Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Ray Hadley’s anger over Ray Warren TV snub
There was one glaring omission from the line-up of stars who paid tribute to legendary commentator Ray Warren in a Channel 9 documentary.
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2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley is privately furious at his employers Nine Entertainment over a grand final week snub.
The television network ran a documentary on legendary commentator Ray Warren on Friday night in which they interviewed all his closest media mates – except for Hadley.
The pair have worked alongside each other at NRL grand finals, State of Origins and overseas at Olympic Games for more than 30 years.
They also played golf together while they were members at Castle Hill for 20 years.
Hadley has privately told friends he is deeply offended at being snubbed.
When I texted him on Friday he initially declined to comment.
He texted back a couple of hours later: “My relationship with Rabs goes back decades and we’ve seen and shared some wonderful sporting moments from adjoining commentary boxes.”
Hadley was also the man responsible for running the campaign to get Warren a statue in his hometown of Junee.
“It would have been nice to be part of a show to honour the great man.”
The production of Friday night’s show was overseen by Nine’s Head of Sport Brett Williams.
He obviously has no idea of the history of their relationship.
Surprisingly Williams used a commentator from a rival network, Channel 7’s Bruce McAvaney, but not Hadley from his own stable. Hadley is a huge figure at Nine Entertainment in Sydney and Brisbane and the highest paid on-air talent at the entire network through his morning radio show that has been number one in ratings for almost 20 years.
Hadley is calling his 33rd grand final for the Continuous call team on Sunday evening.
He equals the record of legendary radio commentator Frank Hyde, who called 31 grand finals and two replays between 1953 and 1983.
LATRELL A BIG HIT AT KNOCKOUT
Latrell Mitchell’s rib cartilage injury that restricted him against the Penrith Panthers last weekend can’t be all that bad.
Despite needing painkilling injections before the game and at halftime against the Panthers, Latrell was back on the footy field this weekend at the indigenous knockout in Nowra.
And on Sunday he’s playing opposite his great friend and Rabbitohs teammate Cody Walker.
Latrell, George Rose, Joel Thompson and Ben Barba are playing for Walgett Aboriginal Connection at the knockout. Cody is playing for Bundjalung Baygal Warriors.
The Rabbitohs are fully supportive.
Barba and TRELLMIT carve up for Walgett🔥🖤 #KooriKnockout 🎥 @Rabbitohs_TVpic.twitter.com/fhrkIEXLG4
— South Sydney Rabbitohs 🰠(@SSFCRABBITOHS) October 1, 2022
“Absolutely we are,” CEO Blake Solly said. “We’re really supportive of all our guys playing because it’s a wonderful and important tournament for the Indigenous community.”
Latrell scored a great try off a Ben Barba pass on Saturday.
However we’re not sure what Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga thinks of it.
Under normal circumstances, on the eve of the World Cup, he would probably prefer his stars to be resting. Especially when they are carrying injuries.
Still, nothing was going to stop Latrell from being part of the indigenous tournament given there is not a prouder player of his culture in the NRL.
SAINT
Dally M champ Nicho Hynes. This guy is not just a fabulous rugby league halfback but a really humble young man and a magnificent role model around mental health and Indigenous issues.
SINNER
The grand final scalpers who were ripping off fans on eBay with outrageous prices for tickets. One of them was selling four diamond seats, worth $400 each, for $5200.
SHOOSH
Thank goodness the independent commission backed down on its recent threat to move the grand final from Sydney to Suncorp Stadium over the collapse of suburban ground funding. Could you imagine the public outrage among Eels and Panthers fans if the western Sydney decider had been moved out of town? This grand final is shaping as one of the all-time great events at the Olympic stadium.
SHOOSH
The NRL needs to revamp the Dally M voting, especially around positional awards. Payne Haas getting front-rower of the year ahead of James Fisher-Harris is outrageous. So too was the fact Brad Arthur was not even a nomination for coach of the year.
SHOOSH
Parramatta Eels have defended their decision to charge fans to attend a live site at CommBank Stadium. More than 10,000 tickets have been sold for $15 each. Turns out it costs $150,000 to open the stadiums, bars, food outlets, plus offer security and entertainment.
SHOOSH
The biggest story post the grand final is not the World Cup in England. It’s the Manly Sea Eagles. Veteran coach Des Hasler is not about to get the contract extension he wants. This means the club faces months of tension and uncertainty before the beginning of next season.
SPOTTED
Footy passion on grand final day can test even the tightest relationships. Turf editor and world’s nicest man Ray Thomas and his wife Tanya will be at Accor Stadium on Sunday night for the decider. Tanya is a Parramatta Eels tragic and Ray adores his Penrith Panthers.
SPOTTED
Adam Reynolds was back in Sydney for the Dally Ms on Wednesday and squeezed in a game of golf. He hit a birdie on the first hole at his old course Eastlakes.
