South Sydney planning for life after Greg Inglis, Josh Mansour on his Big Bash lookalike
South Sydney planning for life after Greg Inglis, Josh Mansour on his Big Bash lookalike and why Bryce Gibbs once sent Ricky Stuart an explicit pic of his man bits … WITH JAMES PHELPS.
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South Sydney planning for life after Greg Inglis, Josh Mansour on his Big Bash lookalike and why Bryce Gibbs sent Ricky Stuart an explicit pic of his man bits …
SAINT
Toby Price proved himself just as tough as any NRL player when he won the Dakar Rally with a broken wrist. Confirming himself as an Australian motorsport legend, Price defied crippling pain to win the world’s toughest race for the second time.
SINNER
The person leaking the NRL sex tapes. Seriously, some things can’t be unseen. Former Rooster Paul Carter was this week forced to deny he was the culprit. Another ex-Chook has also been blamed.
SHOOSH
Which married NRL staffer could be in strife for having an unprofessional relationship with a co-worker? An ugly rumour began doing the rounds this week. Stay tuned.
SHOOSH II
A Sydney-based NRL club may take the unprecedented step of making recruits sign “full disclosure’’ statements to avoid a Dylan Napa-style controversy. Under the plan a player could be fined or sanctioned should they be outed in a controversy not previously confessed too. The Bulldogs have wrongly worn the brunt for the lewd acts performed by Napa when he was a Rooster.
SPOTTED
Australia’s hardest hitter putting some punch into Penrith’s pre-season.
Fresh from his historic win at Madison Square Garden, boxing’s next big thing Bilal Akkawy made the trip down the M4 last week for a training session with the Panthers. Rated by Johnny Lewis as the hardest hitter he has seen, not too many mountain men were keen to get a taste of his power. Akkawy is hoping for world title shot sometime this year.
SPOTTED II
Rival promoters Khoder Nasser and Max Markson at Sydney Airport on Thursday morning. Two of Sydney’s most colourful characters, the two agents to the elite were awaiting the arrival of an even bigger character — UFC superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov.
SPOTTED III
Sydney Roosters NRL great and SuperCoach ambassador Anthony Minichiello in the back of a pink Barbie car ahead of Tuesday’s launch of the rugby league fantasy game on Tuesday.
SOUTHS PLAN FOR LIFE AFTER GI
MEET the next Greg Inglis.
Corey Allan is the reason South Sydney will not go to the market looking to recruit a multimillion-dollar replacement for the ageing NRL superstar.
Signed by Souths on a three-year bargain-basement deal, Allan was recruited from Brisbane last year as Inglis’s long-term successor.
Inglis on Friday announced he will retire from the NRL at the end of next season, in a move that will free up more than $1 million a year.
But don’t expect to see the Rabbitohs spend it on a backline successor for the Queensland great, with Allan the heir apparent.
Born and bred in Brisbane, Allan, 20, is considered a star in the making following stints with the Junior Kangaroos and Queensland under-20s State of Origin team.
And Souths are not alone when it comes to predicting that Allan will be a future force.
Australian coach Mal Meninga last year dropped a bombshell when he picked Allan to play for the Prime Minsiter’s XIII against PNG.
Allan created history by becoming the first-ever player to be picked in the side before even making his NRL debut.
The 186cm tryscorer is expected to challenge for an NRL spot this year after spending the last three seasons starring against men in the Queensland Cup.
Allan’s preferred position is fullback.
HOWZAT FOR MANSOUR LOOKALIKE?
PENRITH winger Josh Mansour’s phone went into meltdown last Sunday night when he appeared to make his Big Bash debut for the Sydney Thunder.
“I was on the couch and I started getting all these messages about the Big Bash,’’ Mansour said.
“I jumped on Instagram and it had gone crazy. Apparently ‘Josh Mansour’ was playing in the Big Bash.’’
Mansour went international on Sunday night when Sydney Thunder players were overheard calling new recruit Anton Devcich “Josh Mansour’’ during their match with the Adelaide Strikers.
“He is a pretty good-looking bloke, I must admit,’’ Mansour said of the Kiwi. “Easy on the eye.’’
The Panthers made the most of their star’s Big Bash fame.
“Cameron Ciraldo put footage of Devcich and the Big Bash game on the screen during our video session. All the boys had a good laugh. But don’t expect to see me padding up anytime soon. That is one sport I can’t play.’’
The cross-code lookalikes might soon be in the same room.
“I am told someone is already working on it,’’ Mansour said.
BRYCE SHOWS BALLS
WE weren’t surprised by Todd Carney’s revelation that Bryce Gibbs was the inventor of the “bubbler”, given the ex-NRL prop once sent a picture of his testicles to Ricky Stuart.
In one of league’s great untold yarns, the renowned funnyman sent the snap to Stuart after the then NSW Blues coach demanded toughness from his State of Origin players.
“You want tough,” Gibbs wrote. “Well, here is tough. Pick me.”
We couldn’t confirm talk that Gibbs allegedly drove a rusty nail through his man bits before sending the picture.
MORTIMER DROPS BY
BULLDOGS legend Steve Mortimer was delivered to the front door of his biggest fan as part of a “money can’t buy’’ experience that was the brain child of former Sydney Kings CEO Rod Harys.
Mortimer is one of 120 fan experiences being offered up by the former NBL club boss as part of his new business Fanplus.com.
The experiences include courtside seats to Kings matches, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Rabbitohs facility, a round of golf with Manly legend Steve Menzies or a personal call from a league great like Mortimer.
“It was so nice to have a beer and a chat and spend time with a diehard Bulldogs Fan,’’ Mortimer said after a fan purchased a visit from the website.
RESPECT
JASON Nightingale was touched by the support of his former NRL colleagues, with many swarming to his new cafe for opening week.
Dragons prop James Graham, Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook and Tigers half Benji Marshall were among the first to try the coffee at Nightingale’s Flow Cafe at Kogarah.
“It has been overwhelming,’’ the recently retired Nightingale said.
“And a few more will be turning up next week. I have Zac Lomax, James Segeyaro and Nat Butcher all coming to make coffee next week.’’
Nightingale almost missed a visit from his good mate Cook.
“I was running around Sydney looking for a leg of ham,’’ Nightingale said. “Thankfully he waited for me.’’
STATE OF CONFUSION
THE NRL’s State of Origin Sunday switch in Sydney has been confirmed as the head-scratching move of the year, with the most googled “why is’’ query of 2018 revealed to be “Why is State of Origin on a Sunday?”.
The scheduling change that saw Origin II moved from the traditional Wednesday night slot to Sunday shaded “Why is it called Good Friday?” as the biggest Google query of the year.
The Socceroos also got a start at No.5 during the World Cup. Yep, you asked it too: “Why isn’t Tim Cahill playing?”
BEALE AN IMAGE PROBLEM FOR TAHS
THE NSW Waratahs have clearly never learned that timing is everything in sport.
On Monday a video was leaked of Beale laughing while a man known as “The Chich” snorted cocaine.
A second video came out on Wednesday night of the Super Rugby star playing a vacuum cleaner as a didgeridoo while a suspicious-looking substance was passed around.
The Tahs then decided Thursday was the perfect time to send around the invites to their season launch to all the heavy-hitters in Sydney — with Beale the only Waratahs player featured in the promotional poster.
The Tahs had not discussed the dodgy videos with their star before sending out the invitation because he was in New Zealand for a sponsor’s event.
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Originally published as South Sydney planning for life after Greg Inglis, Josh Mansour on his Big Bash lookalike
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