Oct 22nd, 2018

Oct 22nd, 2018

Melbourne are attempting to offload giant prop Sam Kasiano in a bid to sign the hottest property on the open market - Broncos colossus Tevita Pangai Junior.

Big things were tipped for the giant Kasiano when he joined the Storm this year from the Bulldogs but he failed to live up to the hype.

Kasiano did manage 14 games in the top grade but averaged only 23 minutes per match and failed to make the type of impact Craig Bellamy has been looking for.

Pangai Junior, on the other hand, is young, keen, fit and a machine. That’s why the Broncos are desperate to retain him and half a dozen rival clubs are also on his tail.

Word has it he is most likely to stay in Brisbane - but that won’t stop the chasers from making big bids to lure him away from the Broncos and the fact he has yet to commit is a good sign for rival clubs.

Bellamy has a reputation for turning good forwards into great ones and that is something Pangai Junior will take into consideration.

(AAP)

PENRITH GET BIG BOOST

Penrith have headed off a bidding war for Waqa Blake by re-signing the star centre for four years.

In a huge boost for the Panthers, the club will announce Blake’s new deal sometime this week.

Blake was due to come off contract at the end of next season and as such, would have been a free agent open to offers on November 1.

Despite missing a large slice of last season with a painful syndesmosis injury, the lanky Blake finished the year as the Panthers’ top tryscorer with 12 tries in 15 matches.

(AAP)

RAIDERS ROOKIE READY TO FIRE

The Raiders have given a youngster who has turned his life around in admirable fashion the chance of a lifetime in their top squad for the new season.

Hudson Young, a hard-running back-rower who was suspended for 18 months for a positive drug test while just a teenager, was a standout for Mounties under 20s last season.

The 21-year-old has been signed to an NRL contract by the Raiders and will train the summer in the Raiders’ top 30 - with the chance of winning a spot in the pack at some stage of the season.

Young is proving an inspiring role model as well off the field, doing work to raise funds and awareness for autism.

“He has ticked all the right boxes and the coaching staff think he could have what it takes,” Raiders recruitment manager Peter Mulholland said of the 20-year-old.

SHARKS SNATCH RUGBY JUNIOR

Cronulla have scored a coup by signing on of the brightest young talents in the rugby union world.

Australian schoolboys utility back Jangala Bennet was chased by half a dozen clubs but has agreed to join the Sharks next season on a two-year deal.

A freakish side-stepper with the ability to read a game, Bennet hails from Brisbane rugby nursery Nudgee College.

He shone in the GPS rugby competition in Brisbane last season, the arena in which Kalyn Ponga cut his teeth, scoring 15 tries in eight games, and can play anywhere in the backline.

Bennet has been compared to both Benji Marshall and Johnathan Thurston - high praise indeed - but the kid is something special and union officials are fuming at his change of allegiances.