CARETAKER Knights coach Danny Buderus was pleased with the response from players in his first session in charge of Newcastle’s NRL club since replacing Rick Stone.
The 37-year-old former Newcastle, NSW and Australian skipper and Knights Hall of Famer was handed the reins for the last six games of the season after Stone was sacked on Monday with another year left on his two-year contract.
‘‘I’ve been in an assistant role for a while but head coach is a whole new world,’’ Buderus said after conducting his first training session at Mayfield on Tuesday morning.
‘‘I was looking for a response out of the boys and I knew I was always going to get one today because someone has taken a fall for the group and the boys are hurting from that.
‘‘I think training was at the level we need it to be to improve, and that’s all I’m after for the rest of the year – effort, commitment and intent on what we’ve got to do.’’
Stone was sacked as a result of the team’s poor performances during a run of just two wins from their past 14 games.
Knights management have begun the process to recruit Stone’s long-term replacement.
Buderus said he was still learning the ropes as a coach and, at this stage of his career, ruled himself out as a contender for the permanent position.
‘‘I’ve been in a transition period all year as a coach, learning from Stoney and [fellow assistant] Craig Sandercock, so I wouldn’t say it’s make or break for me these next six weeks,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m just here to help the club. I want to help the club any way I can, I’ve always said that.
‘‘I’ll bleed for the club, always have, and that’s what I’m trying to instil in these players.
‘‘For me to be a coach, I’m not sure I’m ready to hand my hat on that yet, but I’m sure these next six weeks will define where I’m at with that head space, that’s for sure.’’
Meanwhile, Knights playmaker Jarrod Mullen confirmed he will undergo season-ending foot surgery on Thursday.
Mullen was diagnosed with a ruptured medial sesamoid bone in the ball of his right foot after Newcastle’s 26-24 loss to the Cowboys at Hunter Stadium on Anzac Day and missed their next seven games.
He returned to play against the Raiders and Titans but was unable to play against the Rabbitohs last Saturday night and has decided to have surgery to begin the recovery and rehabilitation process to be ready to start pre-season training in November.
Trent Barrett replaces Geoff Toovey as Manly Sea Eagles coach in 2016
Manly has finally confirmed rugby league's worst-kept secret - that Geoff Toovey has been sacked in favour of Trent Barrett.
The Sea Eagles released a statement pledging to honour Toovey's contract "in full" until the end 2016, although he will be moved on at the end of this season. Barrett, an assistant at Penrith, will take over on a three-year deal. The official announcement ends months of speculation over Toovey's future. Fairfax Media reported in June that Barrett would be the new Sea Eagles coach in 2016.
The Manly-Warringah Rugby League Football Club Board, who have two of the seven seats on the Sea Eagles board and have a 13 per cent of a stake in the club, have condemned the decision and highlights the off-field schism that has plagued the NRL team over recent seasons.
"It's a sad day when an icon of our great club - which next year celebrates its 70th year in the competition - is told he is unwanted as the coach despite being under contract until the end of 2016," the MWRLFC said in a statement.
"It is bewildering to anyone who follows the game that a coach who during his tenure has taken his team to every final, including a grand final, and currently sits just two wins outside the top eight should be treated in this manner.
"His position as coach was undermined even before the season began and continued relentlessly throughout the entire 2015 season. He has not been treated with the respect he has earned and deserves."
North Queensland Cowboys property deals in the spotlight
A string of high-profile Cowboys NRL players - including star Johnathan Thurston, co-captain Matt Scott and State of Origin player James Tamou - have acquired properties from millionaire developer Laurence Lancini, who is the long-serving chairman of the North Queensland rugby league club.
A Fairfax Media investigation can reveal that over the past seven years, 10 high-profile players have bought vacant blocks of land and apartments from Mr Lancini's companies.
Questions have been raised as to whether the property deals constitute breaches of the salary cap rules.
There is no suggestion individual players have broken rules.
NRL's head of football Todd Greenberg and Nick Weeks, the head of the NRL's integrity unit, flew to Townsville on Monday as part of their regular work.
Any team found to have breached the salary cap rules could have points stripped and face substantial fines.
The Cowboys are second on the NRL ladder.
The man known as "Mr Townsville" denied that any of the property deals were done in order to circumvent the salary cap.
