Billy Walters eyes Brisbane Broncos move | Saint, Sinner, Shoosh
Will rugby league have another father-son combination? Check out all the latest NRL chatter and more in What’s the Buzz.
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The NRL could have another father-and-son combination in the NRL next year to match Ivan and Nathan Cleary at Penrith.
Wests Tigers star Billy Walters has raised the issue with club officials of returning home to Brisbane to play under his dad Kevin at the Broncos.
Coach Michael Maguire rates Walters highly and has already lost both Josh Reynolds and Benji Marshall for 2021.
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It would leave the club desperately short at five-eighth, although Adam Doueihi has been earmarked to start the season in the Tigers’ No.6 jersey.
This isn’t to say the Wests Tigers will stand in his way because of family reasons.
They will, however, want compensation – or a player swap – if the deal is to happen.
Walters is 26 and has played only 10 NRL games but is a late bloomer and a very good player.
Brisbane is well under the cap after losing Jack Bird, Joe Ofahengaue and David Fifita from last year’s squad, not that Walters would demand huge money.
Check out all the latest NRL chatter and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.
SAINT
Ex-English league player Kevin Sinfield ran seven marathons in seven days to raise £77,777 for his old Leeds teammate Rob Burrow, who is battling motor neurone disease. This extraordinary effort captured the hearts of footy fans across the UK. By the finish line a staggering £1.7 million — more than $3 million — had been pledged to this wonderful cause. The money will go towards finding a cure for MND and Rob’s family.
SINNER
The grub responsible for revealing the embarrassing old footage of Penrith Panthers and State of Origin star Kurt Capewell in a porn video. Seriously, there is not a more decent young man in rugby league. He made a big mistake as a 20-year-old.
SHOOSH
No wonder big Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Josh Papalii were so keen to sign up for an exhibition fight in Townsville in February. They will be paid $35,000 each for six minutes’ work — three two-minute rounds.
SPOTTED
Harvey Norman boss Katie Page at lunch with ex-NRL and soccer boss David Gallop at Woollahra’s Centennial Hotel on Monday.
SPOTTED II
Old league wild man Les Boyd at ringside for the Brock Jarvis fight in Canberra on Friday night, lapping up every punch. Boyd, 64, was suspended for 138 weeks during his career.
SPOTTED III
Sydney Roosters supremo Nick Politis with Sonny Bill Williams at the flash 6Head restaurant overlooking the Opera House on Wednesday. Sonny Bill is still using the Roosters’ gym to stay fit while he prepares for his next sporting assignment … more than likely a fight against big bad Barry Hall early next year.
SPOTTED IV
AFL superstars Dusty Martin and Buddy Franklin having dinner and drinks at Cafe Giorgio at Potts Point last week.
SPOTTED V
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart having lunch at Wayne Bennett’s favourite eatery, Grappa, at Leichhardt on Wednesday.
SPOTTED VI
The top 10 most searched sports on Google this year. For all the debate about State of Origin in November, it was still tops of all the Australian sports.
Google hit list:
1. NBA (basketball)
2. EPL (football)
3. State of Origin
4. ECL (football)
5. IPL (cricket)
6. French Open (tennis)
7. ATP Cup (tennis)
8. Bledisloe Cup (rugby)
9. Australian Open (tennis)
10. AFL scores
HAYNE PLANE MAY FLY OFF TO FRANCE
A rumour swept rugby league circles last week that former Eels star Jarryd Hayne had a potential deal lined up in French rugby union if he had beaten his sexual assault charges.
It has been denied by his long-time agent Wayne Beavis who said it was “nothing that I know of” when we phoned to check out the story.
Other sources say the speculation is 100 per cent on the money.
Hayne turns 33 in February and faces a retrial next year. Whether he could still make an impact at that age, if he is eventually found not guilty, remains to be seen. He has kept himself fit and trained hard while sidelined since his last game at Parramatta in 2018.
IT’S BIG BREKKY TIME
There was concern Sydney’s new sports radio station SEN would take listeners off the Big Sports Breakfast on Sky Sports Radio.
It has in fact had the opposite effect in the latest survey, with figures well up on the Monday to Friday and Sunday morning shows. SEN was not included in the survey.
The Sunday morning show is going gangbusters, up 250 per cent since my old mate Dean Ritchie replaced Jimmy Smith as Ray Thomas’ co-host.
AN ANZ WITHDRAWAL
As of Monday, ANZ Stadium will no longer be ANZ Stadium. The bank’s contract has expired and the venue will revert to its old name, Stadium Australia, from next week.
This could change next year once the naming-rights sponsorship has been put out into the market. The new stadium in Moore Park will retain the Allianz branding once it opens midway through 2022.
FANNING LANDLOCKED
Three-time world surfing champion Mick Fanning has started two weeks’ quarantine in Sydney after recently returning home from the US. He is locked down in the Liv apartments in Haymarket with an exercise bike as he recovers from recent knee surgery.
TOP GUNS IN HARD MAN’S CORNER
Paul Gallen will have world-class help in his corner on Wednesday night for the Mark Hunt super fight at Bankwest Stadium.
Highly regarded Graham Shaw, who trained world champion Daniel Geale, will be joined by former Australian champion Peter Mitrevski Jr. He is a close mate of Gallen’s and there is not a more knowledgeable person in the fight game.
Cuts man Brian Wilmot will be there too. He’s worked in the corners of Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding, Billy Dib and Geale.
“It’s so good to have all that knowledge behind you,” Gallen said. “They’ve all got their different bits of information. You take a little bit from each of them.
“They’re confident in my ability and that gives me confidence.”
HE’S MY GAL
Tim Tszyu’s mum Natasha is a huge Paul Gallen fan. She insisted on getting her picture taken with the big guy at a function on Thursday. South Sydney star Cody Walker also turned up to watch a Gallen sparring session.
FIGHT NIGHT OR FRIGHT NIGHT
Glen Jennings — the manager of Tim Tszyu — will have more than his dangerous opponent Bowyn Morgan to worry about at Bankwest Stadium on Wednesday night.
Jennings is also the managing director of the security company NES, which looks after Bankwest Stadium all year round.
Boxing events can be trickier than an NRL match considering the colourful types, many from interstate, that always show up for big combat sporting events. A crowd of 15,000 is expected — by far the biggest attendance for any boxing event in the world this year.
TOP TIGER
Wests Tigers are yet to decide on a skipper for next year. There would be a temptation to go with new buy James Tamou as he did such a fantastic job as captain of the Panthers. It looks a two-horse race between Tamou and Moses Mbye, who will start 2021 at fullback.
FITTER JOEY IMPRESSES MADGE
Wests Tigers centre Joey Leilua has stripped 8kg in the most encouraging sign that he is ready for a breakout 2021 season. He is down to 110kg thanks to a healthy diet and extra training.
Coach Michael Maguire couldn’t be happier.
“Joey’s been outstanding,” Maguire said. “He’s become a leader and is showing the way for our younger players.”
A fit Leilua, combined with the signing of explosive centre James Roberts from the Rabbitohs, should give Wests Tigers fans enormous hope for an improved 2021 season with so much attacking strike power in the outside backs.
WARRIORS LOVE
The Warriors have attracted the biggest bet with TAB for 2021, with one punter plonking $13,000 at $3.25 on them to make the Top 8 to win $42,250.
The Warriors are at $26 to win their first premiership.
The Titans are also expected to have a big year, with one punter parting with $2000 at $19 on them to win their maiden premiership. The Panthers remain slight favourites at $4.75.
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Originally published as Billy Walters eyes Brisbane Broncos move | Saint, Sinner, Shoosh
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