NRL gets it wrong again as leading female officials brushed for younger brother of refs boss Bernard Sutton
NRL gets it wrong again as leading female officials brushed for younger brother of refs boss Bernard Sutton, Cowboys’ great Matt Scott’s retirement hangs on neck op and grand final rivalry for Fox Sports callers.
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NRL gets it wrong again as leading female officials brushed for younger brother of refs boss Bernard Sutton, Cowboys’ great Matt Scott’s retirement hangs on neck op and grand final rivalry for Fox Sports callers.
SAINT
THE retirement of Sharks legend Luke Lewis. A magnificent player, ambassador and role model. To play for your state, your country, to win a premiership and a Clive Churchill Medal is as special as it gets. He was all class on Friday night too.
SINNER
THE Sonny Bill Williams “fight” against publican and Bachelorette winner Stu Laundy. We love that it’s raising money for charity but how about a proper bout against and not someone who hasn’t got a hope.
SHOOSH
WE mentioned recently how a media identity had applied for the GM’s job at Parramatta. It appears he’s well in the mix as he has interviewed for the position and is on the shortlist.
SHOOSH II
DON’T expect Prime Minister Scott Morrison to be sculling beers at the January SCG cricket Test like former PM Bob Hawke was famous for. In fact, “ScoMo” might not even be there. The new boss is a rugby league tragic but not a huge fan of cricket.
SPOTTED
LUKE Lewis in deep conversation with Fox Sports head of television Steve Crawley and footy boss Joe Bromham about a full-time gig on the pay TV network next year.
SPOTTED II
RABS Warren getting a meal and a good bottle of wine at Entrata restaurant in Glenhaven with his wife, Cher, and daughter, Holly, celebrating her 21st birthday.
SPOTTED III
A COUPLE of Parramatta Eels legends have finally succumbed to old knee injuries. Bob “The Bear” O’Reilly, 69, had a knee replacement done in Hills Private Hospital last week. And up on the Goldy, David Liddiard, 57, had the same surgery at Robina Private.
SPOTTED IV
MITCHELL Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Glen Maxwell, Ellyse Perry on a photo shoot at Fox Studios in Moore Park to promote Australia’s first dedicated cricket channel on Fox Sports.
SPOTTED V
WOUNDED Shark Wade Graham limping his way around Caringbah Woolworths on the day before entering hospital for surgery that will sideline the 28-year-old Cronulla forward until June next year.
SILLY SUNDAY
THIS column is brought to you from the good ship Pacific Explorer about 50km off the east coast of our wonderful country. Your columnist is on a De La Salle Rugby League Club father-and-son end-of-season cruise. Rest assured, we are on our very best behaviour.
FEMALE REFS ON THE OUTER FOR NRL FINALS
WE’RE supposed to be feeling all warm and fuzzy about the NRL and its new elite women’s competition with the opportunity to show the world females are very much a part of the game.
A sporting organisation that is all about equal opportunity.
Then the refereeing department stuffs it up. Kasey Badger and Belinda Sleeman have done outstanding jobs as touch judges over the 26 rounds of the NRL competition.
Yet now we’re at the business end of the season and they’ve been brushed.
And guess who has replaced them … Chris Sutton is the younger brother of refs boss Bernard Sutton.
Chris has been a referee for much of the season but doubled up to do the odd game as a touchie. He was on the line for Saturday night’s Roosters versus Rabbitohs game at Allianz Stadium.
Badger at least got a gig as assistant referee in the women’s comp.
As for Sleeman, she got nothing but an email that her services were not required.
This is a disgrace. The sooner Graham Annesley joins the NRL as head of football and puts a bomb under the refereeing department the better.
Annesley is also hoping popular referee Matt “Chicken Legs” Cecchin may not be lost to the NRL after all.
The incoming head of football is a huge fan of the whistleblower and would love him continue in 2019.
Annesley, like many in the game, has raised serious concerns about the refereeing department.
He stood up at a chief executive’s conference midway through the year and slammed the way the referees were coached. It’s bad news for Bernard Sutton, Tony Archer and Russell Smith who will report to Annesley next year.
SINGO AND AILING TOMMY PARTY ON
JOHN Singleton is off to the Gold Coast this weekend to watch the NRL grand final with his great mate Tommy Raudonikis, who is battling cancer again.
