Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Popular Rabbitoh duo in contract limbo; two-year-old multimillion-dollar rugby league bloodlines
The Rabbitohs have yet to open extension talks with a star duo, leaving two of the club’s most popular players in contract limbo. Buzz Rothfield’s Saint, Sinner, Shoosh.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Even with old supercoach Wayne Bennett back in town, the South Sydney Rabbitohs face a bumpy and emotional ride in 2025.
It’s all about two club legends, the roster management and the possible destabilising effect of dealing with their NRL futures.
Champion five-eighth Cody Walker is off contract at the end of the season and the club has made no attempt to extend his deal.
Try-scoring machine Alex Johnston is in the same position with no offer on the table.
Even Bennett, with all his experience, could have his hands full in quashing the unrest that could potentially transpire.
Remember club legend Adam Reynolds and how messy it got when he departed in 2021.
How it bitterly played out in the media for months with Souths concerned about his ageing body and injury issues, and their long-term concerns about his ability to perform week in, week out.
Reynolds’ camp fired back with furious denials around his fitness.
In fairness Souths did offer him an extension - but not for the multiple years he wanted; a deal Brisbane was prepared to give him.
The Walker situation is remarkably similar. Like Reynolds, he has been a wonderful clubman.
He’s now 35 but has escaped physical punishment of other NRL players his age because he was a late starter and has played only nine seasons of footy.
In 2019, Bennett said this of Walker: “He’s as naturally talented as any player I’ve coached.”
Walker, however, is not the player he was back then.
I’ve compared some of his 2021 attack statistics to last year - line break assists: 58 in 2021, 21 last year; try assists: 37 in 2021, 21 last year.
Still, he’s a hugely popular figure around the players and fan base.
Obviously the first 10 weeks of the competition will be crucial for his hopes of a contract extension.
The signing of Jayden Sullivan from the Wests Tigers was seen by many as a back-up plan should Walker be forced into retirement.
And Johnston has been through this before, seemingly saved by a supporter petition from angry fans last time it appeared he was being forced to leave.
We offered Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly and Bennett the opportunity to address all the uncertainty. They declined to comment.
SAINT
The pilot who flew loudmouth UFC boss Dana White out of the country and back to America with the millions he pocketed from premier Chris Minns. Good riddance.
SINNER
As much as we acknowledge that a London court has found Sam Kerr not guilty of racial harassment, the fact remains her overall behaviour on the evening in question was inexcusable. Kerr should never again captain the Matildas.
SHOOSH
Which two old Brisbane Broncos teammates have sadly fallen out over money. One lent the other $20,000 years ago to pay off debts. The money has yet to be returned. The drama is threatening to get ugly.
SPOTTED
An interesting gathering over lunch at famous Italian restaurant Beppis - old NRL 360 hosts Ben Ikin and Paul Kent with NSWRL chief executive Dave Trodden and Venues NSW chairman David Gallop.
SPOTTED
Bulldogs legends Bobby McCarthy, Terry Lamb and James Graham on a Sydney Harbour cruise.
SPOTTED
Just a few days into retirement, Melbourne Storm front-rower Christian Welch has already picked up a media gig. He’ll be in Toowoomba working for Triple M at the Broncos v Titans trial game.
SPOTTED
Todd Carney is doing a podcast with his old Roosters teammate Mitchell Pearce and didn’t hold back over the manager of Dylan Brown shopping the Eels star around for outrageous money. “If he’s worth $1.2 million, Nathan Cleary is worth $2.8 million,” Carney said.
SPOTTED
Blues Origin coach Laurie Daley on a photo shoot for Lowes in a highly-paid side gig outside of his regular earns from the Big Sports Breakfast radio show and coaching.
SPOTTED
Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, Fox Sports stars Braith Anasta and Brendon Julian, Channel 9’s Hamish Blake, media and marketing guru Tristan Hay and David Gallop watching the Super Bowl at the Clovelly Hotel.
SPOTTED
Poor old Adam Ritson. The former Sharks and Eels prop has been struck down with a mystery infection that’s left him bedridden in Sutherland hospital as doctors try to find out what’s wrong. Get well, mate.
BLOODLINES TO BE A CHAMPION
The is the two-year-old boy with the multimillion-dollar rugby league bloodlines.
