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NRL news: Horsburgh considering exit after clash with two clubs, Johns hits out at refs over blocker change, Sharks ready to ‘rewrite history’

2 weeks ago
0 106 8 minutes read
NRL news: Horsburgh considering exit after clash with two clubs, Johns hits out at refs over blocker change, Sharks ready to 'rewrite history'

Popular Canberra forward Corey Horsburgh has met Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters and is set to meet with the Wests Tigers in the coming weeks.

The 26-year-old, who made his Queensland debut last year, is under contract with the Raiders until the end of 2027 but has been allowed to meet other clubs to negotiate a deal for 2025 and beyond.

The aggressive Horsburgh, who has played just two NRL games this year, has been in scintillating form for Canberra’s reserve-grade team in recent weeks after a season affected by injuries and suspensions.

Horsburgh, who was a junior player at Redcliffe and was born in the Brisbane suburb of Caboolture, is a close friend of Broncos player Pat Carrigan and had a positive meeting with key figures at the club after touring the club’s facilities.

“We met with the Broncos yesterday and had a really good conversation with (coach) Kevin Walters and (head of recruitment) Simon Scanlan,” Horsburgh manager Jeff Jurotte told AAP on Thursday.

“Nothing has been finalised and they said there are some salary-cap issues they need to work on,” he said.

“Corey played with Pat Carrigan in the Queensland Under 20s and they are good friends and would love to play with each other. I look after Pat as well.

(Photo: Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

“Corey has seen and used Brisbane’s facilities before as Origin players have trained there. Part of the attraction of the Broncos is coming home to Brisbane.”

The Broncos are in the midst of finalising a multi-million dollar contract extension for Reece Walsh, and the contracts of their strike backs Kotoni Staggs and Selwyn Cobo expire at the end of next year, so the salary cap is tight.

Jurote said Tigers coach Benji Marshall has also been in touch.

“We’ll probably extend the courtesy of meeting him next week or so,” he said.

“Benji and (CEO) Shane Richardson have said they’re interested in that, but we haven’t had the chance to go to Sydney yet, but we will.”

Horsburgh has also attracted interest from Canterbury and St George Illawarra.

Jurotte said the Bulldogs were “out of the running” after signing Leeds forward Tom Amon, Sydney Roosters second rower Sitili Tupouniua and were looking to upgrade several members of their current squad.

“Phil Gould was great at that,” Jurotte said.

“They said they wanted to take care of the kids that were there and that was fine.”

Jurote has spoken to Dragons coach Shane Flanagan, who also has other issues to address.

“He asked me if I could call him in the next two weeks,” Jurote said.

Jurotte has spoken to Raiders CEO Don Furner and coach Ricky Stuart and said the option of staying in Canberra is still open.

“They obviously want to keep him at the club and that is still a possibility,” he said.

“Corey has played three or four games in reserve grade and he’s been the best player over the last couple of weeks.

“He’s lost six kilos, has been practising at home and he’s in really good shape at the moment and hasn’t had any injuries. He looks like he’s done his pre-season again and that’s where we wanted him to be.”

Joey criticises Annesley over blockers

Immortal halfback Andrew Johns has sent a clear message to the NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley about changes to field goal rules which make it harder for teams to score without a penalty.

John’s Knights and Cronulla were denied match-winning field goals on Sunday after referee Gerard Sutton ruled there were “blockers” in the path of defenders trying to stop the kick.

This change in interpretation has been strongly rebuked by Johns, who was a master of kicking field goals during his illustrious career.

Writing in his column Sydney Morning HeraldHe explained how a field goal kicker usually waits for the right moment during an offense to pull the trigger with the next forward.

“On the first play, my position will be 15 to 20 metres behind the ruck and the middle forwards will be in front of me the whole time. I instruct them on where to run, which defenders to target and what is the ideal position for a field goal attempt,” he explained.

“If a quick play-the-ball comes at tackle two, three or four, I’ll take the shot. If it’s not a quick play-the-ball, those middle forwards need to be in a position to take the carry, because not every ruck is going to create the ideal opportunity. They need to be close to the dummy half to create metres on the advantage line.

“It’s nearly impossible for them not to be in front of the field goal kicker. How many long kicks in a normal game do you see situations like that? The only time you’ll see the kicker in front of his teammates is if he’s making a quick play on the ball. Are we going to start penalizing normal game kicks more for blocking?”

Johns described Annesley’s argument as good in theory, but “it is not practical”.

“What happened with the back-to-back penalties between the Sharks and Knights was wrong. From where I was watching, none of the Cronulla players were hindered or had to alter their line up too much.”

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During pre-season, the NRL sent a memo to clubs reiterating this rule, stating that an attacking player could be penalised if “in relation to a field goal, (the player) takes up a position to play the ball and, in the opinion of the referee, impedes the defender(s), despite there being no physical contact.”

Annesley said in addition to the memo sent to clubs, the NRL had met with coaches in pre-season to discuss the rule and trained referees to accurately spot illegal field goals.

“We’ve eliminated most of them because we were open and transparent about it,” Annesley said.

“To most clubs’ credit, they’ve got it right. We’ve seen field goal attempts all season where there’s no blocker.

“I’ve said it on numerous occasions throughout the year: If you don’t want to risk a field goal being ruled down, don’t put these players (blockers) in this situation. You’re inviting the referees to take action.

“Barrier. Barrier. Case closed.”

Johns said extra time should be abolished or, if it remains, it should be made into a “golden try” system.

Hines set to return as Sharks try to ‘rewrite history’

When Nico Hynes is spotted training shirtless, his Cronulla team-mates know it’s a good sign.

Hines is set to return to full training for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery in July, giving the Sharks a major boost ahead of the NRL finals.

The star halfback will, at best, put his hand up for selection in Cronulla’s round-26 match against the Warriors.

If that doesn’t happen, the club expects him to play in their final regular season clash against Manly.

Hines underwent surgery ahead of the round 19 clash with the Wests Tigers after scans revealed he had fractured his ankle and completely ruptured the syndesmosis ligament during training.

The prognosis then was that the 2022 Dally M medallist would be out of action for at least eight weeks.

Hines took to the field to kick with his teammates during training on Wednesday before resuming his separate schedule near the main group.

He is expected to return to full training with the team next week.

Joking about his teammate’s habit of training shirtless, Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo said Hines’ much-anticipated return would be a timely morale booster.

“He loves it. He’s working on his upper body, so he walks around (without a shirt),” Mulitalo said Wednesday.

“Hey, what do you expect? Good looking guy.”

“He has been there for the players, so it has been good for us off the field as well,” he added.

“He’s a key part of our team, so having him in the squad gives us confidence. It’s good for morale.”

“I am very pleased with his performance off the field and I am looking forward to his return.”

Cronulla will look to solidify their hold on the top four when they play local rivals St George Illawarra on Sunday.

A lead of just two points over fifth-placed Canterbury ensures a double in September, which will undoubtedly help the Sharks recover from their poor finals form.

Craig Fitzgibbon’s side were eliminated in straight sets after finishing the regular season in second place in 2022, before losing to the Sydney Roosters at home in the elimination final in 2023.

But Mulitalo was wary of paying too much attention to outside noise about his finals history.

“It’s more people’s multis,” he joked.

“Everyone says, ‘Man, why didn’t I score for their multis’ but no, it doesn’t matter to me (about the outside noise).

“Everyone is going to lend their support. We’re certainly confident in where we are, whether we have believers or not.

“We want to rewrite our history, so our goal is to get there (to the final) first.”

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2 weeks ago
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