on Monday, while NRL chief Andrew Abdo wants to meet with the No.1 and remind him of the importance of being a good role model.

While Mitchell will be joined by Wighton, who makes his club debut against the Roosters, Ilias will make way for local junior Dean Hawkins. According to Demetriou last year, Ilias was “going to be the best halfback the club has had in a long time”.

Ilias, 23, has struggled to move out of the shadows of his popular predecessor Adam Reynolds since he took over the halfback job at the start of 2022, and the club were not prepared to wait any longer to pull the trigger.

His kicking game has been disappointing, while on one occasion against the Broncos, he booted the ball into the backside of Tallis Duncan.

Murray praised Ilias for not “kicking stones”, but said the major positional switch should have bee viewed as more of a more of a celebration about Hawkins’ promotion.

“It’s not so much that he [Ilias] has been dropped, I think ‘Deano’ has earned his opportunity if anyone is familiar with what he’s been doing over the past 12 to 18 months – he’s been knocking at the door for a long time, so this hasn’t been an overnight thing,” Murray said.

“He brings a lot of calm talk, direction, he’s god a really good kicking game too.”

Respected commentator Matty Johns suggested after the Broncos loss that Souths unite Wighton with good friend Cody Walker in the halves.

But Wighton was quick to point out: “I need to learn the team plays first. I still don’t know what the team plays are called – I’m still calling them the old names from my old club. I’m just looking for my first touch and first carry in my first game [for Souths]. That’s all that matters. All the other stuff will work itself out.”

Storm slam ‘unfair’ Hughes ban for referee push

The Melbourne Storm has taken the unusual step of releasing a media statement claiming Jahrome Hughes’ one-match ban was an unfair result after “reluctantly” accepting a sanction for his push on a referee.

Just hours after they opted to lodge an early guilty plea, meaning he misses the match against the Knights on Sunday night, the club issued a rebuke of the match review committee’s decision, which hit Hughes with a grade two contrary conduct charge.

“Whilst both Jahrome and the club fully support and totally endorse the protection of referees in our game, we believe Saturday’s incident was an accident,” the Storm said in a statement.

“Further, we believe the contact was unavoidable and the grading on the incident was too harsh given the circumstances where Jahrome was concentrating on making an important tackle in the context of the game and not fixated on the movements of the referee.”

While clubs normally have until noon on Monday to lodge decisions regarding offences stemming from matches on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, the Storm were granted an extension before eventually lodging an early guilty plea.

The club was looking at vision of Hughes’ contact with referee Chris Butler in the frantic second half at AAMI Park.

A host of rugby league legends expressed surprise at the NRL match review committee’s call to hand Hughes the punishment.

He would have missed two matches if he unsuccessfully fought the charge at the judiciary.

“We are disappointed that an unsuccessful challenge on the grading would have also resulted in an extra week suspension,” the Storm said.

“We acknowledge the system is in place to avoid judiciary hearings but, in this case, we believe the risk of the penalty for contesting the charge is too high considering the circumstances of the incident.

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“In the end, the threat of an extra week suspension on top of our club’s bye next weekend was the overriding factor in our decision, but we don’t believe this is a fair outcome.”

Hughes was trying to stop Warriors rival Rocco Berry from scoring when Butler backed into his path, prompting the Melbourne halfback to gently push him, resulting in the whistleblower tumbling to the ground.

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