Category: NRL

• Zac Lomax at the double as NSW take 1-0 series lead

• Maroons face uphill battle with series moving away from Queensland

Even so, it wouldn’t be Origin without some chicanery.

As Jack Snape reports, Origin has changed, but its modernisation is helping rugby league reach new heights.

State of Origin has changed in recent years as rugby league leans even further into sports science and professional preparation, and away from on-field violence and alcohol-fuelled bonding sessions…But last year’s series continued to draw millions on television. The three matches were all in the top five largest-drawing sport broadcasts of 2024, and the final match had the highest audience of the three. Indeed, the code appears in a healthy state as it prepares to go to market for a new broadcast deal beginning in 2028. Average audiences for Nine’s NRL games this year are up more than 5%.

• Blues call up Max King to start on bench in Game 1 against Maroons
• Payne Haas to undergo a scan that will decide if he plays in Origin I

Laurie Daley has delivered a selection shock with Max King to make his State of Origin debut as the NSW coach also sweats on a Payne Haas quad injury.

Daley confirmed his side for the series opener on Sunday, with Dylan Edwards retaining the fullback role and Mitch Moses to partner Nathan Cleary in the haves.

• Dragons, Cowboys and Knights to join rugby league festival in March
• Hull and Leeds clash revealed but women’s fixture yet to be confirmed

The NRL will attempt to capitalise on Canterbury’s popularity by putting them on the plane to Las Vegas next year, alongside St George Illawarra, North Queensland and Newcastle.

Head office confirmed the four men’s NRL teams for the league’s third Vegas extravaganza, with all teams on their maiden trip for the 1 March (AEDT) event.

• Bears to enter competition before PNG expansion side
• Club will wear red and black and play home games at HBF Park

Peter V’landys insists the Perth Bears can be immediately competitive, adamant their link with North Sydney will set them up for success on entry to the NRL in 2027. The league confirmed on Thursday Perth would become the 18th franchise, joining the competition one year before Papua New Guinea’s 2028 admission.

The announcement ends a long push from Western Australia to have a team in the competition, after the Western Reds were killed off in the Super League war. The Bears link will also revive the moniker of one of the league’s foundation clubs, after North Sydney’s exit following the failed merger with Manly in 2000.

All 12 Super League clubs take the field at St James’ Park but away from the pitch the structure of the sport in England is under discussion

There are some weekends when Super League’s profile feels elevated and this is one of them. The 18th edition of Magic Weekend, with all 12 teams playing in the same venue over two days, returns to St James’ Park with the event being played out to a backdrop of excitement and uncertainty.

On the one hand, this has been an encouraging start to 2025. Attendances are up, viewing figures are trending the right way and there is the prospect of the best-attended Ashes series in a generation this autumn, with two of the three venues already sold out.

• Teenager stars in win over Cronulla on return to first grade
• ‘It’s been pretty difficult,’ says Wests playmaker of contract situation

Lachlan Galvin has described the last fortnight of his life as “difficult” and “tough” after the wantaway five-eighth made a triumphant return to Wests Tigers’ NRL side.

Galvin claimed he was undaunted by making his first grade comeback – after a six-day exile in NSW Cup – at a packed Leichhardt Oval as he starred in the Tigers’ 20-18 golden point win over Cronulla on Sunday.

• Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin was to perform before NRL Anzac Day clash
• Club say was ‘miscommunication’ over decision to call off ceremony

Melbourne Storm are under fire after being accused of cancelling a Welcome to Country at its Anzac Day NRL match at the last minute, leaving an Aboriginal elder “broken-hearted”.

Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin said she was informed by the club on Friday afternoon that she was no longer required to address the crowd before the match at AAMI Park.

• ARLC agrees in principle to Western Australian government proposal
• Clubs and Rugby League Players’ Association still to sign off deal

The NRL is set to expand into Perth after the Australian Rugby League Commission agreed in principle to a revised proposal from the Western Australia government for an NRL team.

The ARLC has signed off on an increased offer from WA Premier Roger Cook, which has salvaged plans for the Perth Bears concept to enter the competition in 2027.

• Australian powerbrokers ready to purchase 33% stake
• London club also favoured to play in a 10-team format

Any potential deal for the NRL to take control of Super League depends on the continued presence of French clubs in the British game, with Australian powerbrokers likely to abandon plans to purchase a stake if Catalans Dragons and Toulouse are ejected by clubs leading a review into the sport in the UK.

British rugby league is on the verge of a hugely critical period. There is an increasingly hostile power struggle developing, after a number of clubs – spearheaded by Leigh Leopards and Batley Bulldogs – successfully removed Simon Johnson as the the Rugby Football League chair, and installed as his replacement the governing body’s former chief executive Nigel Wood.

• ‘Nothing like this will ever happen again,’ says Charlie Gallico
• Much-loved retired panelbeater filmed shoving nine-year-old

South Sydney’s mascot has apologised for pushing a child during an NRL match against the Cronulla Sharks. Charlie Gallico, while dressed as mascot Reggie Rabbit, was filmed shoving a nine-year-old boy while moving through the players’ tunnel at Sharks Stadium during their round three fixture.

Gallico, 81, issued an apology on Tuesday following an investigation by the club into a complaint made by the child’s mother Caroline Agius.

• Kodi Nikorima and Mark Nicholls withdraw to stay close to family
• Kenny Bromwich also pulls out from facing Rabbitohs in Sydney

Dolphins duo Kodi Nikorima and Mark Nicholls have withdrawn from the clash with South Sydney as Cyclone Alfred makes a beeline for the southern Queensland coast.

Kenny Bromwich, who was slated to be 18th man, has also pulled out of Friday night’s clash in Sydney. Sean O’Sullivan comes into the side to replace Nikorima while prop Josh Kerr is on the bench in place of Nicholls.

• Raiders 30-8 Warriors
• Green Machine put rivals on notice with five-try demolition

Life without Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris is off to a great start for defending premiers Penrith, who wrapped up the NRL’s second Las Vegas visit with a thrilling 28-22 win over Cronulla.

The Panthers had their wobbles at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday (AEDT) as they took their first steps without Luai and Fisher-Harris - undoubtedly the two most important players they have lost in five years as NRL heavyweights.

• Panthers star backs partner’s team after Marty Sheargold’s comments
• Penrith face Cronulla Sharks in NRL gala in Las Vegas on Saturday

Nathan Cleary says it’s “sad” Mary Fowler’s Matildas are still targeted with “unnecessary” trolling after a radio host was widely condemned for on-air comments about Australia’s women’s football team.

Marty Sheargold and Triple M mutually agreed to part ways earlier this week after a tirade during which he likened the Matildas to “year 10 girls” and said he would rather “hammer a nail through the head of [his] penis” than watch their Asian Cup campaign.

• White Ribbon ends affiliation after league’s ‘tone deaf’ offer
• Andrew Abdo insists NRL remains committed to inclusion

The NRL has defended the decision to invite Donald Trump to its Las Vegas fixtures after an anti-domestic violence charity severed ties with the league over what it called a “tone deaf” offer.

White Ribbon penned a letter to the NRL this week that ended a partnership dating back to 2008, citing the league’s decision to associate with “well-known perpetrators of abuse and violence against women”.