Fletch & Hindy on the Kokoda Trail, the Sea Eagles lose their free rides and the advantages of being the only footy team in town
WHAT’S THE BUZZ: Fletch & Hindy on the Kokoda Trail, the Sea Eagles lose their free rides, The Footy Show on the slide and the advantages of being the only footy team in town.
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WHAT’S THE BUZZ: Fletch & Hindy on the Kokoda Trail, the Sea Eagles lose their free rides, The Footy Show on the slide and the advantages of being the only footy team in town.
SAINT
MICK Fanning’s wonderful farewell performance to finish runner-up at Bells Beach. Think rugby league and Jack Wighton’s alleged assault of three men. Think cricket and its ball-tampering scandal. Think Fanning. What a wonderful sporting ambassador and role model.
BUZZ: Dogs aim to settle Hasler contract dispute
AGAIN? Tigers upset the Storm for a second time
LOVING IT: NRL turns controversy into crowds
SAINT II
RICKY Stuart’s sideline antics on Thursday night in Canberra. It was beautiful theatre for the television cameras and the most pumped I’ve seen him since the 2003 grand final.
SINNER
THE NRL wastes $150 million on its own digital media department to produce propaganda to try to justify the banning of South Sydney Rabbitohs and Cronulla Sharks from the NRL women’s competition. There is absolutely no justification for snubbing two female teams.
SHOOSH
WHICH big-name signing is struggling to make an impression at his new NRL club with his form on the field and his demeanour off it?
SHOOSH II
TODD Greenberg is on a tour of the 16 NRL clubs in the first six weeks of the season. We’re hearing his meeting on Thursday with the Canberra Raiders board was particularly fiery, especially when they were discussing Matt Lodge’s Broncos contract registration.
SPOTTED
ROOSTERS supremo Nick Politis and new NRL independent commissioner Peter V’landys having brekkie in Rushcutters Bay on Thursday.
SPOTTED II
NRL referees coach Michael Maguire and veteran player agent Steve Gillis working out at the Titan fitness gym in Coogee.
SPOTTED III
IT’S hardly in the same league as Joey Johns at Toowoomba airport, but 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley was spotted crashed out in the Virgin lounge at Gold Coast airport on his way home to Sydney. We know Ray had a couple of late nights on the glitter strip because of the very jumbled late-night text messages this scribe received.
SPOTTED IV
THE great Ron Coote in St Vincent’s Hospital for prostate cancer surgery. We wish the old Rabbitohs and Roosters champion a speedy recovery.
SPOTTED V
SOUTHS superstar Greg Inglis discussing the housing market with former Rabbitohs teammate turned real estate salesman Beau Champion at Coogee on Tuesday.
SPOTTED VI
THE closure of Lowes’ Cronulla store, a drop kick from No. 1 ambassador Big Marn’s home.
SURPRISED HINDY RATES YATES
FORMER Parramatta Eels star Nathan Hindmarsh has a new- found respect for his Fox Sports colleague and presenter Jess Yates.
To coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda battle, Hindmarsh, Yates, Bryan Fletcher and James “The Professor” Rochford trekked the 96km in an inspiring story for the Matty Johns Show.
“Jess was a gem to have on the trip,” Hindy said. “She was an absolute trooper and didn’t complain once. She always had a smile on her face no matter how tough it got.”
To replicate what the soldiers had to carry during World War II, Hindmarsh carried a 20kg weight in his backpack.
“I was also 10kg overweight,” he said. “I hadn’t trained in six years but it was a great experience and something I’ll never forget.”
It normally takes eight to 10 days to complete the trek but the Fox Sports stars finished in five days. And there was little of the usual banter between Hindmarsh and Fletcher.
“Fletch was always a mile behind us and we were always waiting for him,” Hindmarsh said. “So we didn’t really annoy each other.
“The Professor surprised me, to be honest.
“I expected him to be absolutely hopeless, but he was good. He didn’t complain and pushed hard the entire way.”
