Papalii’s wife Masepa made news earlier this season when she was issued a court attendance notice to face two charges of common assault for her alleged role in a brawl at a women’s rugby league match.

Masepa Papalii, who is scheduled to appear before the ACT Magistrates Court on October 10, has already been banned for 10 years from attending local matches after the Canberra Region Rugby League (CRRL) found she entered the field during a fiery clash between West Belconnen Warriors and the Bungendore Kangaroos in the Katrina Fanning Shield on July 14.

Her sister-in-law, Crystal Papalii, was initially hit with a 20-week suspension for becoming embroiled in the incident.

The night Nelson wanted to fight a young Panther

Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s grand final ban means there will be no re-match with the young Panthers forward Liam Henry who the Melbourne forward challenged to a fight in the middle of a game.

Asofa-Solomona failed in his bid to have a careless high tackle downgraded at the NRL judiciary on Monday night, and will now miss Sunday’s clash and a further four matches. He will be replaced by Lazarus Vaalepu.

Luke Ricketson, who missed the 2004 grand final, said Asofa-Solomona was in for a tough week.

Asofa-Solomona invited Henry to settle their differences in the round 24 clash after the Melbourne enforcer had just ironed out Panthers back Daine Laurie.

Unseen Nine footage shows a fired-up Henry pointing at Asofa-Solomona and shouting obscenities, before the Melbourne marches behind the Penrith pack and calls out Henry to settle the matter on the spot.

Henry has tried to bring physicality off the bench like the man he replaced, Spencer Leniu. However, he was glad the situation didn’t escalate.

“There was a bit of contact to Daine, it fired me up a bit, but I’m glad I didn’t go at him – because dare I say it, he would have sat me on my arse,” Henry told this masthead.

Reminded of that confrontation on Tuesday, Henry said: “I was caught up in the moment. I care a lot about the boys, they’re your brothers out there, and any time you see them hurt or injured or upset, you want to protect them. That was the biggest thing. Nothing came of it. He’s a mountain of a man.”

Asofa-Solomona becomes the fifth player to miss a decider because of suspension, joining Ricketson, Luke, Carl Webb (2005) and Cameron Smith (2008).

Ricketson said it was “horrible and gut-wrenching” to miss the grand final, which the Roosters lost to the Bulldogs, for punching Nathan Fien in a preliminary final. Ricketson had had a run-in with Fien a few weeks earlier, then coach Ricky Stuart “revved us up, and told us not to get picked on again”.

“I took things personally,” said Ricketson, who recalled going to a lunch at the back of the Beach Road Hotel the day after the judiciary hearing, and sitting at one end of a table feeling sorry for himself. “Nelson will be pretty devastated.”

Ryles lands significant signing

New Parramatta coach Jason Ryles is on the verge of securing a significant signing after agreeing terms with Sharks forward Jack Williams from next season.

Ryles has been in negotiations with Williams for several weeks and on Tuesday managed to land his man, agreeing to a three-year deal that will see Williams join the Eels until at least the end of 2027.

Williams is expected to push for a starting position next year following the release of former prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard from the final year of his deal. His strengths suit the style of football Ryles wants the Eels to play in 2025.

The Sharks wanted to keep Williams but salary cap restraints, and a surfeit of forward talent at their disposal, restricted their spending capacity and limited his pathway.

The 28-year-old has played 124 games since debuting for the Sharks in 2018 and came off the bench in Cronulla’s preliminary final loss to Penrith last weekend.

The Eels have also signed South Sydney Dean Hawkins as a back-up play-making option and are in discussions with Bulldogs outside back Josh Papalii.

Butler left out of NRL grand final after controversial bunker call

Referee Chris Butler has been overlooked for the 2024 NRL grand final following a controversial call in Saturday’s preliminary final that Ivan Cleary described as “terrible”.

The NRL’s head of football, Graham Annesley, acknowledged Butler’s decision from the bunker to award a “no try” for an obstruction in Saturday’s game was incorrect, but did not confirm whether it was the reason Butler had been left of the officiating list for the NRL, NRLW and State Championship finals.

