St George Illawarra are set to announce the signing of Josh McGuire as soon as Tuesday morning after agreeing to terms of his release with North Queensland.
Gold Coast face a week of uncertainty around their halves and home after Jamal Fogarty's injury added to the pain of a 20-4 NRL loss to Canberra.
While Raiders fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was sublime in both attack and defence for the Green Machine, the Titans squandered their chances.
Josh Papalii was also powerful for Canberra up front, scoring a crucial second-half try after the Raiders had taken an 8-4 lead to the break.
Ricky Stuart's men were smashed by injuries last week, but it was the Titans who were left licking their wounds after the relocated match at Sydney's Kogarah Oval on Saturday night.
NRL probes potential protocol breach at Tim Tszyu fight
James Roberts attended the Tim Tszyu fight on Wednesday night in what may have been a breach of the NRL's COVID protocols
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The NRL has asked Wests Tigers to explain why James Roberts was at the Tim Tszyu-Dennis Hogan fight on Wednesday night, as the league probes a possible biosecurity breach.
On Wednesday all clubs were sent an email by the NRL warning players that they should not attend the fight in Newcastle.
An exemption was granted for South Sydney duo Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker to attend as part of Tszyu's entourage under the condition they wore masks and adhered to the COVID plan of the boxer's team.
George Williams has shown the benefit of having an NRL season under his belt, steering Canberra to a comprehensive 30-12 win over Wests Tigers.
Having made the move from the English Super League last year, halfback Williams played an important role in the Raiders' first three tries at GIO Stadium on Sunday.
After they fell behind 6-0 early in a scrappy first half, Williams helped the Raiders regain their composure before taking control of the game and never letting go.
George Williams of the Raiders in action against the Tigers.
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He was denied a 70-metre try himself in the second half, when Ryan Sutton was ruled to have taken Daine Laurie out early and forced a loose ball.
Tedesco, Morris star in Roosters' big win
James Tedesco put the exclamation mark on the Sydney Roosters' new-look attack as his hat-trick helped condemn Manly to a 46-4 thrashing at the SCG.
On a history-making day where Brett Morris went fourth in the all-time try-scoring list with his own treble, Tedesco also set up three tries.
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It made for the Sydney Roosters' biggest ever round-one win, and coincided with Luke Keary's move to full-time halfback for the first time at the Roosters.
The win was however soured by a concussion to captain Jake Friend following a nasty head clash with Andrew Davey that left him flattened for several minutes.
The Warriors have been forced to extend their stay in Australia until June 21, dashing hopes of a return to Mt Smart Stadium by round five of the NRL season.
Dylan Brown didn't know who Andrew Johns was seven years ago, but he now believes the eighth Immoral can take his game to the next level in 2021.
Brown stands to be one of the biggest winners of the NRL's COVID-bubble bursting, with Johns finally back on the field at Parramatta training.
Signed as a halves coach at the start of last year, Johns spent most of 2020 yelling over the fence to halves Mitchell Moses and Brown at training.
But the NRL's relaxation on restrictions has seen several big stars return to clubs, including the likes of Cooper Cronk, Michael Ennis and Johns.
Ranking the spines of every NRL team ahead of 2021 season
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These players are able to get their hands on the ball more frequently and heavily influence their team's ability to drive downfield and score points. More often than not, the quality of a team's spine will directly correlate to their final position on the ladder.
This is where each club stands prior to the 2021 NRL season:
South Sydney Rabbitohs
9. Damien Cook
On paper, I believe the Rabbitohs have the most polished, consistently performing spine. I think each individual offers their own unique point of attack, while complementing each other nicely to form a lethal spine. Latrell Mitchell is perhaps the only member of the spine to have some question marks around him, given his propensity to fall in and out of games, but on his day he is simply unstoppable. Cody Walker offers some dangerous off-the-cuff attack for Souths, with his running game and vision in broken play supporting Adam Reynolds' pinpoint kicking game and organizational tendencies. Damien Cook, finally, can rip opposition defences wide open with his quickness off the mark from dummy-half and is a handy option with the boot. All have representative honours to their name and can handle the big stage.
NRL All Stars needs Test rules, says Laurie Daley
Laurie Daley believes that, with the NRL All Star game now set to be a regular highlight of the calendar, the rules should be clear and reflect that of a Test or Origin match.
The Indigenous All Stars coach also predicted a bright future for the event after Saturday's compelling 10-10 draw with the Maori All Stars in Townsville.
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Latrell Mitchell's late penalty goal was enough to tie the game with just two minutes remaining, but there was confusion from the players and coaches as to whether the field goal option was there to win the game.