BENAUD TURNOUT ‘MARVELLOUS’
A WHO’S who of Australian cricket assembled on Thursday to mark the third anniversary of the great Richie Benaud’s passing.
The line-up included former Test captains and Benaud’s former Nine Network colleagues, Mark Taylor and Ian Chappell (pictured), and his brother and former Test player John Benaud.
Other former Baggy Green stars paying tribute to Benaud, who passed away in April 2015, aged 84, at lunch at Long Reef Golf Club were Alan Davidson, Peter Philpott, Gordon Rorke, Grahame Thomas, Brian Taber, David Sincock and Trevor Chappell. Retired celebrity agent John Fordham also attended.
THIRD-PARTY DAMAGE
A NUMBER of Manly Sea Eagles players, including skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, have been short-changed as a result of the NRL’s salary cap investigation into the club.
And we can assure you they are not happy about it.
Once the NRL ruled certain third party arrangements were illegal under cap rules, the Sea Eagles were forced to stop paying them.
Some players have had to return their vehicles to a local car dealer.
Whether it’s a big enough distraction to affect their on-field performances remains to be seen.
WILLIE NO DRAWCARD
CHANNEL Nine was hoping former State of Origin star Willie Mason would help boost ratings on their Thursday night Footy Show. No such luck.
With Willie making his debut on Thursday, the show’s national audience dropped from 272,000 the previous week to 183,000 — a loss of almost 90,000 viewers.
Although the Matty Johns Show on Fox Sports is only in one in three households, it almost attracted more viewers in the metro markets.
BLIND EYE TO TROUBLE
WE recently spoke about the advantages of NRL players in the one-team, one-town scenario.
Often the local media turns a blind eye to off-field indiscretions to protect their relationships with clubs and players.
It happened in Newcastle earlier this year when are number of Knights players misbehaved while on the drink.
In Canberra, the local newspaper and the ABC made inquiries about fullback Jack Wighton’s involvement in a nightclub brawl before the start of the season but did not report on it.
ACT police are expected to charge Wighton on Monday.
The club and the NRL integrity unit will then make a decision on his immediate future, depending on police evidence.
A TRUE GOLF MARVEL
At 97, most men would spend the weekend with their feet up at home.
Not Tom Sample, who is still a member at Bonnie Doon Golf Club and plays competition two days a week.
If you looked hard enough you would have found Tom’s name on The Sunday Telegraph sports results pages last weekend.
He scored 44 Stableford points at Mona Vale Golf Course in a father-and-son competition.
“I don’t drink and I don’t smoke,” he said. “And I’ve always been fairly active.”
Until recently, Tom walked the course but he’s just started using a motorised cart.
He also still has his drivers’ licence.
While he hasn’t got the strength and distance of other players, Tom is accurate.
“I just keep the ball on the fairway,” he said. “And I still really enjoy it.”
HEADS UP FOR CLUB HEADS
THE 16 NRL club chief executives are heading to the Gold Coast on Tuesday for a private briefing on how organisers sold tickets and handled security for the Commonwealth Games.
More than one million tickets have been sold for the Gold Coast events, despite fears that the Games might be past their use-by date.
Organisers had to ensure there were strong pre-event sales because they knew “walk ups” would be limited in a regional centre like the Gold Coast.
ARL Chairman Peter Beattie is also head of the Games organising committee and has arranged for the marketing team to pass on their strategies to the CEOs.
MACDOUGALL A MOVER AND SHAKER
ADAM MacDougall’s post-rugby league career continues to reach staggering heights.
“Mad Dog” recently clinched a deal with the major supermarket chain Coles to stock his health products — The Man Shake and The Lady Shake.
MacDougall, who holds business administration and economics degrees, now oversees a multimillion-dollar business.
“I learned in my football days that working hard to achieve the goals I set myself was the only pathway to success and this is the same model I have applied to my health and wellness business,” said the two-time Knights premiership winner.