Penrith Panthers star Jarome Luai inspired by a helicopter crash survivor

Just telling me I’m his favorite player and I look up to you and things like that was pretty awesome for me. We went to Westmead Children’s Hospital and met him, his father and some of his uncles. They are all great people.”

Finding the words to express themselves in this situation would be difficult for many. But not Luai.

“I’m not making it up…I’m just myself,” he said. “That’s the person he wanted to meet, the guy you see on the pitch. So I came and put some music on and we played it all over the hospital. The nurses told us to turn down and be quiet but you know what he’s been through so you just have the right energy around him. I was just so blessed to be a part of it.”

And for Luai it is not an isolated case. “We’ll definitely keep in touch,” he said. “We have some sort of deal going that if he’s fine and he comes out, he’ll come over to watch over us. He had a pretty tough surgery so it was pretty cool to connect with him and his family. It’s good to help him keep his spirits high through this stuff.”

Crichton’s return

Angus Crichton is about to re-enter the Roosters system, but he’s being told to take his time while embracing his own mini-preseason. Crichton wants to get back playing football as soon as possible, but his mental health is a priority for everyone around him.

His family, the club and his agent, David Rawling, everyone flocks to him. Rawlings made the following statement to this column.

“The Roosters have done an exceptional job supporting Angus,” he said. “We met with the chairman [Nick Politis] for breakfast on Friday and reaffirmed their commitment. There is a progressive plan for his return, drawn up with input from specialists and the club doctor, which we will implement over the next four to six weeks.”

Act of Todd?

He used to be the boss of the NRL, but now death Greenberg is treated with some suspicion and even fear by those in charge when trying to negotiate a deal with the Rugby League Players’ Association.

It’s no secret that Greenberg and influential NRL figures aren’t best friends, and perhaps that’s why the game is riddled with rumors that Greenberg is embroiled with the RLPA in their fight with the NRL as they try to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.

Greenberg left the NRL in April 2020 with a decent payout that included a stipulation that he wasn’t allowed to reveal any information he gathered during his time in the game. That could worry the NRL.

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RLPA Managing Director Clinton Newton confirmed he had been in touch with Greenberg but said it was natural as Greenberg has a similar role as CEO of the Australian Cricketers’ Association. Newton strongly denied that Greenberg was any kind of “puppet master,” saying their discussions were limited to a series of text messages and that he had been a mentor.

Greenberg said there was “nothing for them [the NRL] feel nervous”.

“Just a sounding board in his most difficult and loneliest times,” he said. “He is [Newton] a good man and he does a tough job so I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

League to the rescue

The promised federal government investment must be huge – well into the millions – to justify the narrative that rugby league will bring peace to the Pacific. It’s hard to swallow without significant investment.

People smarter than this columnist say the code is being used to prevent China from gaining a foothold in Papua New Guinea and becoming a threat to Australia; that if PNG gets an NRL team, the country will repel Chinese investment.

We don’t doubt the tragic good intentions of PM and Rabbitohs Anton Albanesewho promotes the idea. Even the suggestion that three more teams should be added to the competition – and that players from the US could be recruited to fill them – is hard to fathom.

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A few years ago, a task force set up by the NRL recommended that no more teams be allowed to compete.

If Peter V’landys became chairman of the ARL commission, he asked the committee to reconsider the idea. It came back and supported the expansion. Most of those involved have since left the NRL. At the time, the NRL suggested the key to growth was to attract Indian and Asian schoolchildren to the game.
There is a strong push for expansion for a Pacific team that is “based” in PNG but plays games in Townsville or Cairns, throughout the Pacific, and at the North Sydney Oval. It’s a head scratcher.

Expansion will only occur when teams from new areas regularly play in those regions. The AFL has taken a long-term approach to expanding the code. The NRL is looking for a quick fix to give itself a chance to land the lucrative broadcasting deal struck by the AFL last year.