Weekly news wrap: 31 January 2020

A quick look at what's made news this week in the rugby league world.

Folau France-bound

The biggest rugby league news wasn't in Australia this week - with dual international Israel Folau signing a one-year deal with Super League club Catalans.

The signing was met with a lot of opposition following the controversial player's acrimonious split with Rugby Australia in 2019 over a series of posts made on social media prompting the sport's governing body to end his contract with them.

In light of the signing, Super League rivals Wigan announced their upcoming home game against the visiting Dragons team in March would be their "Pride Day" event, celebrating the LGBTIQ community to which Folau is said to have victimised in those social media posts last year.

Hey now, they are All Stars

On Tuesday, the NRL announced the 20-man and 18-woman squads for the February 22 NRL All Stars clash at Robina. Check out the lineups here.

Super League starts with a bang...

... in the face. A spiteful season opener overnight in the UK, with Wigan downing Warrington 16-10 and the visiting Wolves side losing forward Chris Hill to a red card after he was marched for a high tackle on Wigan's Sam Powell. The resulting penalty try gave the Warriors a fantastic advantage which they capitalised on, leading 12-10 at the break before adding a third try after halftime and holding on for victory.

The full season fixtures can be found here, while the Round 1 squad lists and officials are here.

Wests Tigers bolster stocks

After a difficult lead-up to Australia Day following the latest Josh Reynolds controversy, the Wests Tigers' fortunes turned around this week, with the 2005 premiers securing the signatures of both Joey Leilua and Adam Doueihi, released by Canberra and the Rabbitohs respectively.

The news is a welcome change from continued criticism of the club's recruitment after they failed to secure Latrell Mitchell.

The Concord-based outfit also made an advance move on young star Stefano Utoikamanu, securing him for 2021 after his current club Parramatta upgraded his 2020 contract at the start of the week.

Off the field - Ofahengaue, Scott & May

An Australia Day hangover for the Raiders on Monday - fresh off releasing Joey Leilua, the club was rocked by revelations new signing Curtis Scott had been arrested on six charges, including two of assaulting a police officer. Canberra offered a boilerplate brief statement on Monday evening, and Scott entered a not guilty plea on all charges at a hearing on Friday morning.

Friday morning also saw the sentencing hearing for Penrith playmaker Tyrone May, who fronted a Sydney magistrate after pleading guilty to four counts of intentionally recording an intimate image without consent.

May was sentenced to 300 hours community service along with psychological intervention.

Elsewhere, Brisbane forward Joe Ofahengaue was found asleep in his car and received a minor traffic infringement over the weekend as well. The NRL Integrity Unit was informed.

The NRL is expected to meet next week to decide on any punishments for the above players in terms of fines or suspension.

Swap deals on the horizon?

During the week reports surfaced that the NRL may be looking at a first-of-its-kind 'loan' arrangement, which would likely see the Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm trade players for the 2020 season.

Paul Momirovski and Harry Grant are the mooted players and the report generated plenty of interest in NRL land. UK clubs already heavily use the loan system along with dual registration of players with clubs in lower grades.

Nines squads start to trickle in

On Friday the first club to announce an NRL Nines squad was the Dragons, who've released their Women's side for the tournament which is now just a fortnight away in Perth.

Keep up to date with squads as they're announced in the coming days.

From the states

A fair bit of news from north of the Tweed this week - on Wednesday the Maroons released their 2020 jersey, a clean, simple throwback to 1980 to celebrate 40 years of State of Origin.

On Friday, the QRL released the draw for the inaugural QRL Women's Premiership, involving 8 teams and kicking off alongside the men's Intrust Super Cup competition in March. It'll be played over eight rounds with a top four playing off in two semi-finals to earn a spot in the Grand Final on May 17.

In NSW, the state's governing body kicked off Junior League registrations on Tuesday, while continuing to have a presence in bushfire affected areas during the week, although hot weather on Friday did force the cancellation of a visit to Bateman's Bay.

New concussion rules were also introduced by NSWRL this week.

One last thing...

Congratulations to the following members of the rugby league community who were bestowed with Australia Day Honours on Monday:

• Edward Leigh Maughan - the man who founded the Newcastle Knights and stood as a club director for many of the Knights' 30+ years in the top-flight competition. He is recognised for services to rugby league.
• Geoff Carr - former player and administrator, played 59 matches for St George in the 1970's before becoming club CEO in the 90's. Moved to the ARL and then NRL before leading NSWRL until 2013. He is recognised for services to rugby league.
• Daryl Brohman - Norths Devils, Penrith Panthers and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs legend who also represented Queensland. Now a media personality and commentator - recognised for services to rugby league.
• Patricia (Pat) Bailey - Cairns District JRL Secretary and Operations Manager, recognised for service to the community of Cairns and to rugby league.