Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Raiders bad boy’s huge heart; Warnie’s tell-all interview
The NRL ‘bad boy’ with a special soul, Warnie’s tell-all interview and Buzz tackles the Darius Boyd haters - all that and more in this week’s Saint, Sinner, Shoosh with PHIL ROTHFIELD.
NRL
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Sport may be on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic but the gossip never stops. BUZZ ROTHFIELD’s latest instalment of Saint, Sinner, Shoosh.
SAINT
State of Origin in October at a normally dead time of the year on the sporting calendar. It also makes for a much fairer competition in which all teams keep their best players for the full season.
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SINNER
The criticism of footy veteran Darius Boyd is out of order. He is reluctant to leave his family for several months if the Brisbane Broncos are forced to set up camp in Sydney all winter. This is a personal choice. Boyd has suffered from mental health issues and doesn’t need to be criticised for wanting to stay with his loved ones.
SPOTTED
The great Shane Warne at Fox Sports studios in Melbourne, shooting an all-day interview with commentator Mark Howard. We’re told it will go to air next month in a special series on many of his more private and colourful moments, both on and off the cricket pitch.
SPOTTED
The NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley demolishing a bacon and egg McMuffin at McDonald]s in Grafton on the long drive from his Gold Coast home to work at NRL headquarters in Moore Park on Wednesday.
SPOTTED
South Sydney Rabbitohs star Tom Burgess and wife Tahlia shopping in the baby products aisle at Woolworths in Caringbah on Wednesday.
SPOTTED
NRL referee Adam Gee surfing The Alley break off Cronulla beach midweek. He’s no Mick Fanning but still held his own among the local boys.
SPOTTED
NRL stars training at Lilli Pilli Oval in the Shire … Cronulla Sharks players Chad Townsend and Wade Graham and St George-Illawarra halfback Ben Hunt.
SPOTTED
Roosters halfback Kyle Flanagan and his father Shane fishing on Port Hacking. They caught nothing.
SPOTTED
A new book is out next month on Olsen Filipaina, a trailblazer in the 1980s at the Balmain Tigers for the influx of Polynesian stars in the NRL. It’s the story of a shy Maori-Samoan, who worked as a garbage collector to supplement his rugby league income … and a seriously good footy player.
SPOTTED
A couple of old Balmain Tigers legends, Steve “Blocker” Roach and his great mate Paul “Buttocks” Sironen, power-walking in Putney during the week.
SHOOSH
Which NRL club has uncovered horrendous overspending on entertainment expenses during a recent financial audit that will make for an interesting conversation at the next board meeting.
‘SHOW FANS I’M NOT A GRUB’
The first perception you have of Canberra Raiders forward Hudson Young is that he’s a grub, twice suspended last season for eye-gouging.
The 21-year-old NRL rookie copped a five-week ban and then an eight-week suspension for arguably the most despicable act in sport — twice in one season.
But hold your horses … because perception in this case is misleading.
The Raiders forward has been working as a special carer for men with disabilities at Dandelion House in his old town of Newcastle.
It’s a job he took on of his own accord — without the knowledge of the Raiders.
“It’s a bit of a passion of mine,” Young says. “Helping people with mental health issues who are a little bit vulnerable.
“You’re there to support and to try to make their everyday life as normal as possible.”
His tasks include cooking, shopping, supervising the daily chores and sometimes staying overnight in the homes that care for the disadvantaged.
Young has had experience in a similar field in the national capital.
“I worked for two years as a learning support assistant at a school in Canberra,” he said.
“It was helping out kids who had been in a bit trouble to get back on track.”
Mental health care is a subject close to the heart of his coach Ricky Stuart through his daughter Emma and his foundation that raises awareness and funds for the care of autistic sufferers.
“You’ve got to have a special soul to be a carer for the vulnerable and disadvantaged,” Stuart said.
“I see these carers through my foundation every week. It is wonderful the work they do.
“Hudson is a good bloke and it’s why we’ve always stuck by him.”
This weekend had been circled in Young’s diary for months.
It was his comeback date from suspension until the competition was put on hold.
“I’ve still got three games to go,” he said, “I can’t wait to get back out there and play some good footy.
“I’ve taken ownership of what I did. There’s an opportunity now to show fans I’m not a grub.
“And if football doesn’t work out long term, at least I know now that I’ve got a good career to fall back on.”