Latest news with #CameronSmith
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Wasting your time': NRL legend responds amid Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler rumour
😃 The good: NRL greats don't think Nathan Cleary will move 😔 The bad: Benji Marshall and Wests Tigers spiralling again 😡 The ugly: Ezra Mam's on-field act during Broncos loss You're wasting your time. That's the message from four of rugby league's biggest names in response to rumours Nathan Cleary might be eyeing a switch to rugby union. Former Wallaby Tim Horan fired up the juicy bit of gossip last week, suggesting the Panthers superstar was "quite keen" to leave the NRL for the 15-man game. Another ex-Wallaby, Morgan Turinui, was happy to run with the story, adding "there is interest on both sides". If you believe the narrative, the rumours have Cleary moving to a UK/European rugby club to be closer to partner Mary Fowler. It all sounds good in theory but is it actually a chance of happening? Not according to those in the know. "What's today, June 1 - it's not April 1. I'm saying a big fat no. That won't happen," Immortal Andrew Johns told the Sunday Footy Show. Queensland Origin coach Billy Slater was another to cast doubt on the move. He said: "It would be a pull-off for the Wallabies if they could get Nathan Cleary, but I don't think that would happen. I'd be surprised if Nathan challenged himself with that." Cameron Smith and Brad Fittler also wrote off the possibility. But we learned a long time ago to never outrightly dismiss any scenario when it comes to rugby league. Watch this space. View this post on Instagram A post shared by NRL on Nine (@nrlonnine) Benji Marshall insists the Tigers have left the Lachlan Galvin drama behind them and are sick of talking about the departed five-eighth. That may be the case, but the club's results since Galvin announced he wanted out shows a worrying trend. Going back to the Easter Monday clash against Parramatta – which Galvin missed after being axed in the wake of his decision not to accept a contract extension – the Tigers have won just two games in six. From occupying a position in the top eight, Marshall's men have now slipped to 13th ahead of a testing run of games. Alarmingly, they have conceded 146 points in their past four games, which included the nightmare 64-0 defeat to Melbourne. The Tigers showed plenty of ticker to fight back against the Cowboys on Saturday night, but the fact remains they trailed 32-6 at one stage. The recent drop off cannot all be put down to Galvin's exit but there's no doubt the ongoing circus has been a major distraction. High profile recruit Jarome Luai is doing his best to keep his side in the contest but is clearly frustrated and agitated as he prepares to take on his old Panthers teammates this weekend. After three straight wooden spoons, Tigers fans are starting to wonder whether the supposed revival is fast becoming a mirage. The out-of-form Broncos have enough problems without Ezra Mam adding to their dramas. The disgraced five-eighth was hit by a barrage of abuse by Manly fans each time he touched the ball during Brisbane's awful 34-6 loss at 4 Pines Park on Saturday night. It's the first time Mam has played outside of Queensland since returning from a nine-game ban for crashing into car while unlicensed and under the influence of drugs, injuring three people. And while he was given a soft ride back into the NRL in front of his own fans in Round 11, those south of the border clearly aren't willing to forgive and forget. Mam didn't help his cause at Brookvale, jumping to his feet with arms outstretched in a Christ the Redeemer pose after scoring his side's only try. Some saw his actions as lacking humility and class given his off-field troubles, jumping on social media to condemn his actions. Sea Eagles life member and veteran media figure Peter Peters said: "I think the booing of Ezra Mam showed the NRL got it wrong in the suspension for what he did. He's got to be a little more humble. He's not everyone's cup of team at the moment. "To act like he did…to look to the heavens and poke his chest out like he's something special was hard to take. He needs to take a good look at himself."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sad detail about Slater and Smith as Melbourne Storm severe Queensland ties
Some of the Melbourne Storm's most iconic players have come through their historic Queensland Cup pathway, including champions like Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk. But the NRL club is severing it's traditional ties to Queensland in favour of a more stream-lined 'reserve grade' team in the NSW Cup. The Sunshine Coast Falcons and Brisbane Tigers (formerly known as Easts) have been feeder teams for the Storm for the past 27 years. But in a bombshell decision, the revealed this week that the long and successful partnership will be ended after this year. Starting next season, the club will have a Melbourne Storm team playing in the NSW Cup - the tier below the NRL in NSW. Unlike in the Queensland Cup, teams that play in the NSW Cup predominantly have the same name as their NRL equivalents. The current North Sydney Bears team that plays in the NSW Cup is also a feeder club for the Storm. But that will have to change when the Perth Bears enter the NRL competition in 2027. According to the Courier Mail report, the move is designed around stream-lining the Storm's reserve grade squad and keeping their fringe first-graders in the Melbourne colours. This "builds the continuity that many of their Sydney-based rivals enjoy with their NSW Cup teams," the report states. The Storm released a statement on Friday confirming the move, while promising to maintain their affiliation with Queensland through other means. 