Off the Record: Rugby League Rumour and Gossip #66
Stewart to Leigh?
Will Brett Stewart leave Manly to join his brother at Leigh? There is some talk that the man called ‘Snake’ could join his older brother Glenn at the Centurions. Stewart is on a large salary at the Sea Eagles and is battling a chronic knee injury. With Tom Trbojevic waiting in the wings, Manly are keen to offload him. There is talk the fullback will retire, but could he make a swansong season in Super League instead?
Tupou exit nears
We’ve heard that Anthony Tupou is nearing a departure from Wakefield. We revealed some weeks ago that the Aussie forward was homesick and wanted to leave Trinity. Now we’ve been told that his exit is certainly coming, as both club and player work through the formalities. A Sandow/Segeyaro situation will be avoided, which is good to hear.
Daniel to depart?
Is Daniel Vidot about to cut short his Super League stint? Vidot was a high-profile tranfer to Salford this year. But his 2016 season was one to forget, plagued by injured and overlooked for selection. The Samoan played just six games for the Red Devils, a woeful return. Vidot, who is from Brisbane, is being linked to a move to the Gold Coast Titans. The Titans are light on outside backs and signing Vidot makes sense for them. If the 26-year old does depart the AJ Bell it will free up some vital cap space for Salford.
Gone on holiday
The Bradford situation continues to drag on and on with no end in sight. A number of people have grown frustrated with the antics of administrator Gary Pettit. There’s talk that Pettit has actually gone on holiday this week, while the bidders, creditors, players and staff of Bradford continue to wait for a decision. Talk about the wrong timing for a vacation. The speculation is that if a new buyer is not found by this Friday, the club will go into liquidation.
Battle brewing
The Toronto Wolfpack have yet to play a game but already they have a bittler rival in the Leigh Centurions. It was probably always going to be this way with Toronto coached by ex-Leigh boss Paul Rowley and with seven former Centurions players on their books. We hear that the bitterness has started with some of the ex-Leigh stable being prevented from training with Toronto until the very end of their contracts. Despite the season being well and truly over, Leigh is giving them no wiggle room and no helping hand to the new Canadian outfit. We can’t wait till Toronto and Leigh meet on the field, it will be fun.