What’s The Buzz: Breakthrough for women’s rugby league, Todd Greenberg, Kieran Foran, Greg Inglis

WHAT’S THE BUZZ: A double dose of Cooper Cronk, breakthrough for women’s rugby league, a new stable for Kieran Foran and more.

What bombshell? Soon-to-be-ex-Storm star Cooper Cronk and his partner Tara Rushton.

WHAT’S THE BUZZ: A double dose of Cooper Cronk, breakthrough for women’s rugby league, rough night out for Todd Greenberg and co, a new stable for Kieran Foran and Mal Meninga eyes Inglis replacements.

SAINT

THE breathtaking style of football from the Brisbane Broncos on Thursday night against the Sydney Roosters at Suncorp. Hopefully it shows other coaches the benefit of a little less structure and giving the players a licence to spread the footy and have a crack.

SINNER

THE management at Wests Tigers for their appalling handling of contract negotiations with James Tedesco, Aaron Woods, Mitch Moses and Luke Brooks. The CEO and board should stand down immediately. They are not capable of rebuilding this once-great franchise.

MORE WHAT’S THE BUZZ: The brave victim of O’Keefe’s drunken abuse

SHOOSH

THERE is genuine concern at NRL headquarters that the next TV broadcast deal won’t be as lucrative as the current $2 billion contract. On Thursday night the Broncos v Roosters game was beaten by My Kitchen Rules and down 14 per cent on round six, Thursday night, last year. It could be a worry for clubs signing superstars on long-term deals because, if the TV money falls so will the salary cap.

SHOOSH II

WHICH contracted Bulldogs are facing the chop after this season to pay for either or both James Tedesco and Aaron Woods? And Josh Reynolds isn’t one.

SHOOSH III

WHICH big-name NRL star was photographed using cocaine at a Shire hotel recently? Absolutely a 100 per cent true story. And it wasn’t a Sharks or Dragons player.

SHOOSH IV

St George Illawarra will be the next club under siege from rivals in the silly season of player transfers. Rest assured, clubs — including the Wests Tigers — are eyeing off fullback Josh Dugan and five-eighth Gareth Widdop. In the Tigers’ case, if they lose James Tedesco they’ll make a huge play for the Dragons pair who are unhappy about the money the red-and-whites are offering.

Bronko Djura during in his playing days with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

SPOTTED

Former Rabbitohs fullback and 1980s cult hero Bronko Djura watching the Sydney Swans on Friday night from the comfort of the SCG Trust box.

SPOTTED II

THE 1983 Rothmans Medal winner Mike Eden playing touch in Moore Park on Thursday during a rare visit to Sydney from the bush. He goes all right, too, for a 57-year-old.

SPOTTED III

TOM Waterhouse — without the correct pass — failing to talk his way past security on level two at Royal Randwick yesterday to get into the corporate suites.

FOX FIRST TO SHOW WOMEN’S GAME LIVE

IN a major breakthrough for women’s rugby league, Fox Sports will broadcast the first female game live (excluding the Nines) in round 20, the Women in League round.

On Sunday, July 23 NSW play Queensland in the interstate challenge and the women’s game will replace the Holden Cup in Wollongong as the curtain-raiser to the Dragons versus Sea Eagles match.

This is a great initiative to promote women’s rugby league and a fantastic opportunity to gain broader exposure.

Last year, NSW broke Queensland’s 17-year dominance of women’s interstate football by winning the series, led by Allana Ferguson, Kezie Apps, Sam Bremner and Ruan Sims.

But you can guarantee the Maroons will be well disciplined … their coach is none other than the NRL’s integrity unit chief investigator Karen Murphy, a former Jillaroo.

Jillaroos Kezie Apps, Maddie Studdon, Ruan Sims, Allana Ferguson and Jen Latu. Picture: Adam Taylor

TODD TO TAKE TEAM ON ROUGH NIGHT OUT

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has had the last laugh on his management team who were taking great delight in his decision to join the ­annual Vinnies sleep-out this year.

