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Neil Breen

Neil Breen

Neil Breen is the national sports editor and a Walkley Award-winning journalist.

Blues Fullback James Tedesco is mobbed by team-mates after scoring the winning try in the dying moments of the State of Origin opener at Accor Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Blues’ miracle masked the truth: they were awful and changes have to be made

No amount of last-gasp heroics and back-slapping can allow the Blues to ignore the truth. Until Kalyn Ponga was controversially sent-off, they were comprehensively outplayed.

  • Neil Breen

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Laurie Daley.

Daley has hung his game plan on one thing, and it’s a huge gamble

A win in this series and coach Laurie Daley might be asked to warm the seat for Ivan Cleary. A loss and he’s gone.

  • Neil Breen
The Storm and Bulldogs have struggled with the quicker pace of the game this year.

How speed killed the Bulldogs and the Storm

Melbourne and Canterbury built their games on defence – with plenty of success. But the expanded use of six-again set-restarts this season has left them exposed.

  • Neil Breen
Dean Young will take charge of the Dragons for the rest of the season.

Dean Young was unsure about taking the Dragons job. Then he went hardcore

The Dragons roster is so poor, taking over as interim coach could be fatal for Dean Young’s burning ambition to be an NRL head coach. By Monday, he’d steeled himself.

  • Neil Breen
Shane Flanagan watches on as the Dragons slump to defeat against Manly on Friday night.

It’s dire at the Dragons and there is no saving Flanagan, sadly

Ten straight losses says all that needs to be said about the on-field fortunes at St George Illawarra.

  • Neil Breen
The Bulldogs celebrate after a Matt Burton field goal clinched a golden point win over Cronulla last season.

Can money buy NRL success? No. There’s a much more important ingredient

Money can get you a long way in the NRL, but not all the way. First and foremost, clubs need to be well-run. When you have both, you have a powerhouse on your hands.

  • Neil Breen
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Kieran Foran.

Kieran Foran once stepped away from league a broken man. Now he has to fix a broken club

Kieran Foran’s life was in a spiral. Gambling and addictions had taken hold and his private life unravelled. Ten years later, he’s been handed Manly’s top job.

  • Neil Breen
Shaun Burgoyne and Cyril Rioli celebrate the 2014 premiership win by Hawthorn.

Multiculturalism is booming in the NRL while the AFL is getting whiter

The AFL has a big problem, and it knows it. The number of First Nations players at the elite level is down more than 25 per cent in five years.

  • Neil Breen
Bulldogs centre Bronson Xerri.

Xerri put himself on top and came off second best in Bulldogs culture battle

Bronson Xerri wasn’t happy about playing second fiddle to his superstar captain, Stephen Crichton. That could prove costly.

  • Neil Breen
Bulldogs centre Bronson Xerri.

‘Can’t kick stones’: Xerri’s agent reveals next move after Gould meeting

The Bulldogs centre returned to training on Sunday after sitting down with Canterbury’s most influential figure.

  • Dan Walsh and Neil Breen