Sport Confidential: Rugby league legend John Sattler’s dying wish
In his final years, South Sydney Rabbitohs legend John Sattler asked his son Scott to uphold one promise.
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The rugby league world was plunged into mourning following the death of South Sydney legend John Sattler on Monday.
Sattler passed away aged 80 after a long battle with dementia and in his final years, he asked his son Scott to uphold one promise.
“One of his wishes was to be buried one day in his Rabbitohs tie,” Scott Sattler said.
“I’ve never cried so much in my life as I have in the last few days, but now it’s time to also remember some of his great memories.”
Sattler’s funeral will be held on Friday, March 31 from 11am at Sacred Heart Church, Clear Island Waters on the Gold Coast.
THE BRONCO WHO CHEERED KAUFUSI BAN
Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam should breathe a sigh of relief after Dolphins hit-man Felise Kaufusi was rubbed out of Friday night’s derby.
Kaufusi had set his sights on shutting down the electric Mam with the stinging defence that has made him the 2023 NRL season’s hit-man.
In an interview with Sport Confidential before last Friday’s win against Newcastle, Kaufusi said he would be targeting Mam in the derby.
As fate had it, Kaufusi got a tackle on Knights halfback Jackson Hastings wrong and is now suspended for four weeks following a failed trip to the judiciary.
“He is very impressive, I like what I see in him,” Kaufusi said of Mam before he was suspended.
“He’s only going to get better and is definitely one to watch. I will have my hands full up against him.
“It’s up to him (if he wants to run at me). If he takes that extra step and goes a bit too far he might find out.”
Kaufusi is gutted to be missing the derby.
He was set to confront Maroons teammate Kurt Capewell, who he has another rivalry going with.
“I just signed up at Nudgee (Golf Club) and I know he’s a member there,” Kaufusi said.
“I’ve been getting into him saying ‘Nudgee is the home of the Dolphins’.
“We may have to put something on the game and see whose home it really is.
“I’ve got plenty of mates on that team and would love to have bragging rights.”
Kaufusi will be hoping his teammates can get the job done.
NEWCASTLE’S CAP-CRUSHING $1.6M PONGA HEADACHE
It is the $1.6 million salary cap ‘Knightmare’ as Queensland Origin star Kalyn Ponga fights to save his NRL career at Newcastle.
Sport Confidential can reveal the head-spinning salary that stands to make Ponga the highest-paid player in NRL history if he can overcome his concussion concerns to continue a long-term career at the Knights.
Ponga has not been named for Sunday’s clash with Canberra after suffering a head knock against the Wests Tigers in Round 2. It was his fourth concussion in 10 months.
Given the number of head trauma injuries, the Knights are understandably taking every precaution with Ponga and will not rush his return until every medical avenue is exhausted.
There is another reason why the Knights are taking no risks.
They have invested heavily in Ponga like few clubs have in an individual in NRL history. He is viewed as the centrepiece around which Newcastle are hoping to construct another premiership dynasty and ‘KP’ is being paid accordingly.
If Ponga can make it back on the field – and stay there consistently for the coming seasons – he will supplant Nathan Cleary, James Tedesco, Ben Hunt, Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic as rugby league’s No.1 salary earner.
When Ponga was off-contract last year, the Knights were terrified of losing him to cashed-up suitors such as the Dolphins. They ultimately won the bidding war – Ponga inked a five-year extension – but it didn’t come cheaply.
It is understood the Maroons maestro’s salary rises to $1.5 million in 2025 and reaches $1.6m by the final year of his deal in 2027.
That figure is extraordinary when you consider Cleary, widely considered the code’s No.1 player and halfback, is on $1.3 million and has taken a pay cut in the following seasons to keep the bulk of Penrith’s premiership squad together.
While Ponga’s deal takes up a major slice of Newcastle’s salary cap, the Knights have some protection if they faced the worst-case scenario of the 24-year-old being medically retired at any stage of his five-year contract.
