….pation. Super Rugby 2024 kicks off this Friday with relative unknowns, the Chiefs and Crusaders, starting the build-up to Saturday night’s epic collision between the dastardly Waratahs and the heroic Reds. Until then, we’ll just have to put up with Wednesday’s Rugby News.
Kiss to unleash Harry Wilson
RugbyPass and AAP report that coach Les Kiss has given his Queensland Reds permission to push their limits in a move he thinks will set Harry Wilson free again.
No.8 Wilson was a walk-up Wallabies pick in his first season of Super Rugby in 2020, playing 10 of 11 Tests before quickly falling out of favour under former coaches Dave Rennie and Eddie Jones.
Wilson has managed just two Tests in the past three years, despite dominating for the Reds and winning two Player-of-the-Year gongs. (Although, just quietly, staying clear of the 2023 campaign might not be all bad.)
Kiss, replacing Brad Thorn, could sense the 24-year-old’s frustration when he arrived at Ballymore last year.
“When I first met him I could see a driven young man who had impressed immensely through Super Rugby, I see a man with a bit between his teeth. I want all the players to be skilful and smart, make good decisions,” Kiss said. “Harry’s got some remit to have a go. There are boundaries and that’s not for me to tell him. He’ll find out, and that’s football, isn’t it? There’s an old saying: great ball players were defined by the passes they don’t throw.” (Possibly an Anthony Mundine reference there.)“It’s understanding when and why and how much value it gives you. But I do like my guys to find out. I’m more on the side of finding out than stepping away.”
The Reds will be without veteran playmaker James O’Connor (hamstring) for Saturday’s opener at Suncorp Stadium, while Angus Blyth (back) is also in doubt. Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, who is only 19, is in line for a debut either off the bench or starting in the No.10 (and has presumably been in and out of choppers now for months).
2024 Super W squads named
In the typical style of a bloke taking credit for women’s fine work, Nathan Williamson reports on the announced Super W squads for 2024.
Wallaroos fullback Lori Cramer returns home to the Reds following stints at the ‘Tahs and in the UK.
USA international Charli Jacoby has also joined, bringing crucial experience to their front-row along with retired Wallaroo Liz Patu.
The Melbourne Rebels have secured former Wallabies captain Grace Hamilton. Hamilton has spent the past six months with NRLW club Sydney Roosters and French side Montpellier. Hamilton joins Ash Marsters in a competitive Rebels side.
The ACT Brumbies have retained the majority of their squad from 2023 as they push for a maiden finals appearance. Centre Siokapesi Palu and playmaker Faitala Moleka are among several Wallaroos in the squad.
The Western Force have added talent from across the world after narrowly missing the finals. This includes Canada hooker Sara Cline, Japan prop Hinata Komaki and Tonga rugby league representative Haylee Hifo.
The Waratahs have recruited big after their semi-final exit, with Wallaroo Anabelle Codey heading south from the Reds. They also welcome back Wallaroos trio Arabella McKenzie, Kaitlan Leaney and Emily Chancellor following stints in the UK.
They will all be chasing the Fijian Drua (formally Fijiana Drua) as the Fijians hunt for their third Super W title. Full squad lists in the original article.
Rugby Victoria facing questions about missing financial documents
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Rugby Victoria has filed just one annual report to the consumer regulator since it took control of the Melbourne Rebels in 2017 – the same year it admitted the Super Rugby club was bleeding millions, and there was “significant doubt” it could continue operating as a going concern.
The governing body of rugby in Victoria – which owned the debt-riddled Super Rugby franchise until it entered into voluntary administration last month – could not explain why it had failed to submit any annual reports to Consumer Affairs Victoria since 2018, despite being legally required to do so.
Rugby Victoria president Neil Hay was adamant that all the required annual reports and financial statements had been completed, but could not explain why they had not been submitted to the regulator.
“They’re done every year – so why weren’t they sent? I’ve got as much of an idea as you,” Hay said on Monday.
Hay said an email to Consumer Affairs Victoria containing the missing documents had been drafted, with a plan for it to be sent by Monday evening. The regulator refused to answer on Tuesday whether or not they had received the documents.
Under the governance tab of its website, Rugby Victoria has links to eight documents identified as annual reports from the years 2014 to 2022. The 2019 report is the only one of those documents to contain some financial information – a brief single-page summary with two bar graphs.
(By coincidence, the Rebels’ current financial situation is just a page containing one rude word.)
Rugby Victoria and the Rebels are separate entities, and were governed by separate boards and executive teams, with some overlap of board members.
In 2013, after three seasons under private ownership, control of the Super Rugby franchise was handed to Rugby Victoria by the club’s shareholders. It returned to private ownership in 2015 when businessman Andrew Cox purchased the club. Rugby Victoria reclaimed ownership of Rebels in 2017, when Cox sold it back to them for $1.00.
Blues prop Marcel Renata cuts off middle finger on purpose
Stuff dot co dot unzid reports that Blues prop Marcel Renata has had the middle finger of his right hand amputated at the knuckle to allow him to continue to pursue rugby at the professional level.
Renata first started being bothered by the finger during last year’s Super Rugby season when it was dislocated, and attempts were made to put it back in place. Scans at season end resulted in surgery to attempt repair.
“It was in bits really, from footy,” the 29-year-old tells Stuff ahead of the new season kickoff. “I did most things with my left hand before I had the last surgery. I’m kinda ambidextrous at the moment.”
The first surgery (pre-amputation) was for “peace of mind”, he says. “I had to have a crack to save it before we whacked it off. But the writing was on the wall, as there was like a 20% chance it was going to work.”
It didn’t. After 12 weeks in a splint, with the digit supported by wires, problems persisted. “I managed to make it through the NPC season, and shoutout to Auckland for putting up with me as I was playing with one hand,” he adds. “I made it through to November, but by that time I was ready to whop it off. It was a pretty easy decision. I couldn’t even manage cooking or the dishes. I was a seven out of 10 pain most days, and turned pretty grumpy. Mum and dad noticed I’d changed. I stopped enjoying the game and I stopped enjoying training because I was so sore. I was on painkillers, and I didn’t want to live like that.”
Doctors did their best to save the digit, but the only solution was for it to be fused straight.
“I would have been like that for the rest of my life, which would have been an inconvenience, stuck with the middle finger straight. I decided to whack it off because it was more practical.”
Renata is far from the first top athlete to sacrifice a finger for his sport. Sydney Roosters forward Angus Crichton chopped off the middle finger of his left hand for similar reasons, and former Kiwis prop Gerard Stokes and ex-All Black Richard ‘Red’ Conway also did likewise.
