How Sydney can get the Magic Round, and trouble in Penrith
There’ll be Magic in Sydney soon, details of troubled Melbourne centre Curtis Scott’s fiery car park exchange with rugby union star Quade Cooper and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.
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SAINTS
THE 300-odd NRL players who have done 23 school and junior club visits of more than 10,000 kids while in Brisbane over the past 72 hours to promote rugby league.
SAINTS II
THE appointment of female touch judges Kasey Badger and Belinda Sharpe to the NRL’s full-time refereeing squad. This is long overdue recognition for two outstanding young officials.
SINNER
THE international cricketing schedule for next summer and the fact our national team will be in India on Australia Day 2020. What a disgraceful break from tradition. This is just another example of India having far too much influence on ICC scheduling.
SHOOSH
IT’S interesting the Broncos didn’t turn up to a major promotion in Brisbane for the 16 clubs because their major sponsor NRMA is a competitor of Youi, which promoted the event. We are hearing this season will be the last that NRMA is on the front of the Broncos jersey.
SHOOSH II
QUEENSLAND tourism is really turning it on for the visiting media. Two rugby league writers were transported from Brisbane Airport to their hotel in a $250,000 Maserati hire car.
SHOOSH II
NO prizes for guessing which long-time football general manager and which very high-profile old coach are in disagreement over signing James Roberts from the Brisbane Broncos.
SPOTTED
BOXING champ Jeff Fenech’s new $35,000 Hublot watch. Australia’s greatest fighter was one of 12 WBC all-time legends honoured by the Swiss watchmaker in Las Vegas last week at a Night of Champions gala dinner.
SPOTTED II
DEPARTING Sea Eagles chief executive Lyall Gorman seated next to Todd Greenberg in his farewell appearance as Manly boss at the NRL CEOs conference in Brisbane. We revealed last week Gorman was standing down, coinciding with the NRL finalising the Cronulla Sharks salary cap scandal investigation.
SPOTTED III
ONE bottle of Mount Franklin water at the SCG for the Swans-Bombers match selling for $5.50.
MR PERPETUAL MOTION WON’T SLOW DOWN
RAY Price wishes he’d played against barnstorming Cowboys forward Jason Taumalolo.
He says it doesn’t matter that he weighed 85kg compared with Taumalolo’s 117kg.
“No problem,” Price said. “I would have just Cumberland-thrown him.
“I used to find the bigger they were, the easier to tackle.”
Price couldn’t make it to Suncorp to watch the Eels because he had a prior commitment to attend a Parramatta Eels fan’s 50th birthday party.
Considering the punishment Price put his body through, it’s amazing the old warhorse is still a bus driver on the Gold Coast at 66 years of age.
It’s a time when many an old footballer is struggling with arthritis and other old injuries.
He says he can still work because he looked after himself as a player.
“I played hard but I always took care of myself,” he said.
“I always went straight home after a game to ice my injuries instead of getting out on the drink. That’s the reason I’m still getting around OK.”
Price was in Sydney for the opening of Bankwest Stadium on Easter Monday and was blown away by the respect and adulation from the fans.
“Honestly, I signed more autographs than when I was playing,” he said. “And the amount of selfies … kids that never even saw me play wanted a picture. It was a wonderful day.”
THERE’LL BE MAGIC IN SYDNEY TOO
THE “Harbour City” will get its turn at Magic Round to coincide with the opening of Allianz Stadium at Moore Park.
The magnificent 45,000-seater is expected to be completed by March, 2022.
Four games will be played at the new Allianz and four at Bankwest Stadium on the one weekend.
This is dependent on the state government and Destinations NSW paying to have the event in Sydney. Magic Round in Brisbane has brought $20 million in tourism money into Queensland, it’s been claimed.
Already other states are poised to bid for the event, including Western Australia.
The plan for the future is to stage magic rounds over three days, providing the NRL can get approval from broadcasters Fox Sports and Channel 9 to scrap the Thursday night game.
Two matches will be played on Friday, three on Saturday and three on Sunday.
WORLD COMES TO US
FANS have come from all parts of the globe to attend Magic Round, with tickets purchased in 10 countries — not including Australia and New Zealand.
There are fans here from Detroit and Portland in the United States.
More than 60 fans are from the UK and rugby league heartlands Bradford, Leeds, Hull and Wakefield.
Six fans have flown in from the Loire Valley in France. Another 70 are in town from Papua New Guinea.
The fans who have travelled the furthest in Australia come from Bluff Point in Western Australia.
Three Wests Tigers fans came from Thargomindah, about 1200km west of Brisbane, which is a 13-hour drive.
SPEEDY BY NATURE
FOX Sports’ Brenton Speed has the busiest weekend of any media commentator.
He called the first two games at Suncorp Stadium then drove to the Gold Coast on Saturday to call the Suns against Melbourne Demons.
Then a flight back to Sydney on Sunday morning to call Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory in the Big Blue at Kogarah Oval this evening. There is not a more versatile commentator in Australia.
CROSS-CODE CAR PARK RIVALRY
TROUBLED centre Curtis Scott was scheduled to make his reappearance for Melbourne in Brisbane on Saturday night after being banished to QLD Cup over personal issues that included a fiery exchange with rugby union star Quade Cooper.
The story goes Scott and Cooper had to be separated after they crossed paths in the car park of a training venue that Storm share with the Rebels.
We have had it confirmed there was a disagreement between the pair but there are conflicting versions about whether it actually got physical and teammates got involved.
Scott was in contention for Origin selection last year but has struggled in 2019 while Cooper has reinvented himself at the Rebels, who are top of the ladder in the Australian Super Rugby Conference.
ALL FROTH AND BUBBLE
IT’S been a crazy few days for Fox Sports madmen Bryan Fletcher and Nathan Hindmarsh, who have been living in a bubble outside Suncorp Stadium.
There is a rumour Fletch escaped on Friday night and Matty Johns found him in a local strip club. We will find out on the show on Sunday night.
In the early hours of Saturday morning some drunks walked past and egged the “tent” before security stepped in and chased them away.
HOP ON THE BUS, GUS
GUS Gould is in Brisbane for Magic Round but it didn’t stop him from travelling 700 kilometres to Scone on Saturday for a race meeting. The great man caught a helicopter there and back. It beats having to worry about the Panthers and their pathetic display against the Wests Tigers.
MOUNTAIN OF TROUBLE AHEAD
PENRITH Panthers are a club that in the past has avoided any boardroom bloodshed. This year’s board elections might be a different story.
We’re hearing of anger and frustration among Panthers members at the foot of the mountains around the roles of chairman Dave O’Neill and chief executive Brian Fletcher.
We told you recently of the millions of dollars wasted on termination payouts for the likes of Ivan Cleary, Anthony Griffin, Warren Wilson, Corey Payne and Phil Gould in recent years.
We also revealed the club lost $5.5 million last year. Throw in the poor performance of the football team and the fan fury is understandable.
We will be monitoring this one closely in the build-up to the elections later this year.
JACKO IS RAIDERS ROYALTY
THERE are so many great old players in Brisbane this weekend. We bumped into the Canberra Raiders’ 1989 grand final hero Steve Jackson. The 53-year-old is living in Mackay these days and runs a Lenard’s chicken franchise.
DOG TICKS
THERE is more drama to come at the Canterbury Bulldogs after the sacking of four key employees last week. We’re hearing board members also have their sights set on another senior staff member appointed by the former chairman Ray Dib.
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