Little Kayln Davidson is a toddler who is already tearing around his Sutherland Shire backyard with a footy in his hands; kicking and passing to his famous granddads.
Andrew “ET” Ettingshausen and Les Davidson were NRL, NSW Blues and Kangaroos superstars.
ET is one of the most brilliant footballers I have ever seen, and Davidson one of the toughest to ever lace on a footy boot.
They played a combined 574 NRL games and most with the Sharks, with ET playing 328 and Davidson 133 for Cronulla.
Davidson’s son Reece married ET’s daughter Shalea.
And then along came Kayln.
No pressure, but fast forward 15 years and imagine what he could potentially be worth with big-spending NRL clubs if he follows a successful league path.
The two old mighty Sharks couldn’t be prouder.
“I love being a grandad,” ET said. “I have two and they both call me Pa.
“Kayln is already incredibly skilled with a ball in his hands, even at just two. He can punt kick the footy pretty high and incredibly drop kick the ball many metres.
“I love taking him up to the park and watching him run about and kicking the ball.
“I reckon he will love rugby league and with a surname Davidson — he will be a tough little boy. Hopefully he’ll be fast and score plenty of tries as well. I can’t wait to watch him play.”
Ettingshausen was such a great player and big name.
So good that he was the first player signed by the breakaway Super League back in the nineties with his off-field marketing appeal matching his footy ability.
“He’s got the two best granddads you could ever wish for,” his son-in-law Reece said. “Kayln is a lucky boy.
“He’s got some energy and keeps us on our toes. We’d love to see him play footy one day but we’re not too bothered about it either. Whatever he wants to do when he’s a bit older we’ll support him.
“Obviously, he doesn’t understand footy yet but he just loves having a ball in his hands all day.
“The grandads spend a lot of time with him – probably most days. They just love him.”
Kayln has great cricket bloodlines too. His grandmother Kristen Davidson is the daughter of the late and great Test cricketer Norm O’Neill.
COOK A SAFER BET
It’s a good thing WA’s Liberal opposition leader Libby Mettam is a million-to-one chance to win next month’s state election – because she is obviously not a rugby league fan. Last week Mettam slammed league-loving premier Roger Cook for pledging financial support for the establishment of Perth Bears. Cook is paying $1.04 on the TAB to win on March 8.
SALUTE TO BUCKERIDGE
Rugby league has sadly lost another old media legend. Kerry Buckeridge sat alongside Ray Warren to call the first ever Amco Cup game in 1974 on Channel 10. He was a very good caller who started his career at radio station 2LF in Young – the same station from where Rabs, Kenny Sutcliffe and ABC legend John O’Reilly began their journey.
PAULO’S TRANSFORMATION
The days of NRL front-rowers only running out to play a role as big and bulky battering rams are over.
The middle men also need agility and explosive power to get their teams rolling forward and get the job done.
This is why Parramatta Eels enforcer Junior Paulo has stripped 10kg from his frame under new coach Jason Ryles and new head of high performance Blair Mills, who once worked with the All Blacks.
Paulo will start the 2025 season lean and lighter - but still a fearsome looking and hard-to-stop 115kg.
Compare Paulo to the photo from last year - a transformation from a bulky body into a muscle machine.
Ryles - an old star prop himself - is super impressed with the 31-year-old Samoan wrecking ball.
“We spoke about where the game is going,” Ryles said.
“We brought in a new nutritionist and Junior bought into it. I just suggested he might be better playing a tad lighter, but because he’s so experienced and mature, I left it with him.
“He’s done really well.
“Junior’s a genuine footy player with great skills and, as the off-season has shown, a great work ethic.”
GALVIN BLOWS WHISTLE ON BRO
Wests Tigers’ star Lachlan Galvin has a brother who is also on track for an NRL career. Matthew Galvin referees in the Group 6 Macarthur competition as well as Harold Matthews junior rep games. He is into his third season of the NSWRL Referees Development Program. Like his brother, Matthew is super fit. He holds the best fitness time of any referee at any level.
SYDNEY A BETTER LOOK FOR RAMS
Here’s the proof an NFL game would be a far better fan experience at Accor Stadium in Sydney rather than at the MCG where the Los Angeles Rams will play a rival team next year.
