Thursday 9 July 2020

Monday Round up #2 (on Thursday) 09/07/2020

I know I know... a promise is a promise and I failed :)

Better late than never they say, here is the weekly round up. 

Folau
First up comes the news that controversial Israel Folau has agreed a deal to extend his Perpignan stay to the end of 2012. 

This is a really interesting piece of news of a number of levels. 
  1. Do Superleague have to ratify contract extensions, or if its an option taken up by player or club does it not count as a "new deal"?. With all the bluster at the time Folau arrived and a change in rules to prevent controversial players signing contracts in the future, have they been too busy on other things allowing this to get through or have they no justification for a complaint? 
  2. Does Folau grudgingly deserve a little credit here? He could have taken a large pay rise and moved back to the NRL or changed sports to join the Top 14, but he wants to give Dragons a full season. I don't know the ins and outs of his contract and whether his money has gone up but this action is certainly interesting and if it was any other player, Superleague would rightly be pushing the news. 
  3. Does this mean that Steve McNamara is also close to a new deal? There is a lot of planning going in for 2021 and beyond at the moment and it would seem the coach is part of that process. 

Training
The Dragons returned to training over a week ago ahead of their August 2nd date with St Helens. However after a lot of social media pictures showing the players arriving at the club earlier this week with masks on, training has been suspended pending the outcome of some Covid testing. 

We think that's going to be known tomorrow and hopefully all are clear and we can get back to work on the pitch. 

Simon
Super Mika Simon is hanging up his boots at the end of the season. No that doesn't mean he is joining London :) . 

But I wouldn't rule him out for Palau Broncos. 

Thanks big fella and let's hope we can see you off in style. 

That's all for this week, see you on Monday*







*Maybe

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