Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Stu Laundy opens up on Vietnam hell, Ray Dib linked to PNG bid and Channel 9 vs agents
Bulldogs sponsor Stu Laundy opens up on his brush with death in Vietnam, how Ray Dib could be back in the NRL, who exactly is the boss at Channel 9, and more in Saint, Sinner, Shoosh.
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Celebrity publican and Bulldogs sponsor Stu Laundy is recovering from a shocking motorbike accident in Vietnam that almost claimed his life.
The 52-year-old had to be airlifted back to Australia in a medical jet with a doctor and two nurses on board after being hit by a truck and thrown onto the road while on a holiday.
“I was in and out of consciousness for a while,” Laundy said. “I got a busted knee, sternum, shoulder, ribs, clots in my lungs and infections.
“Vietnam hospitals are not that crash hot so dad (billionaire Arthur Laundy) organised to have me flown home. The plane was decked out like a hospital. I’m very lucky.”
Laundy was in Vietnam with his family, including his ex-wife Rachel who is a nurse.
She supervised the treatment at the accident site before an ambulance arrived.
“Rachel never left my side,” Laundy said.
“Lucky she was there. The accident just happened from nothing.
“I was riding along and a truck pulled out of its lane and I ran straight into it. At 52, I probably shouldn’t be riding a motorbike but the truck driver has accepted the blame.”
Laundy was taken to Royal North Shore hospital when the plane landed in Sydney.
He has since had two rounds of surgery and is slowly recovering.
“I feel like I’m coming good now,” he said. “It could have been much worse. I’m very grateful to all the people who helped out.”
Laundy is a prominent figure in Sydney’s social circles. In 2017 he did a stint on reality TV show The Bachelor that ended with him and fellow celebrity Sophie Monk dating.
He is often credited for the Canterbury Bulldogs signing Phil Gould as general manager of football back in 2021.
It was Stu and Arthur who met Gould at Percys Hotel in North Sydney to convince him to take on the rebuild job at Belmore.
SAINT
You’ve gotta love the old North Sydney Bears. On Sunday they host St George Illawarra at North Sydney Oval at 3pm. In a lovely touch, the Bears have invited the Chance2Dance group, that caters for kids and adults with disabilities and special needs, to perform before the game and at halftime. The excitement around these activities makes such a difference to their lives.
SINNER
Since when is a twice deregistered player agent and a footballer allowed to dictate to Channel 9 about which journalists can appear on the network’s 100% Footy show. Could you imagine Kerry Packer or David Gyngell tolerating this sort of nonsense in the good old days. Fancy not backing your own journalist. We’re told the man who rolled over to Isaac Moses was Simon Fordham — a senior Wide World of Sports executive. It’s surprising because he is the cousin of Walkley Award winning 2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham and should know better.
SPOTTED
Ex-Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis and CEO Justin Pascoe in Ottawa last week trying to buy a Canadian pro basketball team. The pair has set up companies in Canada, the US, UK and Australia with the aim of purchasing sporting franchises. Sounds like more fun than running the poor old Tigers.
SPOTTED
Blake Steep debuted for the Sydney Roosters last year but he’s been hanging around their sheds for much longer. The 20-year-old forward is pictured here with winger Daniel Tupou and his brother Mitch when he was an eight-year-old fan with dreams of playing NRL himself one day.
SPOTTED
Life hasn’t been so bad lately for Jackson Hastings — the unwanted $800,000-a-year Newcastle Knights halfback who can’t get a start with his NRL team. It’s given him more precious time to spend with his newly-arrived beautiful baby daughter Scottie and partner Amelia.
SPOTTED
Celebrity accountant Anthony Bell hosted more sporting types on one of his luxury cruisers on Sydney Harbour last week. This time it was the NBL’s billionaire owner Larry Kestelman, who was on board with his guests to celebrate the announcement the league was bringing two of Europe’s biggest basketball teams to play in a tournament in Australia in September.
SPOTTED
Aussie sporting legends Dawn Fraser and Mick Fanning at The Paddington in Brisbane on Thursday for a fundraiser for Smart Pups — the organisation that trains and provides assistance dogs.
SHOOSH
The Broncos have weird ways of dealing with disciplinary issues. Poor old Marty Taupau gets sacked for liking an Instagram post that was critical of Michael Maguire. Ezra Mam gets nine weeks for driving unlicensed with drugs in his system and causing an accident that injured a toddler. Work that one out. Good players are obviously treated differently to the average ones.
CHAIR DIB IN HOT SEAT
The NRL has identified former Canterbury Bulldogs boss Ray Dib as the man to take on the toughest job in rugby league as the chairman of the new PNG franchise.
Dib was Bulldogs chairman for eight years before he was removed from the job in 2018 when members voted in a new ticket headed by Lynne Anderson.
The ex-top Dog has billionaire Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis to thank for his comeback to league with the PNG side in such a significant role.