'There is no doubt our partnership with the Falcons and East has helped us find some of the best talent to have ever pulled on a Storm jersey,' said the Storm's director of football Frank Ponissi. 'However, like all clubs, we are always looking at ways to improve our pathways, particularly with the expansion of the NRL and NRLW in the coming years. While we might be exploring new opportunities to develop and expand our male and female programs, our commitment to south-east Queensland will be maintained whether through our existing recruitment programs or new partnership opportunities with the Falcons or Easts.' The move is an extraordinary one considering the rich history of Queenslanders making their mark with the Melbourne Storm. Smith, Slater, Cronk and Greg Inglis all played for Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup, which is actually in Brisbane Broncos territory. But they signed with the Storm when the club started moving into Queensland territory in the early 2000s. Former Storm coach Mark Murray said in 2017: 'The Broncos had Queensland to themselves for so long, so our focus was pretty narrow up there, and our strike rate ended up being pretty good as a result.' Current players Harry Grant, Trent Loiero and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui all came through the Sunshine Coast Falcons, as did the NSW-born Ryan Papenhuyzen. And Cameron Munster played for the Brisbane Tigers before making his NRL debut. RELATED: Blow for Billy Slater with Queensland player banned from Origin Trainer at centre of Origin incident unmasked as NRL great's brother The historic ties to the Queensland Cup is the main reason the majority of Melbourne Storm players represent the Maroons at Origin level. Whether or not that trend continues remains to be seen. The move away from Queensland will seemingly open the door for the Dolphins to recruit more talent through the Sunshine Coast pathway, while the Tigers will likely become a feeder for the Broncos. Make sense when you think about it. Falcons would be a logical feeder club to the Dolphins, and the Tigers as a feeder to Broncos. — behind_th_8ball (@behind_th_8ball) May 29, 2025 Wow. Big change — clayton johns (@5Nouseforaname) May 29, 2025 Terrible — nolesfan2011 (@nolesfan2011) May 30, 2025
Ya Biladi
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Ya Biladi
Fundraiser launched to help repatriate two tourists who died in Agadir crash
A fundraiser launched in memory of two English men of Jamaican origin who died in a car crash in Morocco has raised over £3,800 in just two weeks. Cameron Smith, 27, a father of one, and Anthony Smith, 48, tragically lost their lives earlier this month when a driver collided with their car in Agadir. Their friend, Tyrone Smith, who was also in the vehicle, was seriously injured and underwent emergency surgery at a Moroccan hospital. Nearly 140 people have donated to the fundraiser, which was set up to support the victims' families and help cover medical and repatriation costs. «We've lost two amazing souls, and Tyrone has a long road to recovery. We are overwhelmed by the support and generosity shown by everyone», said a family friend on the fundraising page. The inquests for Cameron and Anthony were opened last Thursday at Black Country Coroners Court. Moroccan police confirmed that a local driver was arrested following the fatal collision, which occurred on May 4. The families are now navigating the difficult process of bringing their loved ones home—a journey made even more complex by the circumstances of an overseas accident.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Worst game I've seen': Craig Bellamy's brutal NSW hit job on Harry Grant
The last time Craig Bellamy had anything official to do with State of Origin, he walked away a broken and beaten man. For all the magic he has conjured with the Storm, he just couldn't make his inferior NSW side rise to a level to match Mal Meninga's dynastic Maroons. He walked away after three series defeats between 2008 and 2010. FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. In his defence, God might not have been able to make that NSW side rise to a level capable of beating Queensland, so as good as he was, Bellamy probably didn't stand a chance. But there was one thing in particular which really bothered the supercoach: he hated conspiring against the guys he looked after every week. Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk. For maybe the only time in his coaching career, he never felt truly at ease. Fifteen days is a long time in rugby league, let alone 15 years. While he sat mostly stony faced and emotionless in the back of the NSW coaching box at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night (at least when the cameras caught him), Bellamy is on the cusp of scratching that Origin itch. It might not have been as headline-grabbing as Zac Lomax's aerial prowess, Latrell Mitchell barely leaving his fingerprints on a pass to set up Brian To'o, or Connor Watson's supreme strength to hurl the ball for Dylan Edwards' match sealer, but there was a theme to NSW's historic game one win: the hit job on Harry Grant. Make no mistake, this is Laurie Daley's NSW team. He deserves all the credit for this win, perhaps series defining, in a match which will never come near the annals of Origin classic. But when he pitched to the NSW Rugby League board to replace Michael Maguire at the end of last year, he came with a secret weapon: Bellamy's guarantee he would be his adviser. Everyone else applying was bringing a knife to a gun fight. On his Big Sports Breakfast program on Monday, Daley waded into an area he usually avoids. He was asked an innocent question about how the Blues expected Queensland to use interchange star Tom Dearden, and whether it would be in tandem with starting No. 9 Grant. He ever so slightly peeled back the curtains on the Bluesprint. 