Former Storm forward Ryan Hoffman has ripped into his former NSW Origin teammate Aaron Woods, branding him a “coward” for his attack on Maroons coach Billy Slater.

Woods made headlines two weeks ago when he labelled Slater a grub on Sydney radio, pointing to the fact he kicked the then Wests Tigers’ prop John Skandalis in a game in 2006.

In his reply, Slater referenced his predecessor as Maroons coach, Paul Green, who took his own life in 2022, one year after coaching the Maroons in the 2021 series to say that some people cannot handle public criticism and that Woods should be mindful of that when making such statements.

A post-mortem found the North Queensland premiership-winning coach had been living with a “severe” and undiagnosed case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Last Wednesday, Slater apologised for the Green reference, saying he had spoken to the former Maroons coach’s widow Amanda.

Maroons coach Billy Slater. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Hoffman said Slater’s intentions were in the right spot but lashed Woods for being a coward behind his radio microphone.

“Bill wrongly made the point about linking it to Paul Green,’ Hoffman said on ABC”s Offsiders. ‘But the point he was trying to make was perfect.

“Just throwing out those comments, you don’t know what people have got going on in their lives – you don’t know the effect that that can have. In the end, all you’re doing is allowing other people to say those comments in the name of banter.

“But where do you draw the line? Is calling someone a grub where you would draw the line?

“Is calling someone worse, is it making sexist, racist comments to people allowed because it’s in the name of banter? Just throwing those ridiculous comments out just gives more people avenues to say what they want to who they want without any repercussions.

“Aaron Woods was a coward for standing behind a microphone and throwing that out there. Billy Slater showed courage going out there on a microphone and talking about responsibility.

“He made a mistake and apologised to the Green family but he fronted up in front of the camera, in front of the microphone, every single time.”

Turbo to cente but not for long

Manly plan to use Tom Trbojevic’s centre shift as a short-term booster, with CEO Tony Mestrov revealing the Sea Eagles intend to move him back to fullback.

Trbojevic trained at right centre for Manly on Monday morning, as part of a new-look backline that features Lehi Hopoate in the fullback role.

Under pressure after two poor losses, coach Anthony Seibold has dropped Jason Saab and will move Reuben Garrick out to the right wing against Wests Tigers on Friday.

Trbojevic conceded at a Manly Fast Ferry partnership announcement that his form had been down this year, with Hopoate impressing at No.1 while he was out injured.

But Mestrov also said that the intention was for the 2021 Dally M Medallist to return to fullback, where he is one of the NRL’s most dangerous players when fit.

“We’re just trying to get some hands on the ball for Tom and change it up a bit,” Mestrov told AAP.

“The idea is we just want him to regain his confidence and start playing again.

Tom Trbojevic makes a break. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“There is no doubt he is one of the best fullbacks in the world and we will see him go back there. 

“They say a change is as a good as a holiday. I think it’s just to enact him, everyone knows what he can do.

“I’m pretty excited to see what he can do (at centre) … We’ve seen what he has done for Australia and NSW and what he can do. He will have the same roaming role.”

Trbojevic said in the pre-season he had given no thought to moving out of the No.1 jersey, having finished 2024 on a high.

The 28-year-old said it had also not been on his mind in recent weeks before this week’s move, after a year in which he has battled niggling injuries. 

“It (the move) wasn’t really on my mind, but the way that Lehi has been playing (made it easier) and I haven’t been playing my best footy,” Trbojevic said.

“I had a lot of input from the coaches, but we’ve got someone like Lehi there who’s very good at fullback.

“I’m not unfamiliar with playing centre, I’ve done it before.” added Trbojevic. “It’ll be a different challenge for me and one I’m excited for.

“I just love playing footy, and playing centre is something else on a footy field and it’s no different to me. I just have to go out there and give it a go.”

Trbojevic’s move comes after Seibold held seven-minute meetings with all players last week, highlighting areas they needed to improve.

Manly have a crucial fortnight ahead with home games against Wests Tigers and South Sydney after back-to-back losses to Newcastle and Gold Coast before a bye.

Trbojevic’s contract has also been a point of discussion, with the representative star reaffirming his stance on Monday that he never wants to play against Manly.

The local junior is off contract at the end of next year, with Manly keen to extend him before he would be able to be approached by other clubs on November 1.

Trbojevic has scored two hat-tricks when playing right centre for NSW, but has only played there once for Manly since 2017, on return from injury last year.

“It’s a different look, a different way to play footy and a different challenge,” Trbojevic said.

“There’s more of a defensive aspect to it in the front line, but you can make it your own world as well.

“You can play differently, and that’s what I enjoy about it.”

Payten to swing axe at Cowboys

Todd Payten has warned he could swing the axe after admitting North Queensland were bullied by the Sydney Roosters as they fell to a second straight thrashing.

Payten described the Cowboys’ 42-8 loss as looking like boys against men at times, as his team conceding four tries in the space of 10 minutes in the second half.

Halfback Tom Dearden also conceded he was “horrible”, backing up four days after winning his first State of Origin game wearing the Queensland No.7 jersey.

Semi-finalists last year, the Cowboys are now in an almighty rut.

Payten’s men have won just one match since Magic Round, dropping five and drawing one to Penrith.

They have let in an average of 36 points a game through that period, including 100 points alone in the past fortnight to the Dolphins and Cowboys.

Questions also remain around the halves pairing of Dearden and Jaxon Purdue, with the latter moved from centre to five-eighth a month ago.

But their biggest issue has been a woeful completion rate through that period, with Payten labelling them the NRL’s worst team for errors out of their own end.

Adding to that is the fact the Cowboys have completed at above 75 per cent just twice in their past seven games.

Asked after the loss to the Roosters whether changes were possible, Payten indicated it was on his mind.

“We’ll be considering it, definitely, off the back of the past few weeks,” he said.

“We’ll have a look at what is underneath and then reassess and get to work.”

Payten also refused to use the Origin period as an excuse, with the Cowboys having four players coming in and out of camp in the past month.

“It’s not an excuse, far from it,” Payten said. “Not a contributing factor one little bit. 

“You look at some other teams across the competition (who) have handled it perfectly and we have done so in the past. So it’s irrelevant. It’s disappointing, and far from good enough.

Cowboys coach Todd Payten. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

“We got bullied, it was men against boys there for a little bit and that’s concerning.”

Payten’s threat came as Dearden also made a scathing assessment of his own performance, which included conceding an intercept pass for a Mark Nawaqanitawase try.

The Cowboys had balls hitting the ground in attack, while Dearden was responsible for five missed tackles.

“The body felt good, I was ready to go,” Dearden said of backing up from Origin. 

“I’m really disappointed in my performance. I thought I was horrible tonight.”

Ryles keeps lid on Iongi hype

Isaiah Iongi is a strong chance of winning the NRL rookie of the year award after he continued his exceptional debut season in Parramatta’s 36-20 triumph over Gold Coast on Sunday night.

The 21-year-old Queenslander has played all 14 games for the Eels, rewarding the faith that new coach Jason Ryles has put in him with a series of strong performances.

Iongi tallied three try assists, a line break, four tackle busts and 178 metres from 21 runs against the Titans.

He put Sean Russell in for his side’s first try with a mammoth cut-out pass down the left side, and had a hand in another when AJ Brimson fumbled his bomb into the arms of Charlie Guymer.