Sheahan Ink: Jeff Fenech, reveals what it was like to be a great mate of Shane Warne
Close friend of Shane Warne, boxing legend Jeff Fenech, has revealed his late mate’s son Jackson is ready to step up and take the family reins.
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“I want people to respect Warnie and watch what they say about him now that he has passed,” said an emotional Jeff Fenech this week.
Warnie’s off field pursuits found him in some compromising circumstances at times and he didn’t limit his exploits to Australian soil.
But whatever Warnie did or is accused of doing, Fenech wants the world to see him as a champion sportsman and an even better human being.
“Whatever has happened in the past, it doesn’t matter now, he’s gone.
“Just remember how he helped every Aussie and put Australia on the map with cricket and would do anything for anybody.
“If you were his friend you were very special and very lucky, and I was his friend and I feel very blessed,” the 57-year-old told Sheahan Ink.
Fenech’s relationship with the cricket king started back in 2008 when the three times boxing world champion fought Azumah Nelson in Melbourne.
The pair were introduced with Warnie inviting Fenech to play in his poker tournament at Crown in the days leading up to Fenech’s fight.
“I told Warnie I couldn’t play in his tournament because I was preparing for the bout with Azumah.
“Warnie fired back saying ‘you won’t stand a chance’ and will be knocked out of the poker tournament within minutes.”
Fenech ended up out until 3am on the tables just days before he was to fight, and ended up winning the entire tournament, he told us this week.
Speaking of casinos, Fenech and Warne were in Las Vegas at one of the city’s top restaurants.
The group were all feasting on top meats and expensive wines when a pizza delivery guy entered the exclusive eatery.
“The guy delivers a pizza to Warnie and everyone looks at him before laughing.
“When I went to South Africa with him, this was when I thought ‘oh my God, who am I flying with’?
“We flew from Australia to South Africa, to play in the world series of poker over there.
“I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t realise how big Warnie was. It was crazy, I had no idea how big a superstar he was.
“So when we got off the plane, we hopped into a helicopter and they flew us to a landing pad where we escorted from the helipad to a club.
“They closed the entire club for just Warnie and I.
“We were the only two in the whole club, just me and Warnie, somewhere in Johannesburg.
“To close an entire club for him and me was amazing. Just us two and the staff.
“They recognised me too but they didn’t care about me, it was all about Warnie.
“I’ve been to London with him, America, South Africa . . . he was big in America but he was huge in the cricket playing countries,” Fenech said.
Coincidentally, Fenech reminded us how he nearly died in Thailand back in 2019 and underwent lifesaving heart surgery.
Warne passed away nine days ago in a luxury Thai villa on the island of Koh Samui, from a heart attack.
“When I was dying in Thailand, he sent me all these messages that he was praying for me, and my wife Suzee kept everyone of those messages from him and she said they will be kept forever.
“He prayed for me but I didn’t get a chance to pray for my brother Shane.”
Despite an incredibly tough exterior, Fenech revealed he broke down while talking to Warnie’s eldest child Jackson.
Fenech said the Warne family is in great hands as Jackson takes the reins.
“I spoke to Jackson yesterday. To hear him talk, the maturity of him and the way he spoke, he told me he was now going to look after their family just as his dad would have.
“He has taken the reins of that family and what a beautiful young person he is.
“When I spoke to Jackson, I broke, I couldn’t control myself. It’s very sad.
“It hurt me so much,” Fenech said.
WARNIE’S FOOTY SHOW SHENANIGANS
The spin king’s love of fast cars was always evident with many European speed machines found in his garage.
Years ago he arrived home to find an $800,000 Lamborghini in his driveway; a present from his then IPL owner.
Warne’s loved fast cars.
Still struggling to navigate the Italian bull, he managed to make his way to Channel 9’s old Richmond studios for an appearance on the Footy Show.
Warne arrived early a Nine Network insider tells Sheahan Ink, running into Hawks’ champ Shane Crawford in the corridor.
The king of spin grabbed Crawford and took him for a spin around Bendigo and Swan streets in Richmond, dealing with potholes and speed bumps.
Crawford told friends this week he advised Warnie to ‘sell the car straight away’ if he was to continue driving the car like that.
The pair made it back in the nick of time to be on air for the taping of The Footy Show without raising an eyebrow.
Soon after Warnie was made an ambassador of Lamborghini Australia.
WARNIE’S GOLF STASH
Three months of travelling would put a dent in most people’s bank accounts unless your name is Shane Warne.
Warne was overseas working for the best part of three months when he returned to Melbourne for some rest and relaxation.
He was called to play golf at Crown’s Capital course in Melbourne with AFL and other high profile locals.
Loving a bet, Warne called on the group to outlay some money to see who would win.
Reaching into his golf bag that had been sitting in his boot for the three months abroad, he went to grab a ball and pulled out $10,000 cash.
