{"id":149847,"date":"2021-10-25T20:55:40","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T20:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=149847"},"modified":"2021-10-26T01:58:34","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T01:58:34","slug":"star-hooker-at-centre-of-nrl-standoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=149847","title":{"rendered":"Star hooker at centre of NRL standoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Raiders<\/a> ars set to play hardball with the Tigers<\/a> over the future of English hooker Josh Hodgson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Tigers want Hodgson to give them experience around the rucks – but the Raiders want something in return – promising Tigers hooker Jacob Liddle.<\/p>\n

At 24, Liddle is one of the best young hookers in the NRL and only injuries have held him back in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

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But the Tigers can't have three hookers in their top 20 – Hodgson, Liddle and Jake Simpkin – and this works in the Raiders' favour.<\/p>\n

Canberra has a talented back-up hooker in Tom Starling, but he is in strife for an off field incident for the second time in two years and his future is under a cloud.<\/p>\n

\"Raiders<\/p>\n

The Tigers are currently weighing up the pros and cons of signing Hodgson – who turns 32 later this week and has had injury problems of his own – at the expense of one of their brightest young stars.<\/p>\n

Several other clubs have also expressed interest in Liddle should the Tigers sign Hodgson.<\/p>\n

Manly legend axed<\/h2>\n

Manly has parted ways with former club favourite Matt Ballin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ballin was coach of the Sea Eagles' feeder club, Blacktown Workers, but was told last week his services were no longer required.<\/p>\n

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Ballin has paid the price for the team's poor performances in the COVID-shortened NSW Cup over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

The former Queensland State of Origin hooker was a real mainstay of the Sea Eagles on the field, playing nine seasons, over 200 games and winning two premierships in a glittering career.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

But all that counts for nought if you don't win games as a coach in the ruthless world of rugby league.<\/p>\n

Blacktown has yet to name a replacement but Ballin's assistant Nathan Hogan is the favourite to take over at this stage.<\/p>\n

Sea Eagles, Knights fight over boom rookie<\/h2>\n

Manly and Newcastle are involved in a tug of war over a talented 18-year-old outside back.<\/p>\n

Fletcher Myers, a flyer who is equally at home at fullback or centre, is contracted to the Knights for next season but has asked for a release to join the Sea Eagles.<\/p>\n

Manly coach Des Hasler has a high opinion of the youngster, who starred at fullback for NSW Koori Under-16s a couple of seasons ago.<\/p>\n

The Knights want to retain Myers and the situation is currently at a stalemate\u2026 but watch this space.<\/p>\n

\"Des<\/p>\n

Manager walks out on player<\/h2>\n

Which up and coming player was sacked by his own manager recently after signing a deal with a leading NRL club?<\/p>\n

Why? Because after the contract was agreed on, the player's father kept calling the club direct – bypassing the manager – asking for more money!<\/p>\n

As a result, the player, who has ability, is now on the lookout for a new agent.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Raiders ars set to play hardball with the Tigers over the future of English hooker Josh Hodgson. The Tigers want Hodgson to give them […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149847"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149849,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149847\/revisions\/149849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}