NRL 2021: Covid chaos threatens Sydney Rooster Brad Abbey’s career | Saint, Sinner, Shoosh
Covid has now become a serious threat to a fledgling Rooster’s rugby league future — check out all the latest NRL chatter and more.
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Some footballers aren’t as fortunate as Paul Vaughan and Jai Arrow with their $800,000 NRL contracts.
In fact some right now have their professional careers under threat because of Covid.
Sydney Rooster Brad Abbey is part of the full-time 30-man squad, but is only on a $1000-a-week train and trial contract.
Right now Abbey is stuck in isolation, without family, through no fault of his own.
Abbey’s wife Makayla works as a swimming instructor at Bexley Aquatic Centre where there was a recent Covid case.
As a result the NRL’s Project Apollo ruled Brad couldn’t live with his wife and kids for 14 days.
He moved into a Meriton suite in Waterloo where guests in the apartment block held an illegal party. Seven people from the gathering have tested positive to Covid.
The entire hotel has been deemed an exposure site.
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So Brad is now stuck there without his family and his footy.
He has two beautiful little girls, Imani, 5, and Giannis, 2.
He has no gym equipment and can’t train in quarantine.
There’s nothing but his PlayStation to break up the long hours.
The bastard of a thing that is Covid has now become a serious threat to Abbey’s career.
It’s why the 24-year-old gets so frustrated seeing on the news St George Illawarra players partying at Vaughan’s home.
Abbey joined the Roosters so he could learn under James Tedesco after stints at the Bulldogs and Raiders.
He is off contract at the end of the season and needs to be playing to prove he is worthy of another deal. Yet the NSW Cup is on hold and he can’t play for the North Sydney Bears.
“It’s not ideal being here when you’re trying to stay fit,” he said.
“I’m living on Uber Eats or getting groceries delivered. Still, there are people worse off than me. I’ll get through it.”
All the latest NRL chatter and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.
SAINTS
The selection of swimmer Cate Campbell and proud Indigenous basketballer Patty Mills to carry the Aussie flags at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. What inspiring choices. Two great Aussie sporting ambassadors heading to their fourth Olympics.
SINNER
There is nothing worse than a sporting administrator being blindly oblivious to the concerns and anger of fans/customers. Wayne Pearce has been a member of the NRL’s independent commission for 10 years. He has also been in charge of the rules innovation committee for 18 months. New rules/crackdowns rushed in without proper analysis or testing have resulted in the worst blowouts in 86 years and driven old fans away from the game. To suggest rugby league is now a better spectacle than it used to be is absolute rubbish.
SHOOSH
Which ex-Manly star is complaining about the Sea Eagles breaking the club’s all-time biggest win with a 66-0 victory over the Bulldogs last week, eclipsing the 1973 team’s 70-7 away win over Penrith in the days of three-point tries. Manly that day scored 14 tries and Graham ‘Wombat’ Eadie kicked 14 goals. It would have been 84-8 under today’s four-point try system and remained a record.
SHOOSH II
Which NRL star is blowing up about his salary after discovering that five teammates were earning more money while flicking through the NRL 100 Rich List in this newspaper last weekend?
SHOOSH III
It is interesting Leeds put out a press statement last weekend after we revealed it had approached Anthony Seibold to become head coach. Leeds claims incumbent coach Richard Agar has extended for 12 months. This is weird because his manager in Australia is still trying to get him a visa to work for Cronulla under Craig Fitzgibbon.
SPOTTED
A flashback photo from 30 years ago lobbed on social media. Meet Paul Kent and Paul Crawley as rookies at Ourimbah Magpies on the Central Coast, long before they became a couple of cranky old sports journos.
SPOTTED II
Souths boss Blake Solly swimming at Little Bay at 7am on Wednesday (air temperature 6C) — his daily ritual over the entire winter.
SPOTTED III
Jason Saab has been tagged the NRL’s fastest man, even faster than Josh Addo-Carr. The 20-year-old winger might have electrifying speed but he’s not the quickest at Manly. Keep an eye out for Tolu Koula — a rookie fullback or centre likened to Brett Stewart. He beats Saab at sprint training.
TWO SIDES TO MAGUIRE FIRE
For a man with such a tough and aggressive exterior, there is a softer and more emotional side to Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire that we’re about to see.
A new documentary on Fox Sports shows he’s not all about kicking over dressing room chairs and roasting his players after frustrating losses.
You’ll get to see it from Monday, July 19, when Fox League launches Wild Wests – Tales from Tiger Town in a four-part documentary. It’s interesting because Maguire’s sometimes explosive antics and reputation as a tough, over-the-top taskmaster are often seen as a reason why the Wests Tigers struggle to snare big-name players.
