Plenty of Sea Eagles have not flown the nest

Greg Prichard Some facts and figures heading into the third week of the NRL finals.

The writer, his Brookie and the man who made Sea Eagles soar

Greg Prichard Renowned author and Manly tragic Thomas Keneally says he hopes Des Hasler gets the respect he deserves when he returns to Brookvale Oval for the first time since his acrimonious split with Manly at...

Toovey won't let losses knock Sea Eagles off their perch

Greg Prichard GEOFF TOOVEY says he doesn't know or care when Manly last lost three games in a row, which makes sense.

Try-scoring Cooper the leader of the packs

Greg Prichard Take a look at the important bits and pieces from the NRL finals action so far.

Lords of the rings: Storm tap anger over stripped titles

Greg Prichard BRETT WHITE, the Canberra and former Melbourne prop who played in the Storm's grand final-winning teams of 2007 and 2009 that subsequently had their titles stripped because the club cheated the...

Hasler says debate over week off is simply tired

Greg Prichard CANTERBURY coach Des Hasler says people who believe Bulldogs big men Sam Kasiano and Frank Pritchard will be hindered rather than helped by a week off from playing at this time of the year are not...

League

Hasler proves a cash cow for Dogs

Greg Prichard DES HASLER has already paid for himself at Canterbury this season - regardless of whether the Bulldogs win Sunday's grand final against Melbourne.

First among equals: Morris wants to take centre stage after stellar season

Greg Prichard JOSH MORRIS believes he now deserves to be rated on the same level as the two centres he regards as the best in the game - Justin Hodges and Jamie Lyon.

Barba's shop expected to remain open, but trade could be limited

Greg Prichard 1. Will Ben Barba replicate his Dally M player of the year form in the finals?

I told you so: Hasler plays the underdog

Greg Prichard MELBOURNE and Manly have the best records of any of the finals teams against fellow top-eight sides, which goes some way to supporting the opinions of bookmakers that they should be shorter in...

Ward given keys to make right call

Greg Prichard VETERAN video referee Chris Ward, who made the biggest decision by an upstairs official in NRL history, has been brought back into the front line by the man who asked him to make that call in the...

Lyon trains, aims to take on Cowboys

Greg Prichard MANLY coach Geoff Toovey was upbeat about the chances of Jamie Lyon playing against North Queensland at Allianz Stadium tomorrow night after the centre trained on his injured calf yesterday.

Weekend talking points

Time to blow whistle on referees' bosses

Greg Prichard The ARL Commission has got to blow up the refereeing department at the end of the season and start again.

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Hasler puts onus on players to close out minor premiership

Greg Prichard CANTERBURY coach Des Hasler says he can't simply demand an improvement from his players after producing substandard football against Canberra last weekend - it's up to them to address the issue...

Toovey backs Taufua to shine as rising rookie faces big-game test

Greg Prichard MANLY coach Geoff Toovey has praised rookie Jorge Taufua's role in plugging a problem position as the Sea Eagles try to clinch a top-four spot in the finals by beating Gold Coast at Skilled Park...

League

Cleary making his presence felt at foot of the mountains as his troops do the same to the premiers

Greg Prichard Phil Gould, the boss of everything at Penrith, didn't bring Ivan Cleary to the club to place the cones at training and mix the Gatorade.

Lewis not sold on taking back Penrith captaincy

Michael Chammas, Greg Prichard There is no guarantee Luke Lewis will accept the Penrith captaincy back once his State of Origin commitments with NSW are over.

Penn threatens to pull Manly funding

Greg Prichard MANLY co-owner Scott Penn last night warned that the boardroom battle at Brookvale could mean his family ending its financial commitment to the Sea Eagles and walking away from the club.

Queensland mull options as Slater is all but ruled out

Greg Prichard GREG INGLIS, Ben Barba, Matt Bowen and Darius Boyd are all in contention to replace Billy Slater as Queensland fullback for State of Origin III after Slater received bad news on the medical front...