{"id":439712,"date":"2025-02-04T18:05:09","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T19:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=439712"},"modified":"2025-02-05T02:13:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T02:13:39","slug":"bennett-toying-with-round-one-selection-stunner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=439712","title":{"rendered":"Bennett toying with round one selection stunner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is Wayne Bennett<\/a> planning to pull of one of his daring gambles in the very first game of his return stint as South Sydney<\/a> coach?<\/p>\n

Everyone expects Bennett to play English import Lewis Dodd in the key halfback role in the opening round of the premiership next month.<\/p>\n

But insiders at Souths have told Wide World of Sports that little-known Jamie Humphreys has also been training in the number seven jumper and could beat Dodd to the punch.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Former AFL player Troy Selwood dead aged 40<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Burning Kerr question Matildas coach won't answer<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bulldogs boss calls for radical change to NRL jerseys<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

An off-season signing from Manly<\/a>, Humphreys played one game for the Sea Eagles last season and shone in the 44-6 win over the Knights, scoring the first try.<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

Dodd is rated a fair player but may take time to adapt to the pace of the NRL compared to Super League.<\/p>\n

The pair are both likely to be given a run in the trials starting this weekend – but don't be surprised if Bennett gives the 22-year-old rookie – grandson of former league boss Kevin Humphreys – the early nod.<\/p>\n

Real reason for surprise Warriors call\ufeff<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So just why did the Warriors<\/a> release highly-rated young back-rower Zyon Maiu'u to the Bulldogs on the eve of the trials this week?<\/p>\n

I'm hearing from player managers that the Kiwi club is worried about its outside back depth, particularly with first-choice stars Rocco Berry and Adam Pompey struggling with early injuries.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob<\/p>\n

The Warriors don't have the same problem in the pack, where they have a host of big, powerhouse forwards capable of getting the job done.<\/p>\n

So releasing Maiu'u frees up some money in the salary cap – and the Warriors may well spend it on a speedy backline player before the premiership kicks off.<\/p>\n

Horror luck strikes Knights young gun\ufeff<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rugby league can be a cruel game – just ask promising Knights<\/a> playmaker Jye Linnane.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old nephew of 1980s star Steve Linnane was recently promoted to Newcastle's top 30 and was a chance of pushing his way into the NRL<\/a> side at some stage of the year.<\/p>\n

But the young local junior ruptured his ACL during a routine drill at pre-season training recently – just a year after suffering the same injury to his other knee.<\/p>\n

The luckless pivot is set to miss the entire season as a result.<\/p>\n

\"Knight's<\/p>\n

Son-of-a-gun's surprise move\ufeff<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Tigers<\/a> have plenty of halves in their ranks – and now have another one up their sleeve.<\/p>\n

Former Panthers playmaker Kurt Falls, who played three NRL games for the premiers in 2022, has joined the Tigers' NSW Cup feeder club Wests Magpies.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old honed his skills with Wynumn Manly in the Queensland Cup last year and could prove a handy bargain buy for the Tigers.<\/p>\n

In a long season, he could get a few games if injuries or lack of form hit the Tigers' more fancied halves.<\/p>\n

Another newcomer to the Magpies is former Sea Eagle Jake Watmough – a surprising signing given his dad is a Manly legend and is coaching the Jersey Flegg at Brookvale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Wayne Bennett planning to pull of one of his daring gambles in the very first game of his return stint as South Sydney coach? […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":439714,"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\/439712"}],"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=439712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":439717,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439712\/revisions\/439717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/439714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=439712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=439712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=439712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}