Latest news with #NRLVegas
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tapine, Savage suspended after Raiders' big Vegas win
Canberra captain Joe Tapine has accepted a two-game ban while star winger Xavier Savage will miss one match after pleading guilty to charges from their win over the Warriors in Las Vegas. Tapine went to the sin bin for shoulder-charging Warriors co-captain Mitch Barnett in the second half of the 30-8 victory that opened the NRL season on Sunday (AEDT). He will miss Canberra's next two games against Brisbane and Manly, avoiding the risk of a third match with an early guilty plea for his grade-two charge. Joseph Tapine has been sent to the sin bin for this shoulder charge.📺 Watch #NRLVegas #NRLRaidersWarriors on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: ✍️ BLOG MATCH CENTRE — Fox League (@FOXNRL) March 2, 2025 Savage will miss the Broncos clash for attacking Chanel Harris-Tavita's legs as he kicked in the first half, also pleading guilty early rather than challenging the grade-two dangerous contact charge. It's a huge blow for a Canberra side who missed finals last year but started the season with a bang with an impressive showing against the highly rated Warriors. Albert Hopoate appears the frontrunner to come into the backline for the Raiders after he missed the trip to Vegas to attend the birth of his child. Trey Mooney, Myles Martin and Pasami Saulo are among middle-forward options that could replace Tapine in the 17.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Calls grow louder for Nicho Hynes switch amid 'concerning' footage of Sharks player
Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy has been called out for a couple of questionable defensive moments in the round one loss to Penrith, amid growing calls to move Nicho Hynes out of the halves. The Sharks ran the four-time reigning premiers close in an impressive season-opening display in Las Vegas but the class of the Panthers ultimately shone through in the six-point win. Hynes didn't play badly by any means, but NRL greats Bryan Fletcher and Scott Sattler were among those to suggest a positional switch for the former Dally M Medallist could be beneficial for the Sharks. Braydon Trindall appeared to play the role of chief playmaker like he did at the back-end of 2024, with Hynes not getting the ball as much or showing the same intent as his standout season in 2022. However, veteran league journalist Paul Crawley pointed to Kennedy's tryline defence as a bigger area of concern for coach Craig Fitzgibbon's Sharks. Speaking on Tuesday night's NRL 360 program on Fox League, Crawley said there were two key moments in the first half that led to Penrith tries in which he suggested the Cronulla No.1 should have done better. The first came in the 26th minute when Panthers co-captain Isaah Yeo stepped back inside and scored from close range after some flimsy Sharks defence. Yeo exposed some tired defence from Addin Fonua-Blake and interchange prop Tom Hazelton to slice his way through, but Kennedy showed no desperation on his own tryline to try and prevent the Penrith star from scoring. 💥 ISAAH YEO 💥📺 Watch #NRLVegas #NRLPanthersSharks on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: ✍️ BLOG MATCH CENTRE — Fox League (@FOXNRL) March 2, 2025 The second incident was a little harsher on Kennedy, but still highlighted a lack of desperation often seen from the game's best defensive fullbacks, such as Penrith's Dylan Edwards and Dragons recruit Clint Gutherson. It was Nathan Cleary's clever switch from the left to right side of the field that caught Cronulla napping, before his pin-point kick to Izack Tago resulted in Penrith's second try of the game. Kennedy was at long-odds to stop the move and get to the footy before Tago, such was the brilliance of the execution from Penrith. But replays showed the Sharks fullback was nowhere near the play and was only casually jogging to get across when Tago scored. Crawley argued that someone like Gutherson would have anticipated the move in advance and sprinted across to try and stop it, describing Kennedy's defensive efforts as 'quite concerning'. 'There were two tries scored. Kennedy hardly makes an effort in this one (Yeo try) and in the next one (Tago try), Cleary does trick him by (shifting) sides but even so, I thought the effort from Kennedy would have to be a concern," Crawley said. 