The $10k bill the NRL sent the Panthers to fix premiership trophy

The Penrith Panthers had to fork out $10,000 to repair the Provan-Summons trophy that was damaged during the club's grand final celebrations last year.

The NRL sent the Panthers an invoice for $10,000 over the summer despite claims from Penrith that the trophy had already been damaged by previous premiers when they got their hands on it.

Penrith meet Parramatta in the grand final.Credit:Getty

Arguably the two greatest No.7's in the history of Penrith and Parramatta will carry that trophy out on to the field before Sunday night's decider.

It's fitting that the last man to lead Parramatta to premiership glory, Peter Sterling, has been handed the honour by the NRL of carrying the Provan-Summons trophy onto Accor Stadium before kick-off. He will be joined by Panthers legend and club director Greg Alexander.

The pair will carry the trophy out of the tunnel, past two junior rugby league players, and onto a plinth in the centre of the ground. The two teams will then walk out on to the field past the trophy they'll be fighting for.

The NRL launched an investigation last year after photos of the damaged premiership trophy surfaced on social media following the Panthers' victory over South Sydney at Suncorop Stadium.

Images showed the Norm Provan and Arthur Summons section of the trophy separated from the base.

The repairer had two different colour tapes on the trophy to highlight what he believed was damage inflicted by the Panthers, and damage that may have occurred historically.

One of the defects was erosion caused by alcohol. Hard to put that one on the Panthers.

Late night for the Panthers

The Panthers players didn’t get the best night’s sleep. They decided to go into camp and spend the night together at the Pullman Hotel in Sydney Olympic Park.

Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been any worse. There was a music festival across the road at Sydney Olympic Park Showground with 45,000 people in attendance.

The music was blaring all day and night before the speakers were turned off just before midnight.

Arthur avoids unwanted record

Brad Arthur's first grand final appearance on Sunday night has saved him from a spot in the history books for all the wrong reasons.

Going into last week's preliminary final against the Cowboys. Arthur sat in 4th spot for the most games coached without a grand final appearance.

Eels coach Brad Arthut is soaking up the hype of grand final week.Credit:Getty

That streak ended at 229 games with the narrow victory against North Queensland. The longest active drought of all the current coaches is St George Illawarra's Anthony Griffin with 221 games.

Former St George Illawarra, Newcastle and Warriors coach Nathan Brown holds the record with 282 games and counting.

Most games coached before first grand final appearance

Peachey-Staines swap deal on the cards

The Panthers and Tigers are nutting out the details of a swap deal. We hear the NRL is looking over the finer detail of the proposed arrangement, which would see Tyrone Peachey return to Penrith and Charlie Staines head to Tiger Town. Both have one year remaining on their respective deals.

Panthers winger Charlie Staines appears to be heading for the exit doors.Credit:Getty

It’s understood the NRL have approved the pay cut for him to join the Panthers. It’s not the first time the clubs have arranged a swap deal, with Paul Momirovski and Daine Laurie switching clubs two years ago.

There’s also chatter that Laurie is on the radar of the Bulldogs, but the Tigers insist Staines is coming over as a winger. Watch this space.

Mad Monday boilover

Which two high-profile players from a semi-final team got into a push and shove during recent Mad Monday celebrations? They’ve since patched things up and the club insists there’s nothing to see here.

Eels stick to routine

The Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels had completely contrasting build-ups to Sunday’s grand final. The Panthers decided to do their captain’s run at Accor Stadium the day before the game, then moved into camp at the Pullman in Sydney Olympic Park for a night of bonding.

The Parramatta Eels refused to move away from their regular routine. They trained for the last time on Friday at their Kellyville base before spending Saturday with their families. The next time the players saw each other was at the ground on grand final day.

They didn't even organise a team bus to drive them into the stadium. They all drove their own cars into the ground.

Dragons James Graham

There were a few raised eyebrows when James Graham was given the flick by the Dragons recently. Turns out St George Illawarra held an internal salary cap investigation into the behaviour of former chief executive Peter Doust a year ago.

James Graham during his time at the Dragons.Credit:NRL Photos

The Herald has been told that the club investigated concerns around the playing contract of former prop James Graham, and whether Doust had promised the Englishman a job after football when he joined the Dragons from Canterbury in 2018.

The investigation found that Doust had not acted improperly throughout the negotiation with Graham and his agent David Riolo.

Discussions with Graham occurred at the end of 2017 when Doust was in charge prior to WIN Corporation buying a stake in the joint-venture club.

Graham is still getting paid by the Dragons until October 31. Graham is now in discussions with the Bulldogs about returning to his former club in some capacity.

Sloan reason

It's been well documented that Tyrell Sloan had a release request recently rejected by St George Illawarra.

The reason he gave for the request was that he was no longer enjoying himself at the club. He also stated that he couldn’t see that improving in the near future. The Dragons aren’t budging.

Tyrell Sloan has had a request to be released from his contract rejected by the Dragons.Credit:Getty

The club was convinced he was being targeted by the Dolphins, who have since signed Cowboys speedster Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.