The three competitors, who all earned good money, were left aghast at how someone could leave $10,000 in their golf bag and forget about it.
The group then burst into laughter.
It’s unknown who won the round.
NEWMAN: I NEVER TALKED CRICKET WITH WARNIE
People deal with grief in many ways and Shane Warne’s passing last week has highlighted how we express our emotions in the wake of such a significant loss.
Warnie’s very dear friend Sam Newman is still coming to terms with Shane’s passing and revealed how he first dealt with the news last Saturday morning.
“I thought it would be quite a cathartic thing to do because I’ve played a lot of golf with Shane and this would give me a lot of time to reflect on just the good times we had on the golf course,” Newman said on Friday.
“I thought it was a very worthwhile thing I did.
“And, yes it helped me process what was going on. I thought of not playing (but) no, I booked in to play with three people I didn’t know so it was a spur of the moment thing.”
The football legend said he called the National golf course and booked in to play despite Warne’s shock passing the previous day.
“I don’t usually play on Saturdays but I thought I’d make an exception and it would be a good way to process just exactly what was going on and have some good memories of what we used to do quite regularly . . . the immediate shock . . . is superseded by disbelief.
“Now we just remember the times people had with Shane, whether you knew him or not.
“I didn’t know him through his cricket prowess . . . I knew him for a different reason.
“He was a very loyal and supportive friend.
“I never spoke about cricket with him because I don’t know much about it.
“We had a common interest in a lot of things
“He was just so respectful and so courteous to me and my friends and was genuinely a very decent person.”
NBA STAR’S INCREDIBLE BUZZER BEATER WINS FANS
NBA young gun Ja Morant sent Instagram into overdrive recently with his buzzer beater for the Memphis Grizzlies in their clash with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Grizzlies go-to sent the locals wild with a buzzer beater to close out the half, and in doing so had social media numbers soar.
Morant’s Instagram followers sky rocketed with 1.4 million new fans in the wake of his insane basket.
He now sits 4th on the list of Instagram followers behind number one LA Laker LeBron James with 114 million followers.
SHEAHAN INK’S SECRET SHORTS
*Australian cricketing royalty gathered in Sydney on Thursday night to toast their good mate Shane Warne in the wake of his unexpected passing last week in Thailand.
Warne’s good friends Brendon Julian, Ian Healy and Allan Border caught up late this week at Sydney’s exclusive eastern suburbs watering hole, the Woollahra Hotel, where they enjoyed beers and bourbons toasting to one of the greatest cricketers of all time.
Julian revealed last week in an interview the night he played Warne’s bodyguard in London, when the pair snuck out of the team’s hotel to attend a Rolling Stones party and were snapped with Stones’ legend Ronnie Wood inside cafe De Paris back in 1997.
Queenslanders Healy and Border also had a huge influence in Warne’s early days in the Australian green and gold, with Healy often revealing the ‘spin king’ would mesmerise him with his balls as he stood behind the stumps.
Warne would also speak fondly of his time spent with cricketing legend Allan Border who was his first test captain and someone he looked up to.
Julian, Healy and Border, all sporting new haircuts drank in honour of their old mate just a stone’s throw from the Sydney Cricket Ground where Warnie thrilled the crowd and entertained the masses as Australia’s greatest spin bowler.
**The owner of the private jet company that ferried Warne’s body home is angry after the story of his generosity found its way into the media.
Terry Peabody who owns Brenzil charter has confided to friends of his disappointment linking him and his company to the jet provided for the repatriation flight of Shane Warne’s body back to Melbourne.
Peabody and company did its best keep the story confidential but failure to turn the plane’s location off had the world’s media tracking its every move.
Hundreds of fans joined the world’s media at Essendon Airport in Melbourne’s inner north to greet the private jet carrying Warne’s body, touching down on Australian soil at approximately 8.30pm Thursday evening.
Aviation experts tell Sheahan Ink Peabody’s Falcon jet would cost around $96,000 to ferry passengers from Bangkok to Melbourne for the more than eight hour journey.
The 2020 built jet is reportedly worth in the vicinity of $25 million and regularly flies internationally, comprising of 14 seats and two couches, which allows for sleeping quarters.
***A-League creator Frank Lowy returned to Australia for the first time in Two-and-a-half years.
The billionaire former boss of Westfield landed in his home town of Sydney on Thursday, on his $75 million private Gulfstream as he now spends the majority of his time in Israel.
Lowy still has a home in Vaucluse in Sydney’s east but now calls Tel Aviv home following the sale of Westfield shopping centres to French company Unibail-Rodamco for (US) $29 billion giving Lowy a personal fortune of nearly $9bn Australian dollars.
Lowy became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons when he lost his balance falling off the dais following the A-League presentations to the 2015 grand finalists in Sydney.
Originally published as Sheahan Ink: Jeff Fenech, reveals what it was like to be a great mate of Shane Warne
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