SPOTTED
Dave and Candice Warner with their kids Ivy, Indi and Isla at Mario’s restaurant at Broadbeach on Tuesday night.
SPOTTED
A punter on Twitter on Penrith winger Taylan May: “If the NRL had banned (Taylan) May immediately instead of next season he would’ve served his two games in the finals, avoided injury, and been available for the grand final. The rugby league gods work in mysterious ways.”
RADIO BOOST FOR MATTY JOHNS
It’s been a mixed week for sports radio station 1170 SEN.
The network’s chief executive Craig Hutchison told us on Friday he had secured Fox Sports’ Matty Johns on a new two-year contract.
Matty will also be making extended appearances on Matt White’s morning show and on drive with Joel Caine and Bryan Fletcher.
“He’s a brilliant character and entertainer,” Hutchison said.
Not so brilliant for SEN are the latest rugby league ratings for Friday night football.
The network has rated a zero (what used to be an asterisk) in the Sydney market on 1170 against 2GB, Triple M and the ABC.
However, Hutchison said the live football coverage is broadcast to more than 40 regional stations across NSW and Queensland and is doing well on other digital platforms.
FOX STICKS WITH 6PM NRL SLOT
Fox Sports will continue to broadcast Friday night games at 6pm next year, despite reports to the contrary. It had been suggested the NRL would schedule three games on Sunday in 2pm, 4pm and 6pm timeslots rather than the early Friday timeslot.
Fox Sports’ contract with the NRL includes a 6pm Friday game with two games on Sunday in the lead-in to the Matty Johns show. They have no plans to change it.
TOP 10 ALL-TIME PARRAMATTA EELS
The Eels will need to win the grand final to have any current players included in an all-time top 10 list of Parramatta club champions. Maybe the likes of halfback Mitchell Moses or Junior Paulo will become club legends alongside the likes of Brett Kenny, Peter Sterling and Ray Price if the Eels can somehow knock over the Panthers tonight and deliver the club’s first title since 1986.
Elite Eels:
1. Ray Price
2. Brett Kenny
3. Peter Sterling
4. Ken Thornett
5. Mick Cronin
6. Steve Ella
7. Jarryd Hayne
8. Eric Grothe
9. Nathan Hindmarsh
10. Peter Wynn
Coach: Jack Gibson
TOP 10 ALL-TIME PENRITH PANTHERS
The Panthers already have two current players who can proudly sit alongside Penrith’s top 10 of all-time. No one could argue with including champion halfback Nathan Cleary and front-row enforcer James Fisher-Harris. In fact, if the Panthers win tonight to make it two straight NRL premierships, Cleary would challenge 1980s-90s half Greg Alexander as their greatest ever.
Primo Panthers:
1. Greg Alexander
2. Brad Fittler
3. Nathan Cleary
4. Royce Simmons
5. John Cartwright
6. James Fisher-Harris
7. Mark Geyer
8. Ryan Girdler
9. Craig Gower
10. Mike Stephenson
Coach: Ivan Cleary
GREENBERG’S ROLE IN RISE OF CLEARY
Former NRL boss Todd Greenberg deserves some of the credit for helping Ivan Cleary become a premiership-winning super coach at the Panthers.
When Phil Gould sacked Cleary at the end of the 2015 season, the then NRL chief executive got straight on the phone with a job offer.
“I remember reaching out to him at the time,” Greenberg recalls. “He’d previously sat on the NRL’s competition committee and I thought he was impressive and had a lot to offer.
“So I said to him to ‘come and work for the NRL in between coaching jobs’.”
Greenberg says it was a win for all parties.
“Ivan added value to our organisation and I think it also helped him to broaden his experience to get to the stage where he is now,” he said.
“He worked on a lot of areas in the footy department, not just referees.
“I remember later on he said it did help him enormously. I’m really pleased at what he’s achieved because he’s a ripping fella.”
Cleary hopes to guide Penrith to back-to-back premierships tonight.
PRICE RIGHT BEHIND BROWN
Eels legend Ray Price’s favourite player in the grand final is the man who almost missed out on being there.
The old Parramatta warrior, who won four premierships, is loving the fact that middle forward Nathan Brown is back in Brad Arthur’s side after a three-month absence.
“He’s such a tough bastard,” Price said, “He brings an extra fear factor and size.
“I’d have had him there all the way through. We’ll need his aggression and physicality.
“I love that he can rip and tear and that he’s a little bit old school.”
Price is also a big fan of Parra’s NRLW side that plays the Knights in the grand final.
“I love the way they play their footy,” he said. “They’re like the men’s team. They use the football and offload. The women’s game is going to be huge.”
CHEF’S BURGER HITS SPOT
Celebrity chef Matt Moran will be at Accor Stadium to look after the menus in the members’ lounge and corporate suites. He’s also designed a signature burger called Matt’s Burger, which will be available to the punters at most of the food outlets. Moran is a huge league fan but a long suffering one, given he is a lifelong Dragons supporter.
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