Mr Lancini, 54, who is estimated to be worth $162 million, said that as "chair of the Cowboys" he is responsible for signing off on the salary cap. "I dispute anyone claiming that there's been any untoward deals done with our players."
Instead, said Mr Lancini, he was merely helping players with their investment strategies.
Players including Thurston, Tamou, Michael Morgan, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, and former players Matt Bowen and Luke O'Donnell have all bought blocks of land at a new residential suburb Bohle Plains, which Mr Lancini has been instrumental in developing.
The Cowboys chairman said he did provide several names of builders to use to construct premises on their vacant blocks of land.
Asked if any of them were sponsors of the club, he replied: "We try and give opportunities to all our sponsors, absolutely. There is nothing wrong with that."
Mr Lancini would not disclose who the builder was, but Fairfax Media has learned that all the houses have been built by former Cowboys player Martin Locke, who had previously been employed as the club's business development manager.
Mr Locke, who has a corporate box at the Cowboys and who is a member of the Stockmen, a group of local businessmen keen to assist the players, was adamant that no special deals had been done with any of the players with the construction of their houses.
"As a past player I would help them as I would help anyone else … but no discounts," he said.
When asked who sold them the land, Mr Locke said: "The club has developers that will always try to point them in the right direction."
In November last year, rising star Jason Taumalolo, was offered a lucrative deal to keep him in Townsville.
He subsequently bought a block of land in in South Vickers Street, Condon, from a company of which the directors are Mr Lancini and another Cowboys board member, Steven Titmus.
Mr Locke has recently poured the slab for Taumalolo's new residence.
His manager, Chris Orr, said Taumalolo's real estate purchase had nothing to do with contract negotiations. "His sporting contract is completely transparent and inside the NRL guidelines."
Cowboys five-eighth Morgan, who scored a try in Queensland's recent crushing State of Origin win over NSW, bought a block of land in August 2010 for $146,000 from Mr Lancini's company and he hired Mr Locke to build his house.
Morgan, who re-signed with the Cowboys earlier this year, has recently signed a contract to purchase an apartment in Brisbane, from a company in which Mr Lancini has a share.
Asked if Morgan's Brisbane property purchase had been discussed during contract negotiations, Mr Lancini said he "didn't deny" that property purchase may have been spoken about at the same time as contract negotiations but that Morgan's decision to buy had "never been an inducement" in the contract negotiations.
Thurston, regarded as the best player in league at the moment, also built a Locke home on his block of land at Bohle Plains, which he bought from Mr Lancini's company in 2007 for $129,000.
In February the following year, Thurston paid $800,000 for a swanky apartment in Mitchell Street, North Ward. Mr Lancini's company was again the vendor.
Also purchasing in the same building was Test player Willie Tonga, who was poached from the Bulldogs for the 2009 season. Tonga snapped a $735,000 apartment in the Mitchell Street building in November 2008.
The wife of Cowboys co-captain Matt Scott purchased a property from Mr Lancini's company for $700,000 in April 2013. She had only owned the property for three weeks before it was on the market for $735,000. The Townsville property market has been in a slump in recent years and the property is yet to sell.
Asked if he thought it was a conflict of interest to be the chairman of the club and advising players to buy properties in which he had an interest, Mr Lancini replied: "Because I am giving young men advice, because they've come to me and asked the question. That's a conflict?"
Mr Lancini said that all the properties were sold to players at market price. He denied that he could be seen to be gaining a financial advantage for himself by steering players into buying his properties. "I disagree. I am helping them! I am helping them set their investment strategy."
Mr Lancini said he "verbally" advised other board members of his property sales to players.
On Friday, Peter Grimshaw, the media spokesman for the NRL, said there would be no comment "on the specifics of that case…until we have had a chance to talk to the Cowboys".
Mr Grimshaw also said in an email: "In general terms, there is no problem with someone from the club advising a player on investment opportunities that may interest them or providing specialist advice on areas that they have knowledge or experience in.
"However, it would be a breach if the player was offered a financial benefit which he didn't pay for [and] which was not declared.
"Financial benefits would need to be declared and if they are bona fide third party agreements, they are exempt from the cap."
Fairfax Media has asked various player managers for comment.