The Offseason Octopus
There isn't a whole lot of juicy news in the world of the NRL to sink my teeth in to at the moment. Well, besides the St George Dragons offering Trent Merrin big bucks, like the most-they've-ever-paid-for-a-forward type of big bucks. That's not really very interesting though, as I wrote a week ago, the Dragons are building an interesting wee squad which I don't think will be as bad as many people are picking. Trent Merrin is the key though, without him they won't be nearly as good as they could be.
Which is why they're keen to keep him on the coast. He's big, he's got great footwork and he can pop an off load out with little effort. If the Dragons can keep him, then they have a great Origin calibre forward to go with a spine of Josh Dugan, Gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall. That's not too bad huh?
However, besides that not a whole lot of any real importance has happened. Ah, but the voting for the All Stars clash has opened, which leads me down an interesting path when combined with news that Cameron Smith will have an extended break over summer. This is our first summer of both the All Stars match and the Auckland 9's taking place, remember last season the All Stars match took a wee break.
There's no reason why the two events can't both go ahead with little impact on each other. That is, however dependent on the clubs adopting a smart approach to player welfare such as the Melbourne Storm have done. The same blokes who many fans and sponsors will look forward to seeing at the 9's are likely to line up for either the NRL All Stars or the Indigenous All Stars, which makes our expectation that the 9's includes the majority of the game's best a wee bit unrealistic.
Only players like Cameron Smith - he doesn't have too many peers, can get the sort of treatment he gets. So don't be surprised to see clubs picking the one or the other way of thinking, so if a player gets selected to play in the All Stars match don't expect them to be a lock selection for the 9's. While this may upset a few people who only want to see the best players at the 9's, it's the smart choice. There's enough exciting talent in the NRL to keep the standard of the 9's very high, as well as offering up a stage for young blood to impress.
Consider this a warning, don't set your expectations too high. It's for the greater good, would you rather have a block-busting All Stars match and Auckland 9's? Or would you rather have a pretty good All Stars match and Auckland 9's with another cracker NRL season? Don't be a dummy.