#ThingsSchapelleMissed:My entire career at Fairfax Media,which by the time you read this will have ended the way it began:with a nervous and poorly written story.
The famous bravado wasn't quite there a month or so ago,when Benji Marshall first parked himself in the Auckland Blues back line. Having spent the early months of his switch to rugby union conditioning his body like the rest of his teammates,the real test came when the side switched to game-based training early last month. And Marshall stunk it up.
It's only a little letter,but when John Sutton was first approached by South Sydney coach Michael Maguire about putting a'c'next to his name,he felt the responsibility was too great for him.
They waited two years to get him,so another week surely won't matter much;having been left out of Parramatta's squad for the Eels'first pre-season trial – against Wests Tigers in Alice Springs on Saturday – William Hopoate is set to make his club debut in the Auckland Nines.
Cameron King might have departed,but there are no guarantees St George Illawarra hooker Mitch Rein will become a regular 80-minute player as a result.
He has had two stints at St George Illawarra and one at Melbourne,but Chase Stanley still feels like he has gone home,having now made the move to the Bulldogs.
The rapid-fire enthusiasm that seems permanently attached to Michael Maguire's speech doesn't even disappear for a moment. You ask him if there is any concern that his South Sydney squad,which has reached the preliminary finals two years in a row,might just be that very good,consistent club side that simply cannot go the distance in the finals,and he doesn't flinch or pause in his response.
Before this year,most would not have known what a peptide was.
Peter Sharp will be Cronulla’s coach at least until officials have some finality around Shane Flanagan’s future after a landmark board meeting on Thursday night,which also saw the club reiterate its desire to defend all charges.
It's perhaps a sign of the size of the stick Ian Schubert wielded that,even with one foot out the door,the celebrations - and there would have been some - were still muted.