- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Dom Young is a chance of making a mid-season return to Newcastle, after the Sydney Roosters gave the star English winger permission to talk to rivals.
Less than 18 months into a $2 million four-year deal with the Tricolours, Young has been told he is free to leave this season if a deal can be struck for his exit.
One of the Roosters’ high-profile signings at the start of last year, Young scored 25 tries in 29 games for the club before being dropped last month.
The successful switch of rugby convert Mark Nawaqanitawase, rise of Robert Toia and return of Billy Smith mean Young’s path back to the NRL does not appear easy.
The Roosters have returned to form in the past fortnight with that young trio joining Daniel Tupou and James Tedesco in a backline that has helped put on 82 points in two games.
Young was one of the most dangerous wingers in the NRL when he left Newcastle at the end of 2023, after helping take them to a semi-final.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The Knights desperately missed his early-set yardage through periods of last season, and have lacked strike for most of this year with the worst attack in the NRL.
Newcastle would therefore loom as favourites to regain the 23-year-old’s services, given they had desperately wanted to keep him.
For a mid-season switch to happen, a deal would need to be brokered between the Roosters, Knights and Young before the June 30 transfer deadline.
Young could also explore other options, with the 23-year-old likely to have a number of suitors.
David Fifita was dropped to the Queensland Cup after a standoff with Des Hasler over which side of the field he wanted to play.
Fifita has been struggling for form this season sa the Titans’ right-edge second-rower and asked the coach to switch to the left.
Hasler did not want to move Beau Fermor, one of Gold Coast’s few players who have been performing well, away from his preferred left edge so Fifita was subsequently dropped for Magic Round, according to a NewsCorp report.
The representative star was playing 35km to the west as his Titans teammates took to Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, but he was unable to inspire the Ipswich Jets who lost 32-0 to the previously winless Northern Pride.
Fifita ran for an underwhelming 58m from nine runs in Ipswich with 20 tackles and none missed.
“There were just some areas that we wanted him to look at to work on, and some thinking along those lines,” Hasler said of his controversial call in the post-match media conference after their heavy defeat to Canterbury.
Fifita had pledged to lift his game during his demotion to the Queensland Cup and tried to explain that “the truth will eventually come out” when asked about the reasons why he had been dumped to the second-tier competition.
The 25-year-old is on one of the most lucrative contracts for a forward in the NRL and early last year announced he would be leaving the Titans to join the Roosters before backflipping days later to stay on the Coast.
Hasler was non-committal over whether he will bring Fifita back into the NRL team for this Friday’s trip to Newcastle.
Melbourne prop Stefano Utoikamanu says he has no regrets about leaving Wests Tigers as he prepares to take on his former club with a spray from coach Craig Bellamy ringing in his ears.
The former NSW prop also has the added incentive of an up-front battle with on-fire Tigers front-rower Terrell May, his former Samoa national team roommate.
Utoikamanu was penalised twice while in possession of the ball in the 20-18 golden-point loss to Canberra at Magic Round, the second time when the Storm were setting up for a winning field-goal 15m out and right in front in the 83rd minute.
Terrell May. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
The 24-year-old was put on report for stomping on Raiders hooker Tom Starling but the match review committee did not charge him.
At AAMI Park on Sunday, Utoikamanu has the opportunity for redemption against the club where he played 75 matches before leaving to join the Storm.
The Tigers are eighth, just two points behind the fourth-positioned Storm, and are a much-improved outfit since Utoikamanu left last year’s wooden-spooners.
“I knew as soon as I signed to come here (to the Storm) that it was probably going to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in my career,” Utoikamanu said.
“So I don’t regret anything. I’m just focusing on what I can do better next week.
“I was there (at Wests) for a couple of years and wasn’t really going well, so I am just happy for the boys I knew there and happy to see them turning it around.
“I was pretty close with Fonua Pole and he is doing well this year.
“I’m just going to review this (Raiders game). I know I’ve got a lot to work on. “I’ve been concentrating on … how I can get better every week. This is probably a step back from what I have been doing so I will take my learnings into this game.”
May has had a career-best season and is closing in on a NSW debut. Utoikamanu said he was “looking for more work” against the Tigers, something he will need to do to keep May at bay. “(May) is probably one of the best props in the comp and the amount of work he gets through is second to none,” Utoikamanu said.
“I was his roomie in Samoa camp in 2023. It is good to see he has gone there and taken the pack under his wing.”
Utoikamanu said he had “let the team down” with his indiscretions against the Raiders, a sentiment Bellamy would agree with.
“Twice he did it. It’s unlike anyone,” Bellamy fumed.
“You show me a bloke that gives away two penalties when you’ve got the ball in a game.”
with AAP
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.