The Dolphins are supposedly looking at Sloan to play in the centres. It’s not the last we’ve heard of this.

Ben Hunt

Despite reports Ben Hunt has finalised a new deal with the Dragons, the club insists it’s not yet the case. They are hopeful of completing the deal by the time he flies out with the Kangaroos on Thursday. Hunt will clean up at the club presentation night on Tuesday.

Jake Clifford

A couple of clubs have been asked if they are interested in the services of Knights halfback Jake Clifford for next season.

Wests Tigers playmaker Luke Brooks.Credit:Getty

Manly is one club that have been offered him. Expect Newcastle’s pursuit of Luke Brooks to ramp up in the coming weeks.

Interesting to note that Brooks’ agent Isaac Moses was spotted deep in discussion with Knights CEO Phil Gardner out the back of Accor Stadium on grand final day. One can only imagine what the topic of conversation was.

Kangaroos hotel

Mal Meninga has made the decision to base his team out of Manchester for the majority of the upcoming World Cup.

They will use the Midland Hotel as their hub and travel to games the days before. The Kangaroos are planning to watch an NFL game in London during their stay.

The Midland Hotel, Manchester, where the Kangaroos will be based during the Rugby League World Cup which begins later this month.

The English Premier League will stop a week before the Rugby League World Cup final to allow players to go off and play in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The Rugby League World Cup final at Old Trafford in Manchester on November 20 will be the only show in town. The Australians, who name their team on Monday, will leave for the UK on Thursday. The Tongan team, whose flight on Friday was cancelled, flew out on the eve of the grand final.

Likely Kangaroos 24-man World Cup squad

Josh Addo-Carr, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Pat Carrigan, Daly Cherry- Evans, Nathan Cleary, Lindsay Collins, Reuben Cotter, Angus Crichton, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Campbell Graham, Harry Grant, Valentine Holmes, Ben Hunt, Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Munster, Cameron Murray, Jeremiah Nanai, Murray Taulagi, James Tedesco, Jake Trbojevic, Jack Wighton, Isaah Yeo, Matt Burton, Shaun Lane/Liam Martin.

Jillaroos

The Australian Jillaroos squad will be announced on Monday, but behind the scenes it’s understood the selection process has been messy, at best.

NSW and Queensland Origin coaches Kylie Hilder and Tahnee Norris are helping pick the Australian side under the selection policy recently implemented by the ARL Commission.

While Brad Fittler and Billy Slater knocked back the offer to help Australian coach Mal Meninga select the Kangaroos team in fear of being accused of bias, the women’s Origin coaches have decided against relinquishing their responsibilities.

We’re told Hilder and Norris have often been in argument over who should be selected. Australian coach Brad Donald will take the questions on Monday over the selections but it won’t necessarily be the squad he would’ve taken if he had it his way.

NRL box

Despite going to war recently with ARL Commissioner Peter V’landys over the future of Sydney stadium funding, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet was invited into the NRL’s Presidents Suite at Accor Stadium on Sunday.

Other dignitaries invited to the NRL chairman’s box included Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton.

Broadcast heavyweights from Nine and News Corp were also invited. That would make for interesting small talk given the tension between the NRL and News Corp over how much Foxtel paid for the AFL television rights compared to the NRL.

Panthers trainer

Penrith’s trainers have been in the headlines of late. So, too, their former trainers. We know that Hayden Knowles recently parted ways with Newcastle following an incident involving David Klemmer late in the season.

We hear Penrith coach Ivan Cleary is in discussions about bringing him back to the foot of the mountains, where he has had great success in the past.

Eels presentation night

There'll be a few notable absentees from the Parramatta Eels presentation night on Tuesday. It's tradition for the Arthur family to jet off out of the country on the Tuesday following the grand final.

Brad Arthur and his wife Michelle.Credit:Getty Images

Brad's wife Michelle books it every year. The Eels sent out invitations to the presentation night six weeks ago with a flexible date.

The club said the event would be held on the first Tuesday after their last game. This year it's the same day the Arthurs are due to fly out.

Michelle and two of her children, Matt and Charlotte, are still leaving on Tuesday. Brad, Jake and Jake's girlfriend have had to change their flights and are now booked out of Sydney the following day.

Munster

There were a few keen observers watching on at Wednesday night’s Dally M medal as Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis approached and held a lengthy discussion with Storm star Cameron Munster.

The Tigers know they are long odds to land his signature but won’t be deterred from throwing their hat in the ring.

Zac Lomax

Zac Lomax’s love life is often in the headlines, but we’re about to find out if he’s a lover or a fighter. He’s been locked in to appear on the undercard of the Sonny Bill Williams-Mark Hunt bout on November 5 at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney Olumpic Park.

Lomax’s opponent is yet to be confirmed. He’s been a regular at fight nights in recent years, even acting as a cornerman in one particular bout.

We know Lomax won’t be the only NRL player donning the gloves, with Canterbury forward Tevita Pangai Junior confirmed to fight on the night.

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