Under NRL rules, payouts to medically-retired players are salary cap exempt. There is no suggestion Newcastle are entertaining that prospect, but every game Ponga is sidelined is coming at a huge cost for the depleted Knights.
Queensland Origin legend Corey Parker hopes Ponga can enjoy a long career as Newcastle’s franchise player.
“Part of the fine print when you sign a $1.3 million or $1.5m deal is you have to perform and if you don’t perform, you will come under a fair bit of scrutiny,” Parker said.
“Kalyn is on a huge deal, but he can’t perform if he doesn’t get his head right.
“I really hope he is not forced out of the game due to his head knocks.
“It’s really exciting when Kalyn is playing at his best.
“I hope he gets the medical help he needs and he is back playing soon.”
DOLPHINS COACH PACKS A PUNCH
Wayne Bennett’s right-hand man at the Dolphins, Kristian Woolf, certainly packs a punch.
On the eve of the Dolphins-Broncos blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium, Sport Confidential has unearthed the fascinating tale of how Woolf used to moonlight as a boxer with fight name ‘Afro Savage’.
Woolf, now 47, used to fight as the original Afro Savage in the famous Fred Brophy boxing troupes around far north Queensland in his late teens and early 20s.
He would collect $100 a bout to help pay the bills while studying to become a schoolteacher. Now he’s the successor to Bennett at the Dolphins and the long-serving coach of the Tonga national team which famously made the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup.
The Brophy boxing troupe would set up rings in Queensland country areas such as Roma, Birdsville and Mt Isa, where Woolf was born.
Woolf, ever humble, plays down his pugilistic skills but Dragons coach Anthony Griffin, who employed him at the Broncos a decade ago, warned Dolphins stars he is not a man to be messed with.
“He can go in the ring,” Griffin told News Corp.
“I have seen him fight. Ask him about Afro Savage and see if he laughs.”
Bennett is adamant Woolf will succeed as an NRL head coach after his successful stint at St Helens and he has certainly been doing the hard yards as Bennett’s right hand man.
Woolf accompanied Dolphins forward Felise Kaufusi to the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night and then spoke at The Courier Mail’s Battle Lunch on Wednesday in Bennett’s absence.
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CARRIGAN LOCKED IN
Broncos lock Pat Carrigan created his own piece of NRL history by inking a monster $4 million five-year contract extension.
Carrigan is now the only player in the entire NRL to be locked into a contract for the 2028 season.
In committing to the Broncos for the next six seasons, Carrigan has become the most secure player in the competition.
Canberra prop Joe Tapine is the only other player to have the 2028 season written into his contract.
However that season is a player option in his contract, meaning it’s not set in stone.
Parramatta’s Dylan Brown signed a strange nine-year extension until 2031, however it’s only locked away until 2025 and includes player options for every year after.
There are a host of players signed until the end of 2027 like Canterbury’s Matt Burton and Stephen Crichton, Melbourne’s Cameron Munster and Jack Howarth and North Queensland’s Jason Taumalolo, Jeremiah Nanai and Scott Drinkwater.
Broncos prop Tom Flegler has also secured his future until 2027 by joining the Dolphins.
But Carrigan sits at the front of the pack when it comes to long-term job security.
TITANS CONSIDER NSW MOVE
The Gold Coast Titans are pushing to launch their own reserve grade team next year and have even considered a move to NSW.
The Titans currently have a feeder arrangement with the Burleigh Bears and Tweed Heads Seagulls which sees them send players back to the Hostplus Cup each week.
But they are desperate to take control of their fringe and developing players by fielding their own reserves side by 2024 or 2025.
The most likely scenario will see them enter a Titans-branded team into the Hostplus Cup – Queensland’s top competition.
But the Titans have also talked about entering the NSW Cup if they can’t strike a deal to keep the team in Queensland.
If they do get a reserve team off the ground, it means they will no longer provide the Bears and Seagulls with players.
The Cowboys are also weighing up the structure of their feeder system.