Tommy beat throat cancer in June this year but the bludger of a disease has come back and now spread to his lymph glands. He has just undergone six horrible weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Tommy, who is now 68, faces a huge struggle in the months ahead.
The former Wests Magpies and Newtown halfback is so admired that his neurosurgeon Marc Coughlan flies from Sydney to the Gold Coast for his check-ups.
His catch-up with Singo won’t be as rowdy as their previous grand final parties … Tommy has lost most of his raspy voice from all the treatment and can barely whisper.
Not that it will stop him from making his usual appearances on 2GB with Alan Jones and Ray Hadley next year, according to Singo.
BACKSTAGE FOR BEATTIE
INDEPENDENT commission chairman Peter Beattie won’t be following the lead of his predecessor John Grant who always tried to steal the limelight at the grand final presentation ceremony.
Beattie has told organisers he is happy not to go on stage to present the medals to the winning and losing teams. Instead, he wants to give a special award to the ball boys who are on duty. Beattie, and most other league followers, still cringe at the memory of Grant spoiling one
of the great shots of all time when he photobombed Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith holding up the Origin trophy.
GALLEN’S HOSPITAL STAY
IT’S hard to keep a secret in rugby league these days but Cronulla got away with one in the build-up to the semi-final against the Panthers.
We can reveal skipper Paul Gallen spent a night in hospital with a severe gastric bug. Gallen’s mate, Shire local Dave “Subway” Nicholson, drove the Cronulla skipper to the emergency department of Sutherland Hospital on the Wednesday night. He was placed on a drip and stayed overnight before being discharged and making it to the captain’s run.
CLICHÉD WORK, RON
THERE’S an old line that you should avoid cliches like the plague, but someone forgot to tell Ronnie Palmer. The veteran trainer has agreed to promote a new book called Rugby League Is The Winner.
Among the 700 cliches in footy fan Gary Jarjoura’s book are “we’re taking it one game at a time”; “tough as teak”; “80-minute workhorse” and “he’s training the house down”.
SALE-PRICE EELS
IT’S been a tough winter for Peter Wynn and his sports store at Parramatta as a result of the Eels collecting the wooden spoon. The second-row legend has been left with a huge amount of blue and gold stock and has been forced to sell jerseys that normally retail for $169.99 at just $66.99.
“We’re lucky Souths and the Dragons made the finals,” Wynn said. “They’ve saved us from a total disaster.”
SCOTT’S FUTURE HINGES ON OP
THE Cowboys could have a $2 million salary cap war chest if reports are correct that Matt Scott may be forced into early retirement.
The 33-year-old Test prop will undergo neck surgery this week that will decide if he can continue next year. This follows the retirement of Johnathan Thurston which freed up $1 million in the cap. If Scott is medically retired, the Cowboys will get his salary taken out of the cap. Coach Paul Green has made no secret of the fact he wants Sharks fullback Valentine Holmes for 2020. He will also have the cash to launch a bid for Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster.
MANLY 40 YEARS ON
MANLY Leagues Club is holding a 40-year reunion for the 1978 premiership side that won six games in 24 days including a grand final replay over the Sharks at the SCG.
Every Manly player except for Terry Randall and Ray Branigan will be there. Even CEO Ken Arthurson and coach Frank Stanton are coming down from the Gold Coast for the sold-out function at the leagues club which has supported the event. It’s interesting that this is a leagues club event and no one from the Sea Eagles has been involved in the planning.
CALLERS’ GRAND RIVALRY
THERE is a huge three-way rivalry at Fox Sports over the head commentary role for next Sunday’s NRL grand final.
Brenton Speed, Andrew Voss and Warren Smith are all world-class and head of television Steve Crawley said it was almost impossible to split them. So this weekend, Voss and Speed got the preliminary finals, with Smith being held back for the decider.
No such rivalry over at Channel 9 because the greatest of all, the incomparable Ray Warren, will be on deck to call his 43rd grand final.
FAN-TASTIC
THERE is not a more fanatical rugby league supporter than former Sharks medico Peter Malouf. He was club doctor at Cronulla for 39 years between 1967 and 2006. Since retiring, Malouf still goes to every Sharks game and was even in Melbourne for Friday night’s preliminary final.
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