'If that's Clint Gutherson, he's going 100 miles an hour." While Kennedy's attacking ability is rarely under the microscope, his defence has often being singled out by critics as the weakest part of the fullback's game. And Crawley's analysis will give fresh impetus for fans who've been calling for Hynes to move to fullback, where he previously excelled at the Melbourne Storm. Hynes at fullback… he offers way more in attack in that position. Kennedy has to play nsw cup — GhostOfYoshi (@GhostOfYoshi1) March 4, 2025 Nicko Hynes is a fullback. Dan Atkinson is a half. Simples? — BSKT (@bskttrade) March 4, 2025 Hynes to fullback.. Kennedy is useless — K (@K60006762) March 2, 2025 Hynes at 7 isn't the answer. He's got no vision. Can't see past his bootlaces. He's a fullback or 5/8. — Matt (@MC_Hammer75) March 2, 2025 NRL greats Fletcher and Sattler also suggested this week that Hynes should switch positions at the Sharks, despite his clever pass to set up Jesse Ramien for the game's first try. Hynes once again more of a back seat though as Trindall steered the team around and also gave up the goal-kicking duties to his halves partner, prompting questions around whether Hynes was fully fit after suffering an injury scare during pre-season. RELATED: NRL cops backlash over 'disgusting' move towards players' wives NRL boss under fire over Nathan Cleary comments amid $600m plan Following the round one defeat, NRL great Fletcher made the shock call to play Hynes off the bench until he's regained his best form. "Trindall is their playmaker and their spark," Fletcher told SEN radio this week. "We saw that in the semi-final last year and everyone was saying 'Nicho has done well to take a back seat'. But I don't think it's Nicho taking a back seat, I think it's Braydon Trindall just demanding the ball. "I think Kennedy is quicker than Nicho, so I don't know what they should do. I personally would start Nicho from the bench. I know that's a big call, but at the moment...I'm not saying he's a passenger, but I think he might benefit from a spell on the bench just to get the fire back into his belly." While Penrith premiership great Sattler says a move to lock could be the best thing for Hynes and the Sharks. "I think he'd be really good in an Isaah Yeo-style role," Sattler said. "In that role you can basically be a chameleon and jump to any part of the field. He'd handle the work rate, he'd be really subtle with the ball and he could jump in and kick when need be."
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NRL clubs looking to fight off Las Vegas 'hangover'
Ivan Cleary expects Penrith will be in for a "comedown" after their win in Las Vegas as the four NRL clubs guard against starting slowly on return to Australia. It's back to reality for Cronulla, Canberra, the Warriors and the Panthers on Monday (AEDT) as the four clubs begin their journeys home from the NRL's second annual trip to Vegas. The quartet of teams have this coming weekend to reminisce on their Stateside visit, which ended in victories for Penrith and Canberra. FULL TIME 🐾#NRLVegas #NRLPanthersSharks — NRL (@NRL) March 2, 2025 As the four teams are overcoming jet-lag, the remaining round-one fixtures will play out in Australia from Thursday. It was a slow start to the season for the four clubs that made the trip to Vegas last year: none posted a winning record across the four weeks that followed their matches in Sin City. And the task of backing up could be more challenging this year. While last year's Vegas visitors played one another in round two, the 2025 teams face sides that did not have to travel to the other side of the world to begin their NRL seasons. The Panthers lost their first game on return from last year's World Club Challenge in England, and Cleary is bracing himself that his team could find itself with a "hangover" again in 2025. "There'll definitely be a comedown, for sure," he said after the four-time reigning premiers beat Cronulla in Vegas. "The Manchester trip last year, we felt that. The time difference is a lot more, so that's more difficult. I think naturally there's going to be (a comedown). "It's just our job over the next couple of weeks to try and navigate through that." Cleary was pleased the Panthers' next game was against the Sydney Roosters in Parramatta, where the Panthers will play the majority of home games this year while Penrith Park is refurbished. "It's handy that we're playing our first game at CommBank next week against the Roosters, which will be a big occasion," he said. The Sharks appear to have the toughest task ahead of them as the only one of the four Vegas teams to play away from home in round two. Cronulla travel to Townsville to face North Queensland in one of the NRL's toughest away trips, and go on to visit Canberra, Perth, Newcastle and Brisbane before round 10. Coach Craig Fitzgibbon said his staff would be working to guard against a post-Vegas hangover. "We've got a plan in place for that, but we're obviously still just addressing what happened in the game before we get to the next game," he said. "We've got a thorough plan, we have to because we're travelling a bit in the first six weeks."