The MCG might be steeped in history and a magnificent venue for Test cricket and AFL but — as the digital mock-ups show — the crowd is far closer to the action in Sydney, where Accor has moveable stands for the rectangular-field codes.
For all our Victorian readers … don’t forget to pack your binoculars.
As for the NSW government, it’s an appalling waste of taxpayer money to bring the UFC to Sydney ahead of events like an in-season NFL game.
DCE’S SIDELINE HELPERS
Rugby league will be a real family affair at Manly this year for champion half and skipper Daly Cherry Evans.
DCE’s daughters — Navi, 12, and Harvey, 10 — will be running the sidelines as ballgirls for the Sea Eagles in 2025.
“My kids now are really enjoying having their dad as a footy player,” DCE said.
“They love coming to watch and support – and now they’re ballgirls. That’s another nice incentive to want to play on.”
PRICE’S CANCER CAUSE
Parramatta Eels legend Ray Price is an ambassador for the Melanoma Institute Australia after surviving cancer.
“I’ll beat the bastard,” he said back in 2020 when first diagnosed.
Price is raising melanoma awareness via his annual charity golf day on the Gold Coast at Royal Pines on March 17. There are some sensational prizes up for grabs including a luxury Lexus NX350h for a hole in one.
Many of his old Eels teammates will be there to support the day.
“Putting back into a special cause like this is the least I can do,” Price said.
WYNNING HONOUR
Peter Wynn has long been a name synonymous with the Parramatta Eels — a premiership-winning warrior, a successful businessman, a tireless advocate for the community – and a great bloke to go with it.
Fittingly, he’s now on the verge of receiving one of the most prestigious honours the Parramatta Leagues Club can bestow — the title of Club Patron.
It is a rare distinction, held by only a select few in its 68-year history. Wynn’s nomination will be put to members with AGM voting open until 5pm next Friday.
THE BETTER HALF
- With Kaylah Collins, partner of Roosters forward Lindsay Collins
Where did the two of you meet?
It was 2013 when we were both in high school. He went to the neighbouring school and we had the same group of friends. You never really saw Lindsay, he was always playing footy or off doing something. I was looking for my semi-formal date, and I am quite tall myself, and I just wanted to find someone who was tall enough so I could wear my heels. He was kind of the only one around that fitted the criteria. I slid into his DMs to wish him a happy birthday, but I had an ulterior motive.
What chores does he do around the house?
He does the cooking. He is very particular with his diet and I was working fulltime and wouldn’t get home until 8pm. So he had to learn how to cook, and he has turned out to really love it. But his three chores are cooking, putting the rubbish out and making me coffee in the morning, and I attend to the baby — so we’re pretty even stevens.
If he wasn’t in the NRL what would Lindsay be doing?
Realistically, he would’ve been a carpenter. That’s what he was working towards before he got into the NRL. But in a pipe dream — because he gets comments that he looks like Matt Damon — I reckon he’d be a great actor.
The worst gift he bought you?
He always gets guidance from my mum and sisters so it would be pretty hard for him to give a bad gift. He is more of a words of affirmation person, so rather than a gift he would write me a nice letter or a poem.
Last present he bought you?
At Christmas he put together a beautiful photo album of memories from our daughter’s birth up until she was seven months old.
Does he ever let you win at anything, like board games?
He’s the worst person to play board games with, or any type of game. He’s just really smart and he wins all the time. He’s really good at chess and I have never once beat him.
And his mood after a loss?
He’s never one to sit there and dwell on it. He will have a moment and then say we’ll do better next time. Even after a win he’s the same. He is always looking to be better. His saying is, ‘You either win or you learn’. — Tyson Jackson
More Coverage
Originally published as Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Popular Rabbitoh duo in contract limbo; two-year-old multimillion-dollar rugby league bloodlines
Gagai the late hero as Maori hold out Indigenous All Stars
A blade of grass has denied the Indigenous All Stars their third win in a row as the Maori side held on for a memorable win in a match that roared to life in the final few minutes.
SuperCoach trial scores: Warriors star emerges as a must-have
Warriors star halfback Luke Metcalf has produced another impressive performance and may have emerged as a SuperCoach must have. See all the scores from Week 2 of the Pre-Season Challenge.