Greenberg accepted an invitation to sleep at the SCG on June 22 — the night after the second State of Origin match in Sydney. The sleep-out is designed to generate funds for Sydney’s homeless, 46 per cent of whom are women and often victims of domestic violence.

Greenberg sought and gained approval from organisers for his management team to join him in the sleep-out which will have them curled up on the SCG concourse with little more than a beanie, a sheet of cardboard and a sleeping bag.

I hear one highly-paid executive has already applied for annual leave on sleep-out day.

TIE-DYING HIS ACT UP

WE had a shot at Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe recently for turning up unshaven and without a tie for former coach Jason Taylor’s sacking press conference. As a result we’re told he was advised to smarten up. On Monday, Pascoe looked a million bucks wearing a club tie and was clean shaven.

KIERAN FORAN IN SAM’S STABLE

WARRIORS five-eighth Kieran Foran has moved a step closer to sorting out his future by joining the stable of top player agent Sam Ayoub, who looks after the likes of Johnathan Thurston, Robbie Farah, James Tamou, Anthony Milford and Josh Mansour.

The Kiwi star has been sounded out by rival clubs including the Wests Tigers (since Mitchell Moses left), Newcastle, Canterbury and Melbourne (since Cooper Cronk announced he was moving to Sydney next year).

The former Manly and Parramatta pivot wants to remain loyal to the Warriors but is keen to return to Australia to be closer to his children on the northern beaches.

Kieran Foran has new management. Picture: Getty Images

MAL EYES POSSIBILITIES

KANGAROOS coach Mal Meninga is taking a close interest in today’s Storm v Sharks Grand Final rematch. He is considering both Will Chambers and Jack Bird as a left-centre replacement for Greg Inglis in the May 5 Anzac Test in Canberra. He also wants to see how Andrew Fifita shapes up against Jesse Bromwich as a possible replacement for Matt Scott.

WE TOLD YOU SO!

WHY all the shockwaves and bombshell reaction about Cooper Cronk’s midweek decision to quit Melbourne Storm? The champion halfback was simply confirming the exclusive news we delivered more than a month ago on these very pages — that he was engaged to Fox Sports presenter Tara Rushton; that he would quit the Storm; and that he would be moving to Sydney.

SAM STEPS UP

THERE’S a very familiar name appearing in the Sydney Swans’ reserve team list this season.

Sam Barkley, the eldest son of SCG Trust CEO Jamie Barkley, has won his way into reserves and is playing in the half-forward line alongside Brandon Jack and Harry Cunningham.

The reserves feature in the North East AFL and play curtain-raisers on the SCG.

Souths Coach Michael Maguire and Greg Inglis at Rabbitohs training. Picture: Gregg Porteous

NEVER A SPARE MOMENT FOR GI

SOUTH Sydney are sure getting their money’s worth out of injured superstar Greg Inglis. “GI” has joined Michael Maguire’s coaching staff with the job of looking after the back five.

He’s also mentoring the Rabbitohs’ younger players and working in the football department in community and marketing. On top of that, Inglis is spending long hours every day on his knee rehab.

“GI would obviously prefer to be playing footy,” Maguire said. “But he’s doing some fantastic stuff for the club while he gets the knee right. Everyone really appreciates the work he’s putting in.”

SILENCE GOOD AS GOULD

PENRITH supremo Phil Gould shut down his Twitter account for the second time this season — probably to avoid the anticipated outrage from sacking Matt Moylan, Waqa Blake and Peta Hiku before Friday night’s one-point loss to the Rabbitohs.

CRONK’S SQUEAKY CLEAN

WHAT we really admire about Cooper Cronk is he was never involved in the infamous Storm salary cap scandal. While other players got secret payments — even a boat and store cards — we’re reliably informed all his money was above board.