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LION WANTS ANOTHER RICH VEIN OF FORM McMahon to return to sevens
RUGBY LEAGUE:
Mal Meninga has revealed talks to entice Latrell Mitchell to Gold Coast have been put on hold after deciding the best thing he can do for the young star right now is “give him space”.
Meninga is convinced too many people are putting too much pressure on the 22-year-old to make an immediate call on his future. And the Australian Test coach has urged his Kangaroo centre to give himself time to make the right decision.
“I don't think so, I know so,” Meninga said in respect to pressure from outside influences, “so I don't want to be the one who puts pressure on him.”
Meninga had hoped Mitchell would travel to the Gold Coast last week to see if there was any legitimate interest from the out-of-favour Sydney Roosters star to head north next season or beyond.
Mitchell instead headed off to an indigenous camp with fellow NRL stars, including Jack Wighton, Cody Walker, Ryan James, Braidon Burns and Adam Elliott. In no way was Meninga disappointed the planned catchup never eventuated.
“We haven't pressured him on purpose, to be honest with you,” Meninga
AFL: Brisbane super boot Daniel Rich had arguably the best season of his 11-year AFL career in 2019.
And he insists he can be better again in 2020. Playing off halfback, Rich was unlucky not to make the preliminary 40-man All-Australian squad given he was an important part of Brisbane’s stunning surge up the ladder.
“A lot of factors go into improving year-in, year-out and I was pretty much chasing a consistent year more than anything,’’ Rich said.
“I knew my best was still good enough.
“At the same time, I feel like I’ve got some growth left in how I want to play and what I want to do here at the footy club.’’
Rich played finals football in his first season in 2009 and had a long wait before Brisbane returned to September action.
The natural disappointment of going out of the finals in straight sets is a driving force this pre-season.
“If you speak to any one of the boys, they’ll tell you how determined they are to get back to where we were. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to play finals,’’ Rich said.
“It was obviously disappointing the way it finished and everyone was really upset because we are all competitive people.
“The boys are ticking along really well at training and doing all they can do at the moment. We are looking forward to getting back into the games but we know the hard work has to come first.’’ Greg Davis said. “He doesn't need the pressure.
“He has had a lot of pressure and scrutiny on him. He will make up his mind in good time.”
Meninga said when the time was right he still hoped he could put the Titans' case forward and let Latrell decide, but only after he decides if he wants to stay or leave the Roosters.
“We have just let him know that we are keen to have a yarn when he is ready to have a yarn,” Meninga said.
“He was going to come up last week but in the end we sort of ran out of time and he had the indigenous camp as well so it didn't work out time-wise for him. There is no pressure and hopefully we will get to see him soon but I don't know when at this stage.”
Meanwhile, the Titans are growing anxious to know where Jai Arrow's future stands and Meninga was hopeful that can be settled by the end of this week.
So far Gold Coast are the only club that have officially put an offer to the young forward who comes off contract at the end of next season.
But that could well change sooner rather than later with South Sydney ready to strike.
The Titans are adamant they have done their best to try and convince Arrow to stay.
RUGBY SEVENS:
“We have tabled an offer and hopefully that might get resolved this week too, either way,” Meninga said.
“Jai keeps things pretty close to his chest. I think he is keen to stay and from a monetary point of view we are where we should be so we will see what happens.”
Arrow's decision could ultimately dictate exactly what position the Titans are in to make a play for Mitchell given the club has little salary cap space to work with for 2020.
If Arrow was to head to Souths a year early that would mean the Titans would be in the market for a marquee player immediately.
Wallabies back-rower Sean McMahon (pictured) will join Australia's rugby sevens team for the first time since 2014.
McMahon will be included in the squad for the second round of the Sevens World Series in Cape Town this week. The 25year-old, who has 27 Test caps, wants to put himself in contention for Tokyo 2020.
“Walshy (coach Tim Walsh) and I have been talking about returning to sevens and I am really looking forward to representing my country again,”
AFL:
McMahon said.
“The Australian Sevens team having been building well following their qualification for the Olympics next year and I'm looking forward to putting my hand up for the campaign.” McMahon, who plays for Japanese club Suntory, made his professional debut in the rugby sevens in 2012 before making the switch to Super Rugby with Melbourne Rebels in 2014. Australia were beaten in the quarter-finals of the opening round Dubai Sevens last week.