The Obstruction Rule

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Gallen not retiring

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In any other year, an NRL player opting to continue playing would hardly be news-worthy, but given the procession of veteran stars heading for the exit door, this is actually a bit of a shock.

According to SMH, Sharks skipper Paul Gallen has decided against retirement, and will play on in 2019.

Gallen is already the oldest player in the NRL, and with fellow senior citizens Chris Heighington and Luke Lewis retiring, there’ll be two years between Gallen and the next oldest player in 2019, Cameron Smith (assuming Smith plays on).

Gallen has played 321 first grade games for the Sharks, 24 Origins for New South Wales, and 32 Tests for Australia.

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Broncos getting Seibold, unless they’re not

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Sometimes, the mainstream media is total agreement about what’s going on (like Trent Barrett quitting the Sea Eagles). Other times, competing journalists release conflicting reports within an hour of each other. On the subject of the Broncos, this is a case of the latter.

According to Fox Sports reporter James Hooper, the Broncos may have agreed to terms with Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold to take over their head coaching position in 2020, with Hooper describing the deal as “done”.

Which would be great. Except that shortly afterwards, The Courier-Mail reported that the Broncos are in “secret talks” with Michael Maguire about taking over the head coaching role, with current coach Wayne Bennett to move into the front office (and yes, that’s the same Michael Maguire who was yesterday linked to the Sea Eagles gig).

In short, we have no idea what’s going on. But we sure do love a little News-on-News crime.

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Maguire tipped for Sea Eagles gig

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Trent Barrett‘s seat isn’t even cold yet, but that doesn’t mean that plans aren’t afoot to appoint his replacement.

According to Fox Sports, former Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire is expected to be appointed Manly’s next head coach, whenever Barrett’s resignation is officially confirmed.

The report suggests that Maguire – who’s currently working as head coach of the Kiwis – is “all but guaranteed” to land the job.

Given that Maguire’s previous NRL head coaching experience came at the Rabbitohs – one of the game’s most professional clubs – it’ll be interesting to see how he finds the working conditions that Barrett found unacceptable.

Maguire has coached 153 NRL games for the Rabbitohs, with a career winning percentage of 55.6%.

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Eels intend to keep Hayne

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He mightn’t be the unstoppable force that he once was, but Jarryd Hayne remains the Eels’ best player, at that looks like being enough to earn him a new deal.

According to nrl.com, the Eels intend to offer Hayne a new contract for next year, with Parramatta coach Brad Arthur saying that “he knows we want him”.

That puts the ball firmly in Hayne’s court, who’s yet to publicly announce whether or not he even plans on playing rugby league next year, let alone remaining in the NRL.

Should he decide to stay though, at least he knows he’ll have a home at the Eels.

Hayne has played 211 first grade games for the Eels and Titans, 23 Origins for New South Wales, 11 Tests for Australia, and 10 Tests for Fiji.

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Barrett to leave Sea Eagles

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Though his exit has yet to be officially confirmed; if reports are accurate that the Sea Eagles are making inquiries about a replacement for coach Trent Barrett, then his departure is surely on the cards.

That’s exactly what’s being reported by the Daily Telegraph, who’ve stated that Barrett has already handed in his resignation, and at this point he’s just serving out his notice.

If true, it doesn’t reflect well on the Sea Eagles, with Barrett reportedly leaving due to a lack of resources in the football club. If Manly aren’t providing Barrett with the support he needs to be successful, it’s difficult to imagine that conditions would be any different for the next guy – leaving the Sea Eagles potentially at risk of becoming a second-class team in a top-flight competition.

The Sea Eagles have previously stated that they intend to sit down with Barrett post-season and work through the issues, but it seems that that ship may have already sailed.

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