Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Brad ‘Freddy’ Fittler tattoo is one of the best pieces of NRL ink
An Anglican Church minister and die hard Roosters fan may own the greatest NRL tattoo. Plus Te Maire Martin’s incredible return. Check out all the latest NRL chatter and much more.
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Most Anglican Church ministers aren’t into tattoos.
Unless you’re an old Sydney Roosters fan and idolise Brad ‘Freddy’ Fittler.
Thomas Lowther, 31, has been following the Roosters for 20 years.
He fell in love with them the day a bloodied Freddy led the Chooks to victory over the NZ Warriors in the 2002 grand final after the skipper had been floored in a brutal head-first tackle by Richard Villasanti.
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That photo from after the game with his head heavily strapped is now tattooed on the minister’s right calf. It cost him almost $3000 and 15 hours with a tattoo artist.
The job was completed last weekend when they met and Freddy agreed to sign the back of his leg. A tattoo artist will now trace it on to his calf.
“Can I give a plug to Graeme at GM tattoos in Dalby?,” the minister asked. “It got a bit painful but he did a great job. I actually thought it was a prank when someone told me Freddy would sign it ... and then he actually turned up.”
Minister Lowther says the photo of Freddy displays everything he loves about the club.
“It was the moment as much as the man,” he said. “That was the cementing factor for me becoming a Roosters fan. I was only 12 when I watched that game.
“The photo summed up the courage from the grand final and was the turning point for the Roosters becoming the great club they are today.”
NRL star’s miracle return from brain injury
Brisbane Broncos have signed five-eighth Te Maire Martin, the player who quit rugby league two years ago because of bleeding on his brain and the risk he could die.
In a stunning comeback story, the Broncos have agreed to put the former Panthers and Cowboys star on a $60,000 development contract, subject to a final medical clearance.
All things going well, he could become the bargain-priced replacement for the million-dollar man Anthony Milford at five-eighth outside of Adam Reynolds.
The 26-year-old Kiwi took a heavy knock in a match against Melbourne Storm in 2019 and went for brain scans after complaining to doctors that “it feels like someone is squeezing my head”.
The scans revealed the bleeding on his brain.
“The doctor said if it happens again it could be ... worst case, I could die, or even not function properly,” Martin said at the time.
Although these quotes have now been disputed by his manager.
This is the footy player who was once ranked among the most talented rookies in the game.
On a big-money deal at the Panthers before moving to Townsville and playing in the 2017 grand final side against Melbourne Storm at five-eighth.
Martin’s agent Andrew Purcell is confident the final medical clearance will be granted.
“When he retired there was a headline ‘if I play again I could die’ and that wasn’t factually correct,” Purcell told The Sunday Telegraph.
“No brain expert ever said that. Te Maire was coming off contract and was advised to have a spell. Then he retired for two years and started playing a bit of footy with his brothers in New Zealand.
“He felt OK and started playing country footy then rang me up and said he was keen again. He’s had multiple tests and all the scans came back with the green light.
“He feels like he can start fresh and he’s grateful the Broncos have opened the door.”
As a Broncos development player, Martin will train with the NRL squad but begin the season playing for Wynnum Manly in the Intrust Super Cup.
Martin is still in New Zealand and waiting for his Covid clearance to travel to Australia.
All the latest NRL chatter and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.
SAINTS
The sporting world lost a couple of old media legends last week with the passing of Chris Kearns and Brian Surtees — two absolute gentlemen who had wonderful careers in radio. Surtees was a chief rugby league caller for the Macquarie network in the ‘70s and later did around-the-grounds on Ray Hadley’s Continuous Call team. He also wrote columns on south coast sport in this newspaper for many years. Kearns worked at 2SM, 2UW, 2UE, 2GB, 2CH and Sky Racing as a presenter and panel operator, renowned as the best in the business.
SINNER
A terrible conflict of interests with Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga getting permission to be involved with the Queensland Maroons Origin team in a World Cup year, potentially sparking an ugly situation around Australian team selections.
SHOOSH
The Dolphins have struck a gentleman’s agreement with the NZ Warriors after pinching their recruitment guru Peter O’Sullivan to help Wayne Bennett set up the new franchise in Redcliffe. O’Sullivan has all the inside knowledge on the Warriors salary cap but has agreed not to chase any of their players while still under contract.
SHOOSH
The Penrith Panthers have picked up a handy buy in young half Sean O’Sullivan to cover for Nathan Cleary during Origin. It was a surprise because most thought he was a done deal at Canberra under Ricky Stuart.