In an ideal world, the Cowboys would field their own team in the Hostplus Cup, but the QRL has concerns about what that would do to the Northern Pride, Townsville Blackhawks and Mackay Cutters.
There is plenty happening in the background and Queensland’s top league could look vastly different in the coming years.
What has become clear is the NRL’s motted national reserve grade won’t get off the ground
DOLPHINS FLIPPIN’ AMBUSH
The Battle of Brisbane is well and truly on.
This image shows the Broncos and Dolphins are waging a war for the hearts and minds of Brisbane league fans ahead of Friday night’s historic derby blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium.
The Lord Alfred Hotel on Caxton Street has a large red banner saying: “Home of the Dolphins supporters.”
Just a few metres away was a Broncos advertisement featuring star fullback Reece Walsh atop a slogan declaring: “Together we are unbreakable.”
It was no doubt a tactic by the Dolphins to steal the Broncos’ thunder, setting the scene for a mini-Origin battle when 50,000 fans flock to a sold-out Suncorp for the inaugural derby clash.
“Can you imagine if the Dolphins score the winning try in the 79th minute,” Broncos legend Corey Parker said. “I can’t recall 50,000 fans going to Suncorp for a round 4 game. It’s remarkable.”
AFL’S STATE OF DELUSION
ARL Commissioner Peter Beattie has taken aim at AFL boss Gillon McLachlan’s claim that Australian Rules is about to dethrone rugby league as Queensland’s No.1 sport.
Speaking at the AFL’s season launch, McLachlan was clearly so excited about the 2023 campaign he plunged into a state of delusion over Aussie Rules’ popularity in Queensland.
McLachlan believes rugby league is 12 to 24 months away from being overtaken by AFL in the Sunshine State.
“We are seeing those (participation) numbers lifting above pre-Covid levels,” he said.
“Particularly in Queensland where AFL – within a year or two - is on the brink of being the biggest code in the state.
“Something unthinkable a decade ago.”
Last year, the NRL attracted 118.96 million viewers on TV compared to the AFL’s 106.27 million.
Beattie, the former Queensland premier, scoffed at McLachlan’s assessment.
“All you have to do is look at the increased crowds. League ratings have gone through the roof,” he said.
“Ratings in Queensland are off the charts.
“Queensland is a rugby league state, it always has been a rugby league state and you’re going to find when the Broncos play the Dolphins, the level of excitement in that town will make AFL look like ping pong.
“I wish them well but sometimes the hyperbole just gets ahead of the brain.
“Queensland is a rugby league state and that is a fact. The success of the Dolphins is just off the Richter scale. Now the Broncos are back playing well – what a season.”
GAL’S $2 MILLION BOUNTY FOR SBW
Paul Gallen has slammed Sonny Bill Williams and says it will take at least $2 million to lure him into a much-touted NRL super fight.
The 37-year-old SBW has revealed he will return to the ring, dismissing suggestions he could retire from boxing after his loss to Mark Hunt last November.
Sonny Bill is open to a big-money blockbuster with Gallen, but the Sharks legend, who turns 42 in August, gave Williams a fierce uppercut.
“I would love to bash Sonny, but there comes a time in life where you become an old man and I’m there,” said Gallen, who announced his retirement from boxing after beating Justin Hodges in November.
“It’s highly doubtful. To get in the ring again and fight him, it would cost many millions.
“If they want to come up with an offer, then put it to me. You never say never, but it’s highly unlikely.
“Sonny has called me a narcissist and I didn’t even know that word, I had to look up what it meant.
“I’ve noticed a huge change in myself. I still train most days, but to be honest I have lost the killer instinct. In my last Hodges fight, my trainer wanted me to knock Hodgo out and I just didn’t want to.
“Me and Sonny Bill probably should have had two fights and if it was 1-all, we could have had a decider, but I told Sonny two years ago time was running out.
“It’s one bloke’s fault that we never fought and it’s him.”
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