Viewers will get never-before-seen, raw and unfiltered access to the highs and lows of a season that has challenged players, staff, and fans both on and off the field.
All up, Fox League did more than 500 hours of filming.
In the first episode, Maguire is seen almost breaking down in the dressing sheds after a 36-22 loss to the Parramatta Eels.
“I just want to say what you guys are building is right,” Maguire says.
“You had that team on the f…ing rack, ready to be beaten. And they’re a top-four team.
“We’re all hurting, I understand that.
“But what you’ve got to understand here is that … (long pause)
“I keep going back to … (long pause) f…ing hell, you’ve got me, you blokes.
“I just saw the effort out there is what we’re about as a team. You keep putting that effort in and we’ll grow this team
“I’m a little bit emotional here because of the f…ing effort we’re putting is right and I want you to f…ing believe that.”
RADLEY’S INTEGRITY UNIT REPRIEVE
Roosters star Victor Radley has escaped Integrity Unit punishment despite being thrown off a Gold Coast to Sydney flight last month.
An investigation found that Radley was in a rowdy group who had been drinking all day, but that he was not the main perpetrator.
The Integrity Unit checked with airline security and received two emails from passengers indicating another person in his party behaved like an idiot and caused the entire group to be removed from the plane before takeoff.
Radley received an official warning letter from NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo but no suspension or fine. He was slammed by his coach Trent Robinson after the incident.
“It is really frustrating,” Robinson said.
“Act like a man in public and behave yourself, it is pretty simple. It is not that difficult. Like how hard is it to get on a flight and get home?”
The Roosters enforcer makes his comeback from a high-tackle suspension against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday night.
DUGAN FACES EXTRA FINE
Josh Dugan hasn’t heard the last of his Covid dramas. Dugan has appealed his $25,000 fine from the NRL but the Sharks are conducting their own internal review and are likely to take further action.
The 31-year-old veteran has been asked to appear before the club’s disciplinary committee via a Zoom hook-up this week.
Like St George-Illawarra Dragons forward Paul Vaughan, Dugan has a long history of behaviour issues at the Sharks before he was caught breaking the NRL bubble and attending a Potts Point restaurant with friends.
CLUBS IN STATE OF ANGER
There is growing resentment among NSW-based NRL clubs against the stringent restrictions other state governments continue to impose on clubs in order to gain border exemptions so teams can fly in and out of Queensland, Victoria and the ACT to continue the competition.
There is a strong feeling that the five non-NSW-based clubs should be forced to relocate into NSW until the end of the season so protocols can be relaxed without having to pander to unpredictable state and territory governments that continue to open and close their borders like a revolving door.
Moving five clubs into NSW is far cheaper than moving 13 into Queensland.
PRESSURE ON HOCKEY HIERARCHY
There is huge pressure building on NSW Hockey administrators, CEO David Thompson and elite pathways manager Richard Willis following allegations of bullying and misbehaviour at the recent Australian titles with the U18’s girls team.
We have been contacted by former Kookaburras Olympic captain Warren Birmingham who talks of a ‘cancerous culture’ in high performance programs. A Hall of Famer, Birmingham left NSW Hockey for this reason in 2018. The board of NSW Hockey is now conducting a full investigation into the recent Australian titles.
GEE, HE’S A REF ON THE RISE
Young gun referee Adam Gee is said to have leapfrogged some of his high-profile colleagues and is in line for some big finals games this season. He’s now a permanent fixture on prime time Thursday and Friday night games. It’s an interesting time for veterans Matt ‘Chicken Legs’ Cecchin and Ben Cummins, who may retire at the end of the season.
RAIDER RELEASED FROM BUBBLE
The career of Canberra Raiders centre Curtis Scott remains in limbo. The NRL integrity unit continues to investigate his nightclub incident more than a month ago when the 23-year-old was stood down for being in an altercation with another man.
The NRL says Scott is still free to play while they investigate. The Raiders, however, have released him from their biosecurity bubble. Scott has moved back to Sydney while his manager and lawyers wait for a decision.
FIRE GONE FROM GREAT RIVALRY?
Whatever happened to the fierce rivalry between Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla Sharks?
Sharks centre Will Chambers is doing a 14-day isolation in Melbourne and staying with his family.
The 33-year-old centre needs to keep himself fit. So he rang his old mates at Melbourne Storm with a special request … to borrow some gym equipment.
Not a problem. Storm’s high performance staff even organised for the weights to be delivered to where he was staying.
This says so much about Melbourne Storm and the respect they have for their former players.
It also says a lot about Chambers and his professionalism. It’s why he is such a great asset to the Sharks.
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