Dragons v NRL crisis talks after Vegas drama; Manly star hits back at DCE comparisons — Daily

The Dragons are set to face off with the NRL to discuss the officiating during their 15-14 golden point loss to the Bulldogs in Las Vegas.

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Code Sports’ Michael Carayiannis is reporting the club will have the chance to ask questions when they meet with top NRL officials on Friday.

The report stating the NRL’s Brock Schaefer and Jared Maxwell, who control the refereeing departments, will meet with officials from St George Illawarra to discuss the Dragons’ complaints after last weekend.

It’s believed the club remain aggrieved and frustrated after several rulings which didn’t go their way in the 2025 season as well.

The meeting will also talk through key decisions made by referee Grant Atkins during the game at Allegiant Stadium.

They include a golden-point strip call, which ruled Ryan Couchman raked the ball from Bronson Xerri. The decision led to a penalty, and a field goal opportunity which was taken by Stephen Crichton to win the game.

The Dragons aren’t in action until next Saturday March 14, when they take on the Melbourne Storm.

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FOGARTY NOT WORRIED ABOUT DCE COMPARISONS

- by Martin Gabor (Newswire)

Jamal Fogarty is no stranger to wearing maroon and white after his time with Burleigh in the Queensland Cup, but it’s going to take a while for the Manly faithful to get used to seeing someone other than Daly Cherry-Evans wearing the No. 7 jersey.

Manly’s decision to sign Fogarty last May on a three-year deal came on the heels of Cherry-Evans’ shock decision to announce he would leave the club at the end of the 2025 season.

It’s led to obvious questions about whether Fogarty can replace the man who led Manly’s attack for 15 years, but he put that to bed last December.

“He’s probably the greatest half to play for the club and put that jersey on,” Fogarty said at the time.

“That’s something I’ve got to respect and acknowledge, but also I’m not as talented as Daly, and I’m going to be Jamal. I’m not going to try and be him.”

The buzz around the veteran halves will kick up again when the Roosters head to Brookvale in round four, but for now, Fogarty is focused on taking on his former side the Raiders in an intriguing Saturday night showdown.

Fogarty helped them claim the minor premiership last year but can’t worry about that as he looks to lead his new team.

“It’s obviously great to get it out of the way round one. I’ve said before, it’s good to get it out of the way because then I can crack on with my season,” he said.

“Obviously everyone in the media is going to keep asking about it, and if it was round 15 or mid-season then that would kind of be annoying. So it’s kind of good to get it out of the way.

“And with the banter side of things, I’m not someone that sends cheeky text messages or chirps up on the field. I kind of just stick to myself and go about it.”

Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold says his new playmaker is more structured than what Cherry-Evans was and that he liked what he saw from him in the pre-season.

“Any time you come up against your former side, there’s going to be media speculation around that,” the coach said.

“Jamal did a hell of a job for the Raiders over the last four years, and I’m sure they’ve got great memories of his impact at the club and his leadership on and off the field because we’ve certainly seen it.

“We only gave him limited minutes in the trial, but he’s been working really hard at training to build cohesion.

“It’s probably a good thing for him to get it out of the road.”

Fogarty wore the Manly No. 7 jersey against the Rabbitohs in Mudgee last month and said it was good to get some minutes under his belt before the season proper.

“Obviously putting on maroon and white is different to lime green, but it was a good feeling putting it on,” he said.

“Running out felt very different, but good to get that out of the way in the trial. And I’ve just felt welcome the whole time since I’ve come here.

“I’m used to the maroon and white, my Queensland Cup team wore those colours so I’m kind of used to it, just not at an NRL level.

“I’m enjoying my time here so far, great bunch of dudes around the club that have been very welcoming. The coaching staff have been the same and all the admin people upstairs, so it’s been an enjoyable move so far.”

The 32-year-old conceded that Manly’s young halves Joey Walsh and Onitoni Large would put pressure on his spot if he didn’t perform, but he won’t have to worry about that if he and five-eighth Luke Brooks click from the outset.

He’s happy to be the controlling half and let Brooks run amok on the left.

“We’ve had some great moments here at training and there’s always going to be areas that we need to work on and keep improving,” he said.

“But he’s someone that’s played over 250 NRL games, got a great running game, nice left foot kicking game, so the more that we can link up as much as possible and just keep bouncing off each other throughout the year, hopefully we can win a couple of games along the way and have a good season.”

BLUES TO SHAKE-UP ORIGIN PREP

New South Wales will make a change to their preparations ahead this Origin series, moving their training base from the Blue Mountains.

NSW have called the Blue Mountains home leading into each of the past six Origin games, but they will now change base to Magenta Shores on the state’s Central Coast.

Michael Maguire made the change to head to the mountains ahead of their 2024 series win.

Daley returned to the helm last year for his second stint as Blues coach after Maguire’s move to the Broncos and eventual premiership, but after a strong game one NSW suffered a devastating 2-1 series loss under Daley.

It’s something which the former Blues representative wants to turn around if he is to lead his state into the future.

“One thing you know with an Origin camp, you’ve got to make it a bit of fun as well, and the players these days, they certainly don’t bond the way that we did when we were playing.” Daley told SEN.

“They bond over a lot of different things, and golf is certainly a big part of the make-up of it.

“A lot of football players, they just love getting out there. It’s certainly not my thing, but some of the players … absolutely love it.”

Game one of the 2026 State of Origin series is at Accor Stadium in Sydney, before the series heads to Melbourne for game two, and Brisbane for game three.

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