“Of course, everything that happens is a factor [in picking officials], but it’s a numbers game,” Annesley said at the announcement on Tuesday of the officials for Sunday’s three finals matches.

“We’ve gone from two games last week to one game this week... It just comes down to the number of positions we’ve got available, and then we try and pick the best people who have performed across the course of the finals series.

“But yes, every decision they [referees] make is a factor, but it’s ultimately we only have one grand final in first grade.”

Ashley Klein was given the task of officiating the NRL final, with David Munro and Chris Sutton as his touch judges, while Grant Atkins will be the man in the bunker.

Annesley said he was hoping to get through grand final day without any controversy.

“I, as much as anyone, want our games to be controversy-free,” Annesley said. “So, I’d say it’s more anxious than concerned. I’m anxious to hopefully see that we get through all of grand final day without any controversy, and if no-one’s talking about match officials at the end of the day, no-one will be happier than me.”

Atkins said he was not feeling any extra pressure at being in the bunker for the NRL grand final, despite the controversy over Butler’s no-try call.

“Any external pressure you might hear or be made aware of, that’s your choice whether you’re going to bring that onto yourself,” he said. “I think we’ve all done enough games and had enough experience in the bunker to know what your parameters are, what our laws and interpretations are and to stick quite tight to those.

“It doesn’t make me nervous. It’s exiting always just to be a part of a grand final or any big game. Most of the criticism comes from people who have never actually been part of taking a role, so they don’t understand the nature of what we do and the challenges that come with it.

“It’s quite easy to criticise externally, however you know what your abilities are, you know what your experience is, and you know what the game expects. So, if you can sort of meet those three ideals, you’ll generally come up with the right outcome. ”

Michael Maguire steps into Broncos hot seat on a three-year deal

Michael Maguire will step from the Origin furnace to the coalface of the NRL’s biggest club after being announced as the Brisbane Broncos new coach on a three-year deal.

Maguire’s reign will begin immediately after he was released from the final year of his NSWRL contract as Blues coach on Monday.

The former South Sydney premiership-winning mentor takes charge of the Broncos less than a week after Kevin Walters was moved on in the wake of an internal review.

Brisbane were a Nathan Cleary masterclass away from winning last year’s grand final but it was their only finals appearance in four campaigns under Walters.

Maguire will front the media on Tuesday morning and said in an official announcement that he understands the enormity of taking over at Queensland’s flagship club.

“The Broncos are one of rugby league’s great clubs and it will be an honour to step into the role of head coach,” he said.

“The Broncos organisation has a high expectation on everything it does. It’s built a great history and shown the strength of what a club can be and what it can mean to fans. Playing my part in the great vision of what the Broncos stand for is the exciting part for me.”

Maguire submitted a presentation to the NSWRL board on Friday but did not mention the Broncos job. NSWRL chief executive Dave Trodden is overseas on a three-week holiday and will begin the process of finding a replacement for Maguire when he returns. Maguire wasn’t appointed until November 30 last year.

Some of the names expected to be in the mix include Paul McGregor, Trent Barrett, Michael Ennis, Matt King, Nathan Brown, Brett White and Laurie Daley. Less likely options include Craig Bellamy, Ricky Stuart, Phil Gould, Ivan Cleary and the Johns brothers.

Luai’s Dally M salute a nod to Tigers chase

Dan Walsh

Departing Panthers star Jarome Luai is in line to claim his first Dally M positional award before taking up his $6 million move to the Wests Tigers, but his replacement at Penrith, Blaize Talagi, has been surprisingly overlooked for rookie of the year honours.

Storm star Jahrome Hughes and Roosters captain James Tedesco are expected to battle it out for the Dally M medal, with Hughes considered a warm favourite after a stunning season for the minor premiers.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Dally M rookie of the year field will raise eyebrows considering rising Eels star Talagi and Storm speedster Sua Fa’alogo have both been overlooked for Ethan Strange (Raiders), Jack Bostock (Dolphins) and Kayal Iro (Sharks).

Tigers tyro Lachlan Galvin was already ruled ineligible for the award having picked up a two-game suspension early in the season.

