Canberra Raiders NRL News

Matty Nicholson, 20, leaving Super League for NRL after successful season and international debut.

Zero Tackle

One of the best young forwards in the Super League, Matty Nicholson, is set to make the move to the NRL next season.

Competing as a second-rower, Nicholson, 20, has become one of the hottest overseas properties after a good start to the season with the Warrington Wolves and making his international debut for England at the end of last year.

First reported by The Daily Telegraph, Warrington coach Sam Burgess later confirmed that Nicholson has activated a release clause in his contract that will allow him to move to Australia.

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Graham Annesley defends NRL officials, criticizes player attacks, addresses controversial penalty try decisions.

The Canberra Times

NRL head of football Graham Annesley has gone on the front foot to defend match officials copping criticism after a contentious penalty try was awarded against the Raiders last weekend.

In his Monday briefing, Annesley was unimpressed by the continued attacks on referees in the NRL and put the responsibility on players to follow the rules as he addressed controversial incidents in round 12 - mainly hip drops and penalty tries.

Roosters playmaker Luke Keary was awarded a penalty try in Easts' big win over the Raiders on Saturday for contact from Canberra lock Morgan Smithies as he chased a ball in goal, and couldn't cleanly ground it.

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State of Origin squads locked in with controversial decisions made by new coaches for 2024.

The Canberra Times

The game one squads for State of Origin have been locked in, with some big calls made by new Blues coach Michael Maguire and Maroons coach Billy Slater.

There's rarely an Origin squad announcement without controversy, but the 2024 series has already dropped some massive bombshells.

Here are the major talking points and what the coaches had to say about their decisions ahead of the June 5 series opener in Sydney.

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