NEWCASTLE are set to withdraw their offer to promising halfback Arana Taumata after he was axed yesterday by the Bulldogs. Taumata, 19, admitted to breaking the Bulldogs' code of conduct after he was involved in an off-field incident several weeks ago in which another man was allegedly left with a broken jaw. While no police charges were laid, the Dogs held their own inquiry, including the use of a private investigator, before coming to yesterday's decision. Taumata, who had already been sacked by Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters for off-field misbehaviour, was thrown a lifeline by the Bulldogs with a one-year contract that included a clause citing no second chances for misbehaviour. "It's always a difficult decision, particularly when someone like Arana is playing some good football on the field," Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg said. "But we gave him a one-year contract, his behaviour had to be exemplary. It hasn't been and we've terminated his contract." Negotiations with the Knights were well advanced even before Taumata's NRL debut in June but Newcastle officials indicated his sacking was likely to put paid to the move.

Release SBW: Toulon


Toulon rugby union club's millionaire owner Mourad Boudjellal has urged the Bulldogs to simply release Sonny Bill Williams from the remainder of his contract as he no longer wants to play league. In a revealing interview with ABC radio, Boudjellal said Williams now had his sights set on playing for the All Blacks, and suggested the Bulldogs should not stand in his way. "If Sonny Bill Williams wants to play rugby today, he no longer wants to play league," Boudjellal said. "I know he wishes to play rugby. I know he wishes to play at Toulon under Tana Umaga." Despite confirming that the club had been in discussions with Williams since June, he continued to deny the Kiwi superstar had yet signed with Toulon. Meanwhile, Boudjellal said Williams's contract with the club would be "for the equivalent conditions to what he's getting currently" - but players in France often receive significant payments from sponsors known as "image rights", which includes a tax-free component. In addition, France has a personal tax rate of 25 per cent but depending on an individuals circumstances - such as the number of dependants - that can be even lower and Sin Bin understands Williams would have to be paid more than $1.5 million a season in Australia to match his deal with Toulon.

Shark sighting


With Williams's departure and the axing of Taumata, the Bulldogs have some salary cap money to spend and the first beneficiary may be Sharks winger Bryson Goodwin, who was spotted at the club yesterday.

Raider's lost part


Star Raiders halfback Todd Carney was set to be included in the preliminary 46-man Australian World Cup squad to be named today until the off-field trouble that led to him being stood down by the club for the rest of the season. Canberra officials expect to learn today whether Carney has accepted a range of conditions set down last week for him to remain at the club including him sitting out the rest of the season, accepting an alcohol ban, undergoing counselling and doing volunteer work.

Thirsty for Thursto


Johnathan Thurston is set to return from injury for North Queensland against Gold Coast at Dairy Farmers Stadium on August 16. Cowboys coach Ian Millward said whispers that the Queensland and Australian halfback might return next week - or even this weekend - were off the mark, adding: "The Titans game is the one we're aiming at. Johnathan's progress has been fantastic. He's doing all his work. We haven't given up on winning games and getting off the bottom of the table and his return for the last four rounds will be a massive bonus."

Backing for quarters


The NRL has taken ideas from the NFL in the past and Manly chief executive Grant Mayer says it might be time to start taking them again. The four 15-minute quarters of NFL games, which provide valuable extra advertising time during live coverage that a game played in two halves obviously can't, is where the radical idea to cut league games into quarters or thirds has come from. "NFL games are a great entertainment package, with tremendous space for advertising," Mayer said. "Speak to people in the US and most of them will tell you that during the NFL season their Sundays are taken up by watching games." The independent review of the NRL that is being commissioned will consider this and other radical ideas over the next few months.

Have you heard?


You can generally gauge the seriousness of a situation or event by the swiftness of the jokes which come afterwards. They were pretty quick in the Sonny Bill Williams case. Coming from Bulldogs fans, however, most of them were a little defamatory. The cleanest one? How many SBWs does it take to change a light globe? None - SBW prefers to keep people in the dark.

Brad Walter, Greg Prichard and Glenn Jackson
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