Monday Buzz: Weekend highlights, lowlights
THE Knights swoop to recruit Sharks young gun, plus highlights, lowlights and talking points from another big weekend in sport.
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CHECK out the highlights, lowlights and talking points from another memorable weekend in sport.
HIGHLIGHT
The Oztag state cup tournament in Coffs Harbour, where 315 teams and more than 5000 players turned on a wonderful exhibition of footy.
Your columnist had the privilege of coaching the Sutherland under-15 boys, who did themselves proud by making the finals.
LOWLIGHT
The UFC event in Perth. That sort of thuggery should not be allowed in this country.
KNIGHT MOVES
The Newcastle Knights continue their super impressive recruitment with the signing of boom Cronulla Sharks winger/centre Jessie Ramien for 2019. He is rated by many as a future superstar of the game.
MORE WHAT’S THE BUZZ: Gus Gould grilled - what’s going on at Panthers?
SHOOSH
Which club has found an old email on their internet server that would be embarrassing for a very senior NRL official if it was released in public?
SPOTTED
Brett ‘Noddy’ Kimmorley coaching the Sutherland Tsunami under-15s girls at the Oztag State Cup in Coffs Harbour over the weekend.
SPOTTED
Wests Tigers players at Canterbury races on Friday night, happily posing for pictures with young fans. Here’s Benji Marshall with little Max McWilliams.
COMMISSION CARRY-ON
Four NRL club chairs — Melbourne Storm’s Bart Campbell, the Warriors’ Jim Doyle, Wests Tigers’ Marina Go and the Gold Coast’s Dennis Watt — have failed in their bid to have former Collingwood boss Gary Pert elected to the independent commission. There is talk they will now vote against the constitutional change on the independent commission. Talk about sour grapes.
SUMMER 360
Catch you tonight on NRL 360 on Fox Sports at 7.30pm with Ben Ikin, Paul Kent and Jimmy Hooper to discuss the major rugby league issues. The Dragons’ star signing Ben Hunt and veteran winger Jason Nightingale will also be making guest appearances.
TURN WEIGHT OF WORDS INTO ACTION
RUSSELL Crowe’s column in the Saturday Telegraph about the need for rugby league juniors to have weight rather than age competitions has been well received.
In an online poll, 83 per cent of people supported it.
The great Steve ‘Turvey’ Mortimer sent me a text message over the weekend: “Let’s do it and in the next 25 years the NRL will be the No.1 winter football sport in Australia.
“This (initiative) has to be accepted immediately to grow the greatest game of all.”
Your columnist has been involved in junior league in the Sutherland Shire for a decade.
Most weekends you see the biggest teams winning, not the most skilful. Little guys get dropped from A grade because they are not physically strong enough.
Others get sick of the physical punishment of trying to compete against much bigger and more powerful players.
They go to soccer or AFL, where there is more emphasis on skill than size.
Now is the time for the NRL to do something about it. Junior numbers have been in sharp decline for more than a decade. In the city and country, they’ve just sat back and allowed it to happen.