But Talagi, who is Panthers-bound next season to replace Luai, had been considered a front-runner for the award given his 11 tries in 19 games playing across Parramatta’s backline.

His emergence for the Eels proved bittersweet, after he knocked back a lucrative extension at Parramatta to join their western Sydney rivals on a three-year deal.

Fa’alogo’s form for Melbourne after one debut game last season also had the Samoan fullback predicted to challenge for one of the more anticipated Dally M awards.

The Panthers and Storm have 10 players nominated for positional awards between them ahead of Sunday’s grand final, while Stephen Crichton and Cameron Ciraldo’s Canterbury revival have them odds on to claim captain and coach of the year.

Luai, Dylan Edwards, Brian To’o, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Isaah Yeo have all been nominated in their respective positions, along with Melbourne’s Will Warbrick, Hughes, Harry Grant and Eliesa Katoa.

Five-eighth of the year shapes as the tightest battle for a Dally M nod given Luai’s career-best season pits him up against former teammate and Bulldogs pivot Matt Burton and Cowboys maestro Tom Dearden.

Luai’s form in Nathan Cleary’s absence for much of 2024 has been key to Penrith’s charge to a fifth-straight grand final, which will be their No.6’s last for the club before linking with the Tigers.

Despite winning three premierships at Penrith and rising to regular representative honours, even Luai has described himself as ‘Robin’ to Cleary’s ‘Batman’ throughout his career, and he has never won an individual Dally M.

The 27-year-old has been nominated for Dally M honours as a five-eighth. But it’s as a game-managing halfback that he has taken charge this season, regaining his NSW Origin jumper and dismissing doubts about the Tigers $1.25 million-a-year investment.

“I think I’d be playing the same way even if I wasn’t going to the Tigers next year,” Luai said at the start of the finals.

“People have said that I’ve evolved and have picked up stuff that I haven’t had in my game before, but I’ve never really had to play this role.

“Back in my junior days I was a seven and I knew that if I needed to step into this role that I’d be sweet because it comes naturally anyway.”

Penrith and Melbourne’s dominance of the six-again era is laid bare in the Dally M field that features both Yeo and Grant as captain of the year nominations, and Ivan Cleary and Craig Bellamy in the coaching category.

The Bulldogs rise is also reflected though in Crichton and Ciraldo’s acknowledgements, along with flying winger Jacob Kiraz, Burton and back-rower Viliame Kikau all being nominated in their respective positions.

Why the Panthers will be pretty in pink for the decider

Adam Pengilly

They’ve played in the past four grand finals and won three straight titles, but the Panthers will have to do something they haven’t done before in the biggest game of the season – wear a pink jersey.

In 116 years of top grade rugby league in Australia, no team has ever worn a pink jumper in a grand final, but the Panthers will be required to do so against the Storm at Accor Stadium next Sunday night.

Minor premiers Melbourne have won the right to wear their traditional purple strip having secured the JJ Giltinan Shield, and Penrith’s first-choice black jersey is considered a clash with the Storm outfit.

The Panthers have donned their black jerseys in each of the last four grand finals, including wins over South Sydney (2021), Parramatta (2022) and Brisbane (2023).

The Storm were forced to wear their alternate white jersey against the Panthers in the 2020 grand final because Ivan Cleary’s side finished as minor premiers.

The pink Panthers are expected to trigger a rush from fans to buy the jersey before Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo lead their team in a bid to win a historic fourth straight title, with the colour to be dotted through the stands at Sydney Olympic Park.

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The jersey has proven hugely popular with their young fans, in particular, and Panthers Group chief executive Brian Fletcher admitting the jumper has won over a new legion of fans.

“Every time we wear it, it’s amazing the number of young, female fans we get,” Fletcher said. “And the young kids love the jersey. I hear them ask their parents, ‘can you buy me that pink jersey?’ If we sell out of the stock, we’ll order more. It’s a great point of difference for our fans.”

The Panthers wore their pink jersey in the round one clash against the Storm in Melbourne, losing a frenetic match 8-0 shortly after they returned from the World Club Challenge in the United Kingdom.

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