Cowboys in big leap of faith

EACH week The Chronicle sport team hops on its Saturday Soapbox to offer its two bob’s worth on some of the pressing and not-so-pressing issues from around the sporting ridges.

Q: This week we learned 23-year-old forward Jason Taumalolo signed a $10 million deal to remain at the Cowboys for the next 10 years. Good or bad idea?

ANTON ROSE:

YOU would be laughing if you are a Cowboys fan.

But we have seen time and time again that players who are contracted to a club don’t always see out the entirety of their contracts.

They either chase dreams of playing in other codes or suffer a dramatic fall from grace.

Throwing money at young players sets a bad precedent, promising NRL players are like teenage Disney stars – they have the potential to go off the rails.

The parallels between Ben Barba and Lindsay Lohan are eerily similar – I just hope the money the Cowboys spent is worth it.

GLEN McCULLOUGH:

Without reading the contract fine print, it sounds a great result for Taumalolo, but I’m not so sure about the Cowboys.

Ten years? Boy. A lot can happen and change over a decade and I tend to agree with Darren Lockyer’s opinion this may well blow up in North Queensland’s face.

Presuming you think Taumalolo is worth $10 million in the first place — who is to know how his future.

It’s a huge leap of faith by the Cowboys in regard to Taumalolo’s ongoing ability to remain a $10 million NRL man.

Is it astute recruitment by the Cowboys or is it a case of we’ll lock him up so no-one else can get their paws on him?

I guess we’ll all find out in 10 years time.

Q: Tension has been at fever-pitch this week over the Lions women being denied an historic grand final at The Gabba because of surface problems following the Adele concert and plans to prepare the ground for November’s

Ashes Test. Is there a solution to the brewing Brisbane sport civil war?

AR:

TAKE a look at what’s happening in Western Australia.

The pressure of having AFL, cricket and rugby at the WACA has seen the decision makers in Perth fork out for a new stadium.

Obviously the AFLW grand final bungle at the Gabba is a stuff-up of major proportions – but this was always destined to happen.

Build it and they will come, I say.

GM:

WHAT a mess. But it’s not as though we didn’t see this clash of cultures creeping up on us.

The idea of cricket and Aussie Rules sharing a venue is always going to be a bit hairy.

Throw in a sell-out concert here and there and...well you’ve seen and heard the result this week.

Cricket and football seasons overlap these days.

To complicate things, we now have females becoming heavily involved in both cricket and Australian Rules which adds to an already packed program for the Gabba to deal with on a 12-month basis.

The ideal solution to allow everyone a fair go is to build an AFL stadium which can also accommodate concerts and outdoor gatherings somewhere in the Brisbane region.

It’s hardly a good time for governments to be coming up with squillions to build more sport arenas with so many other needs to be funded.

But long-term it’s inevitable for two growing sports butting heads and finding it hard to live together on the one patch of ground.

The Gabba can no longer be seen as it was — a home for the Lions, Bulls and Test cricket.

The Big Bash, it apears, will only get bigger and women’s cricket and Australian Rules threatens to explode in the coming decades.

Talk of a drop-in Gabba wicket, similar to other grounds like the MCG, has been hastily dismissed

Something or someone will have to give.