Plans to take the National Rugby League to China "are back on the table after Manly and Canberra pushed for a historic NRL season opener to be held there next year," according to Adrian Proszenko of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The Sea Eagles beat the Raiders 54-18 at Brookvale Oval last weekend "in a clash both teams had originally tried to stage in Shenzhen." However, those plans "were scuppered last year when the Australian Rugby League Commission opted not to fork out the funds necessary to underwrite the round-eight fixture in Asia." However, the vision of Super League CEO John Ribot, "who trumpeted his desire to take rugby league to China 16 years ago, is not dead yet." Manly CEO David Perry and Canberra CEO Don Furner "caught up when their teams played each other last weekend to further refine their proposal to make the trip happen." Perry: "We would clearly like to re-engage with the NRL and our partners to discuss the fantastic opportunity to promote this game in a market which is the fastest-growing, economy wise, in the world." Manly's major sponsor, Kaspersky, and Raiders backer Huawei "are keen for the event to happen." A sellout "is likely" at the 60,000-seat Shenzhen Stadium, situated an hour north of Hong Kong, as Huawei "has as many employees in the region." The clubs "are in talks with other commercial partners interested in finally making the proposal a reality." Perry: "It's not dead and buried" (SMH, 5/3).
CAUGHT ON TAPE: In Sydney, Brad Walter reported the New South Wales player who made a homophobic slur in Saturday night's U20s State of Origin match "faces a fine or suspension, despite Queensland lock Luke Bateman telling officials he did not want to make an official complaint." The NRL match review committee is investigating the incident after an unidentifiied Blues player called Bateman a ‘‘f---ing gay c---.’’ The comments "were detected by referee Chris Sutton's microphone and were clearly audible on the television coverage of the match." Maroons officials spoke to Bateman after the match, and the Canberra forward "told them he was unfazed by the incident and did not want to make a complaint against the NSW player, whom he named" (SMH, 5/4). In Sydney, Honeysett & Read reported NSW U20s halfback Mitchell Moses "is believed to be the player at the centre of a homophobic slur." Moses "will not be the only player to come under scrutiny today from the match review committee." Prop Matt Lodge "also faces sanction for writing the word 'c..t' on his wrist band, which was also picked up during the telecast" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 5/5).