'I don't know how much Harry has done,' said Daley, referencing Grant's injury-interrupted preparation, which restricted him to just 55 minutes of game time in six weeks before Origin I. 'He'll be a little bit underdone. If he's making 50 to 60 tackles, he could be buggered.' That's the appeal of Origin: one week Bellamy is putting his Melbourne captain in cotton wool on his return from a hamstring complaint, the next he's part of a brains trust which put a moving target on arguably Queensland's most influential player. Of the tired and battered bodies which trudged from The Cauldron after game one, none looked more scarred than Grant. He kept throwing his body in front of giant NSW forwards, and by the time Queensland had the ball, the zip was out of his legs. They challenged him at marker in defence, arrowed at him when he was close to the ruck, and stood Payne Haas two passes wide when Grant was scouting wider in the Maroons line. By the time it got to 53 minutes, Queensland coach Slater had seen enough. He hooked Grant for Dearden, only sending him back into the game for the final five inconsequential minutes. Grant's numbers told a story: 43 tackles in just 59 minutes of field time. With a fuel tank lower than Peter Dutton's approval ratings, he ran the ball just five times for 23 metres. Job done. Like they did in last year's grand final when they strangled the life out of the Storm and Grant (after he scored the first try) by forcing him to make 59 tackles, Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo pulled the right strings containing Grant. Yeo was far more prevalent running the ball rather than distributing, a clear tactic to up Grant's workload. If Grant had played all 80 minutes of Origin I and kept making tackles at the same rate, he would have just about equalled his tally from last year's grand final. But numbers only tell part of the story. Watch NSW's three first-half tries. The first, Grant rushed Cleary on a last tackle play, presumedly in the hope of pressuring the kick, but all it did was force Cleary to chance his hand on the last, shovelling the ball to Haas and then immediately stepping around Grant to take him out of play. Cleary touched the ball a second time in the sequence before it finally landed in Lomax's hands for the opening try. Two minutes later, Reece Robson and Haas forced Grant into error as he fumbled the ball with a rare run near the halfway line. Next set, NSW scored through Brian To'o. Ceding momentum and field position, Grant's next telling contribution was one borne by frustration and fatigue. He tried to con referee Ashley Klein by sneakily toeing the ball out of Lomax's grasp as he attempted to play it. Penalty. Before Queensland could touch the ball again, Lomax had his second. 'That was probably the worst game I've seen Harry play,' Andrew Johns said on Channel 9 post game. On Thursday, Bellamy will have Grant and the rest of his Queensland Storm disciples back at the club as they prepare for Saturday's game on the Gold Coast. It will be like Wednesday night never happened. But after a long Origin hiatus, Bellamy is back helping Daley and the Blues – and it came with an almighty mission on one of his own.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Pressure on Qld and captain Daly Cherry-Evans after opening Origin loss but teammates blame themselves
Queensland teammates have defended the performance of Maroons skipper Daly Cherry-Evans in the opening State of Origin loss as pressure mounts on the veteran to keep his place for game two. Amid the fallout from the lacklustre 18-6 defeat at Suncorp Stadium – Queensland's second consecutive home ground defeat – the spotlight is on 36-year-old Cherry-Evans, who failed to inspire the Maroons attack. A forward pass late in the game, as the home team tried to muster a final charge, was indicative of a battling night for the veteran No.7. NSW great Andrew Johns called for Cherry-Evans to be axed for game two and replaced by Tom Dearden, who looms as the playmaker in waiting and came off the bench in Brisbane on Wednesday night. But Dearden wasn't prepared to throw his captain under the buss and called the criticism 'unfair', instead pointing the finger at failures across the team. 'It's unfair criticism like that,' he said on Thursday. 'Daley's our captain, and he's at half back, and he doesn't deserve that because last night as a team, we didn't get our discipline right, and that puts you under pressure.' Former Maroons skipper Cameron Smith said the Queensland key position players, including Cherry-Evans, 'couldn't get the job done' and selection decisions would be crucial to level the series. 'I think (coach Billy Slater) will have that discussion with his selection panel and he'll go through this game thoroughly,' Smith told Channel 9. 'There's no doubt that the key position players of Queensland lacked a bit of cohesion tonight.' Dearden said the Maroons would 'get back to work' before the second game in Perth. 'And work out the areas where we went wrong, where we can get better, and then turn it around for game two and for game three,' he said. Slater said he would look at every element of the game, including the lead-in, adamant there was 'so much more' in his squad. 'Probably some decisions … about the discipline side of the game (have to be better),' Slater said. 'And I'll look at my preparation as well. I'm not out of this. It's not just the players, it's everyone, and we'll all look at ourselves. 'I know there's so much more in this footy team. 'It's a best of three. You've only got to win two games, and that's still alive.'