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jillaroos' 90-4 win in Vegas raises questions for NRL
The NRL will be forced to reconsider the best way to promote the women's game in the US, after the Jillaroos trounced England 90-4 in Las Vegas. In Australia's third-biggest win of all time, Tamika Upton scored five tries and set another up two in a complete domination at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday (AEDT). Winger Julia Robinson and bench centre Jess Sergis also crossed for hat-tricks for Australia, while Taryn Aiken was superb at halfback with six assists. So dominant were the Jillaroos that they ran in 17 tries in the 70-minute fixture to claim their largest victory margin over a tier-one nation. Make that FIVE tries for Tamika Upton! 🤯#NRLVegas — Jillaroos (@AusJillaroos) March 2, 2025 The win was briefly marred by a horror head-on collision from the first tackle after the break, leaving England prop Vicky Whitfield prone on the ground. After taking the hit up from the kick off, Whitfield clashed heads with Jillaroos front-rower Sarah Togatuki and both reeled from the collision. Togatuki was taken for the field with a concussion, while Whitfield was eventually taken off on a stretcher on the back of a medicab. The 30-year-old was taken to hospital for precautionary scans. Still, the main question for the NRL is whether the Jillaroos' walloping of England is the best advertisement for the women's game in the US market. With no fully-professional women's rugby or NFL competition in America, the NRLW is viewed as a space where rugby league can make an impact. But Australia's win was overwhelmingly one-sided. England conceded tries in four straight sets at different stages in both halves, and scored their only points on the full-time siren through Georgia Roache. By contrast, Pacific Championship matches between Australia and New Zealand have been far more competitive in recent years, leaving the Kiwi Ferns as a potentially better opponent for the Jillaroos next year. Women's State of Origin is also viewed as a potential way to sell the game in the US, with last year's three-game series a compelling contest. Regardless, Australia were ruthless against the Lionesses. Upton was in everything, putting Jakiya Whitfeld into a gap in the lead up to the Jillaroos' first try before scoring three more herself in the opening half. Isabelle Kelly was dominant at left centre, scoring twice and laying on a nice try for Upton when she swept out wide and passed back inside for her fullback. Prop Shannon Mato ran close to 200 metres, while Olivia Kernick laid on two tries in the second row in her first Jillaroos game since her controversial axing last year.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Raiders party in Vegas with big win to open NRL season
Canberra will be partying into the night in Las Vegas after kicking the NRL season off with their most impressive performance in recent memory, a 30-8 mauling of a woeful Warriors. The Raiders looked right at home before a big crowd at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the fortress of their namesake NFL team, and picked up from a fast finish to an inconsistent 2024. But there was nothing inconsistent about Ricky Stuart's side on Sunday (AEDT), with the Warriors looking completely lost in their first game of the post-Shaun Johnson era. New halves combination Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita could not spark the Warriors, who looked too flat for a team that had more members fly over for the second year of the NRL's Vegas experiment than any of their three NRL rivals. Prized James Fisher-Harris had virtually no impact, coming off when the Warriors were down 6-0 and only returning when the game looked gone at 28-4. Raiders captain Joe Tapine went to the sin bin for a shoulder charge on Mitch Barnett in the 65th minute and could face scrutiny from the match review committee. With an extra man on the field, the Warriors had a late consolation try through Roger Tuivasa-Sheck on the veteran's return to the wing. But a comeback never appeared on. Fresh from proposing in front of the Bellagio, Xavier Savage had two first-half tries down the right wing as the Raiders' outside backs adapted to the thinner NFL field better than the Warriors'. In a summation of the Warriors' struggles without Johnson, new halfback Metcalf threw a pass straight to Savage, who ran 90 metres against the run of play to make it 16-0. Earlier, off-contract Tom Starling staked his claim to remain hooker ahead of highly-rated rookie Owen Pattie by scooting out of dummy half to put Canberra in position for Savage's first try. Quick hands for Savage in the corner! 👌#NRLVegas #NRLRaidersWarriors — NRL (@NRL) March 2, 2025 It was a night full of success stories for the Raiders; Corey Horsburgh looked sharp after a poor 2024, while Pattie held his own when he came on for his debut late. Hudson Young went from the naughty corner to the top of the class with an excellent game, shaking off scrutiny over his hotel brawl with teammate Morgan Smithies. Just after halftime, Young's enthusiastic kick chase forced Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to spill the ball and Seb Kris cleaned up to hit back following the Warriors' first try. The Raiders went up 22-4 thanks to Kris, who had earlier scored the first try of the NRL season reaching out onto the chalk. Canberra's easiest try came through Matt Timoko who ran down an inexplicably open right edge for a long-range try that all but sealed the result at 28-4. Savage went on report in the first half for taking Harris-Tavita's legs out in a kick, while Nicoll-Klokstad was also cited for making boot contact with Horsburgh while airborne.
