Monday Buzz: Weekend highlights, lowlights
IMMORTAL’S call for rugby league’s greatest player, proof of what footy fans really want and more — check out the talking points from another memorable weekend in sport.
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CHECK out the highlights, lowlights and talking points from another memorable weekend in sport.
HIGHLIGHT
The full house at Penrith on Saturday night, magnificent western Sydney atmosphere and more proof that club footy at suburban grounds is what the fans really love and want.
MORE MONDAY BUZZ: Blues halves can dominate for years
LOWLIGHT
Sam Kasiano’s dog-shot late tackle from behind on Johnathan Thurston in the Storm — Cowboys match in Townsville on Friday night.
CEMENT BILL IN
Bob Fulton once famously said he’d like to run Bill Harrigan over the with a cement truck. He now says that the refereeing department at the NRL is so bad that Harrigan should be hired to fix it.
SPOTTED
Police commissioner Mick Fuller at Bondi Beach at 6am last week for the launch of the Beanie for Brain Cancer round in honour of Matty Callander. Matt’s wife Ann is a long-time police officer.
SPOTTED II
Panthers general manager and Channel 9 commentary guru Phil Gould back on Twitter.
KEOGH RETURN
Melbourne Storm’s power chairman and part-owner Bart Campbell still has a close relationship with former Cronulla Sharks chairman Damian Keogh. He has invited the Hoyts chief executive to Melbourne in August as his guest when Storm play the Sharks at AAMI Park in August.
SHOOSH
Which NRL chief executive takes his partner into the dressing sheds for the team song, much to the bewilderment of the players.
BOZO’S BEST
League immortal Bob Fulton has seen all the truly great players but on Saturday he told me Melbourne Storm skipper Cameron Smith is the best ever.
360 VIEW
Catch you on NRL 360 Monday night with Ben Ikin and Paul Kent to discuss the Origin team selections and another big round of NRL. Special guest in the studio is Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.
STORM DEAL TRUMPS BRONCOS’ BELLAMY BID
SUPERCOACH Craig Bellamy will take a substantial pay cut if he quits the Melbourne Storm to replace Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Bellamy’s current and soon-to-be-completed six-year contract with the Storm is worth a staggering $9 million — or $1.5 million a year.
The contract he signed in 2013 includes performance bonuses, a car, free petrol, overseas trips and domestic airfares.
The deal was done while News Corp still owned the Storm, knowing it would be a huge deterrent to potential buyers if Bellamy wasn’t in charge of the franchise.
The offer from the Broncos is $5.6 million over four years, or $1.4 million a year.
It was originally thought the Broncos offer would be greater than Melbourne’s because of their financial clout in a one-team, one-town, rugby league city.
The Storm will in fact turn over $52 million this year, almost $10 million more than the Broncos.
We first revealed last Sunday that Bennett was approaching his use-by date at the Broncos.
The club management was not happy about recent recruitment decisions, his poor handling of the Matt Lodge drama and that he was taking off for the Denver Test during a difficult season.
PARRAMATTA PLAN GURR ROLE CHANGE
THE performance of Parramatta chief executive Bernie Gurr has been the subject of much discussion at the Eels in recent months.
The board is now in the process of drawing up a strategic plan and Gurr’s role is expected to change.
There is a line of thinking that he spends far too much time with the football team while other NRL chief executives employ a head of football to look after the day-to-day operations.
Board members want Gurr to play a more big-picture, strategic role, to set up a new academy that is similar to Penrith, to fix the junior league pathways, to prepare for the move into the new Western Sydney Stadium and work on other longer-term projects.
BIG CROWD TIPPED FOR ORIGIN OPENER
THE NRL insists ticket sales to next Wednesday’s opening State of Origin game in Melbourne are going much better than we originally thought.
CEO Todd Greenberg told me yesterday that more than 80,000 fans were expected to be at the MCG.
We were originally told fewer than 20,000 general admission tickets had been sold.
Greenberg said the actual figure was closer to 50,000. Plus, plenty of cheap tickets are still available from $15 (restricted view). Bronze seats are also available from $50 and bronze family passes are available from $140.
The previous State of Origin game in Melbourne had an attendance of more than 91,000.
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Originally published as Monday Buzz: Weekend highlights, lowlights
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