Another weekend and another dose of The Repeat Set awaits as we give you the inside word on everything rugby league.
MORE: Manly reveal stunning news on Dylan Walker | Kangaroos and Sea Eagles hold breath as Jake Trbojevic injures pec
This week we've got news on:
- Revealed: The man who said no to Wayne Bennett
- Fatty Vautin enemy speaks out on Footy Show sacking
- Son of a well-known international in drug strife
Read on for all that good action...
Ash Taylor turns down Brisbane for loyalty
The behind-the-scenes negotiations that secured Ash Taylor’s long-term future at the Gold Coast Titans shows why rugby league has lost a good one in Tony Mestrov.
The Titans’ chief operating officer struck up a solid and trusting relationship with Taylor and his manager Warwick Wright, operating on an old-fashioned handshake, mutual respect and trust.
“From the get-go I asked Ash whether he wanted to stay and he said he did,” Mestrov told Sporting News Australia.
“I told him we would work together with his manager to give him the deal he wanted and that’s what happened.
“Not once did Ash or Warwick attempt to deceive us or go behind our back.
“It was very refreshing dealing with them.”
There was heavy interest in Taylor from Brisbane and it’s understood the Broncos worked the young No.7 over in a bid to lure him north.
But he stuck solid to his word and kept Mestrov in the loop at every stage, eventually signing off on an extension keeping him at the Titans until the end of 2021.
Both Wright and Taylor thanked Mestrov for his work in securing a deal and were saddened to hear he is departing the club to take up a job at Greyhound Racing NSW.
The former Manly, Souths and Wigan front-rower was in line for the Sea Eagles CEO gig but is now lost to rugby league for the foreseeable future.
Son of former international in the middle of drug dilemma
The best kept secret in rugby league involves the son of a well-known international who has got himself neck-deep in drug dramas.
The bloke, whose father was regarded as one of the game’s elite players in the 70s and 80s, owes money all over the place and has some heavy dudes closing in on him.
We’re not sure dad knows the full extent of the problem but you wouldn’t want to get on his wrong side.
Peter Peters congratulates enemy
One of Paul Vautin’s greatest enemies has extended something of an olive branch in congratulating him on his career in television.
Peter Peters has never hidden from the fact he doesn’t get on with the former Sea Eagles skipper
“I’m not close to Paul Vautin. We had a falling out 30 years ago and rarely speak,” Zorba wrote in his weekly column for The Manly Daily.
“But I have nothing but respect for what he has achieved in a tough industry.
“He will accept his departure from the Footy Show with dignity and thank it lasted so long.”