InZane Rugby League - Frank Ponissi -We don't want the Bears to steal our players like the Dolphins did
On InZane Rugby League this week - Zane Bojack and former Raiders halfback Sam Williams are joined by Melbourne Storm General Manager of Football and NSW Head of High Performance Frank Ponissi to preview Origin 2 and discuss the likelihood of the club retaining their stars from the threat of the Perth Bears.
Ponissi says he has a soft spot for the Bears as a former football boss at the club but does not want them to pillage the Storm like the Dolphins did in 2023.
He said Melbourne is willing to discuss roster management with Mal Meninga to ensure the Bear's success but not at the expense of the Storm's playing list.
Zane and Sam also discussed the coach Mal Meninga is chasing to be his protege, the changes Billy Slater made to Queensland for Game 2 and the weekend's magic moment in Canberra when Josh Papalii scored two tries and kicked a conversion in his record-breaking 319th match for the Raiders.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
42 minutes ago
- ABC News
What the Socceroos need against Saudi Arabia to qualify for the World Cup
The Socceroos are so close they can almost taste it. Automatic qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is just 90 minutes away following the Socceroos' dramatic 1-0 victory over Japan in Perth. However, the Socceroos first face the task of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning before they can book their spot on the plane. Saudi Arabia is still in with a chance of upsetting Australia's hopes and stealing the final automatic qualification spot. Here's what needs to happen for Australia to progress to their sixth-straight World Cup finals. Simply put, a draw or a victory over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah will confirm the Socceroos' spot on the plane to North America. The Green Eagles, in third spot, are three competition points behind second-placed Australia in Group C of this phase of qualifying. With two teams from each of the three six-team groups progressing to North America next year, the Socceroos only have to equal Saudi Arabia to join group winners Japan at the showpiece 32-team tournament. The Socceroos can still progress even if Saudi Arabia wins. Due to the Socceroos' far superior goal difference, Saudi Arabia will need to win by a whopping five clear goals to leap-frog Australia to second spot. Saudi Arabia has not beaten a team by this margin since they beat Palestine 5-0 in March 2021 and have not scored more than that since a 7-2 victory over Cambodia in January 2017. Saudi Arabia has scored just six goals in this phase of qualifying, with only Bahrain (5) scoring fewer across all the teams in Asia in this phase of qualifying. Things get mighty complicated if Australia can't hang on to second spot in the group. The Socceroos cannot finish any lower than third or fourth, which will put them in the fourth phase of qualifying. That means the Socceroos would be placed into a round-robin tournament in October, played at a centralised venue within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and featuring the other third- and fourth-placed teams from across the AFC in two groups of three. That is likely to be the UAE and Qatar from Group A; and Oman, Iraq or Palestine from Group B — although those groups are still in flux. The two group winners from each three-team group will progress to the 2026 World Cup. If the Socceroos finish second in that group, there is still another chance to qualify through the intercontinental play-offs, but first they'd have to beat the other second-placed finisher from the other group in another two-legged match. Then they'd need to finish in the top two of a six-team inter-confederation play-off tournament in the USA. Last time around the Socceroos drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in Melbourne all the way back in November. Incredibly, the Saudis had a last-gasp winner (correctly) ruled out for a narrow offside decision. Saudi Arabia vs the Socceroos kicks off at 4:15am (AEST) on Wednesday morning in New South Wales, Queensland, the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania. That's 2:15am in Western Australia and 3:45am in South Australia and the Northern Territory. This game is exclusive to Paramount+. However, you can follow all the action as it unfolds in the ABC Sport live blog.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Munster postive QLD can level the series
State of Origin: Newly crowned QLD Maroons captain Cameron Munster is backing his team to level the series for Game 2 in Perth.
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The ghost of Holger Osieck is the only thing that can stop the Socceroos
The last time the Socceroos lost a match by five goals, it launched the careers of both Ange Postecoglou and Maty Ryan. It was 2013, and Australia had just sealed a spot at the World Cup in Brazil. Josh Kennedy was the saviour, thanks to his iconic late header against Iraq in front of 80,000 people in Sydney. But there was no saving the unpopular Holger Osieck, who was sacked three months later, despite delivering Australia's third successive qualification. The Socceroos were a bit on the nose with the public. Osieck had allowed the ageing 'Golden Generation' to hang on for too long, and his style of football was hardly inspiring. Later that year, in their wisdom, Football Federation Australia scheduled back-to-back friendlies, both away, against Brazil and France. Rare chances for them to measure up against true global yardsticks. 6-0, 6-0. Critics accused the Socceroos of making the Australian game look like a 'joke' on the world stage with their 'spineless' performances, and several players of outstaying their welcome in the team. As soon as he returned to the team hotel after game two in Paris, Osieck was dismissed, and moves were immediately afoot to get the federation's No.1 coaching target, Ange Postecoglou, out of his contract at Melbourne Victory, thus setting in train a series of events that would soon lead to Postecoglou taking over and regenerating the squad, Mark Schwarzer's retirement, and the handing over of the gloves to Ryan, who will win his 100th cap on Wednesday morning (AEST) by hopefully contributing to what would be one of the best moments of his career. For that not to happen, the Socceroos would need to turn in a stinker the likes of which they have not had in 12 years. Not since that day in Paris. Or that other day in Brasília. That is how bad they would have to be to miss out on the 2026 World Cup from here. That is how long ago they last lost by five goals or more. That is the sort of heist Saudi Arabia has to pull off in Jeddah. It is an unfathomable thought on multiple levels. So far in this qualifying phase, the Saudis have scored only six goals in nine games – so to do it, they'd essentially need to reproduce that whole output in one match. Only twice before have the Socceroos ever lost a competitive match (not friendlies) by 5-0 or worse, and not since 1997.