SPOTTED
The Gus Gould-owned favourite, Wheelhouse, getting knocked off by a $31 chance Blue Soldier in a desperately tight photo finish at Hawkesbury on Thursday.
SPOTTED
Talk about a tongue-twisting race caller’s nightmare … a nag called Sumomomomomomomomo won a maiden in Tokyo last week, paying $16 on the NSW TAB.
SPOTTED
NRL stars and old school buddies Mitchell Pearce and Kieran Foran having a beer and a laugh on Melbourne Cup day.
SPOTTED
Ray Hadley demolishing a plate of spring rolls and dumplings at the very flash Mr Wong restaurant with wife Sophie on Thursday.
SPOTTED
Dragons forward Jack De Belin and veteran agent Steve Gillis having lunch at the Orient Hotel in the Rocks on Friday.
SPOTTED
Phil Gould has hired one of his favourite employees from the Penrith Panthers — Diane Langmack OAM — as Canterbury Bulldogs’ general manager of stakeholder engagement and work alongside sponsors and corporate partners.
TALKING ABOUT THE BRONCOS KEVOLUTION
The days of NRL coaches getting multimillion-dollar long-term contracts may be over — unless you’re a Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy or Trent Robinson.
This follows the Broncos’ move — in an NRL first — to offer Kevvie Walters an employment agreement rather than a contract with a set time frame. Walters would become like any other employee at the Broncos with annual performance reviews and having to meet certain KPIs. He could go at any time ... or he could stay for 10 years.
It’s hardly the job security Kevvie and his manager Chris Orr were hoping for in talks with Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy. But the club is determined to ensure it won’t have a tumultuous repeat of the bitter departures of previous coaches Bennett and Anthony Seibold — and more importantly the million-dollar payouts.
Other clubs should be looking at this sort of arrangement to save termination costs. Tens of millions of dollars have been lost to the game in coaching payouts over the last decade or so.
Bennett, Bellamy and Robinson are a different story. They deserve the security of long term deals ... but the rest don’t.
WORSHIPPING THE GREAT FREDDY
Most Anglican Church ministers aren’t into tattoos.
Unless you’re an old Sydney Roosters fan and idolise Brad ‘Freddy’ Fittler.
Thomas Lowther, 31, has been following the Roosters for 20 years.
He fell in love with them the day a bloodied Freddy led the Chooks to victory over the NZ Warriors in the 2002 grand final after the skipper had been floored in a brutal head-first tackle by Richard Villasanti.
That photo from after the game with his head heavily strapped is now tattooed on the minister’s right calf. It cost him almost $3000 and 15 hours with a tattoo artist.
The job was completed last weekend when they met and Freddy agreed to sign the back of his leg. A tattoo artist will now trace it on to his calf.
“Can I give a plug to Graeme at GM tattoos in Dalby?,” the minister asked. “It got a bit painful but he did a great job. I actually thought it was a prank when someone told me Freddy would sign it ... and then he actually turned up.”
Minister Lowther says the photo of Freddy displays everything he loves about the club.
“It was the moment as much as the man,” he said. “That was the cementing factor for me becoming a Roosters fan. I was only 12 when I watched that game.
“The photo summed up the courage from the grand final and was the turning point for the Roosters becoming the great club they are today.”
REYNOLDS LEADS THE WAY
The Brisbane Broncos signed Rabbitohs legend Adam Reynolds to lead a culture change at the club … and you can already see why. The 31-year-old half-back is not due to start at the Broncos until mid-December but he turned up last Thursday and Friday to use the club’s facilities to work on his fitness.
LEGEND’S REMARKABLE RECOVERY
The best story in sport this week is the remarkable recovery from Covid of boxing legend Hussy Hussein. The little warrior had been in intensive care at Westmead on life support in an induced coma for weeks with collapsed lungs.
This is a normally fit and healthy 46-year-old. He was discharged from hospital on Wednesday and is back home with his family.
GARSIDE’S TOUGH CHALLENGE
Olympian Harry Garside will make his professional boxing debut on Paul Gallen’s undercard in Newcastle on December 10. And his first bout is hardly a gimme.
Trained by boxing legend Johnny Lewis, Garside will fight Australasian champion Sachin Mudaliar, who has an impressive record of eight wins from nine fights.
It will be a tough debut on the card that is headlined by old warhorse Gallen against Many Sea Eagles forward Josh Aloiai over eight rounds of two minutes.
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