He is expected to be working alongside his former CEO at the Bulldogs, Andrew Hill, who led the PNG bid team to gain entry into the competition in 2028.
Your columnist can reveal Politis rang independent commission chairman Peter V’landys to recommend Dib for the job.
Dib is a highly credentialed corporate entrepreneur with a masters degree in business management.
REYNO’S CAREER SACRIFICE
Superstar halfback Adam Reynolds has offered to retire rather than create a salary cap squeeze that could force out high profile teammates like Selwyn Cobbo or Payne Haas.
The 34-year-old halfback recently shelved plans to end his NRL career this season, putting the Broncos in an awkward position because of pressure on their cap.
Yet in an interview with his manager Steve Gillis on his Chiming In podcast, Reynolds insists he will not put at risk the long-term careers of younger players.
“I’m not ready to retire,” he said.
“Mentally I’m in a great spot, probably the best I’ve ever been.
“I’m extremely comfortable, I want them (the other players) done first.
“They are the future of the club and deserve to be looked after first. I’m at the back end of my career.
“The club is in a great space moving forward and I want to be part of it.
“But I also understand the pressure around the salary cap.
“I’d love to extend and stay (but) if it means me missing out to keep the younger players, I’m happy to put my hand up.”
SO, WHO’S THE BOSS?
More details are emerging of Channel 9’s decision to stand down SMH journalist Michael Chammas from 100% Footy last Monday night at the request of twice deregistered player agent Isaac Moses and Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses.
They not only threatened to boycott the show if Chammas was on the panel but also insisted that the journalist not be in the building when they arrived for the show to save them from any awkward confrontation.
Senior journalists and editors at the SMH are furious at the manner in which Chammas was treated by their Nine Entertainment stablemate.
And it is particularly embarrassing for Nine Entertainment’s chief hatchet man who continues to push an agenda about the NRL trying to use its power and influence to control the content on 100% Footy and NRL 360. And then his own place allows a manager and a player to do exactly that.
NEW KNEES A RELIEF FOR TOUGH TIMMO
Former Blues State of Origin hero Shaun Timmins is recovering from surgery for a double knee replacement.
Remarkably he was up and about the next day shuffling along the corridors of Wollongong Private Hospital with a walking frame.
It’s now 21 years since Timmins’ matchwinning golden-point field goal to give NSW a 9-8 victory over the Maroons at Accor Stadium.
The former St George-Illawarra star, who played 210 games for the Illawarra Steelers and then the Dragons, has endured a painful existence over the last few years courtesy of his bad knees.
“I couldn’t walk for longer than five minutes without having to pull up from the pain,” Timmins said.
“They’ve been stuffed for ages.”
Still, the 48-year-old has no regrets.
“I’d do it all again,” he said.
“I used to always do whatever it took to get on the field each week.
“Maybe long term it wasn’t good for me, but back then you just wanted to play, no matter what.”
Timmins is still very much involved with the Dragons as coach of the club’s SG Ball side.
And you can guarantee he’ll be up and about again in time to cheer for his beloved Blues by Wednesday week for the Origin series opener at Suncorp in Brisbane.
DCE FAREWELL
The tension between Manly Sea Eagles skipper Daly Cherry Evans and the club’s management appears to be easing.
CEO Tony Mestrov is already planning for his farewell game at Brookvale Oval in the Round 27 match against the Warriors to give fans on the northern peninsula the opportunity to say goodbye.
It will be a highly emotional for DCE after 15 years at the club.
ANTHONY RINGS MADGE’S BELL
Broncos coach Michael Maguire has an obsession with celebrity accountant Anthony Bell.
We told you last week how Madge hired out Bell’s luxury cruiser Ghost 1 for a night on Sydney Harbour before the team crashed to its fourth loss in five weeks against Souths.
Madge also showed off his friendship with Bell during the pre-season.
This time he took his football department staff to Bell’s $25 million luxury home on the Sunshine Coast for an off-site conference.
And, when he was assistant coach in Canberra, Madge organised for Bell to travel to the national capital to address the Raiders on leadership.
Bell is a long-time South Sydney tragic who became friendly with Maguire during his coaching days at the Rabbitohs.
DESSIE DODGER
Veteran Titans coach Dessie Hasler has had the last laugh on the Queensland media, which has been relentlessly grilling him on his Gold Coast future.
Rather than face another round of tough questioning from local journos, Hasler moved his pre-game press conference to the national capital before the Raiders game to avoid more interrogating on his future.
GAMES OFF FOR REF ABUSE
Two country rugby league games had to be abandoned last weekend for referee abuse and crowd misbehaviour.
Mittagong Lions v Campbelltown Collegians (under-18s) and Hay Magpies v Yenda Blueheelers (1st grade) were called off, prompting a warning from NSWRL chief executive Dave Trodden.
“Referees have a right to enjoy their weekend footy, just like players,” Trodden said.
“Any abuse of our match officials is unacceptable and everyone – players, coaches, trainers and spectators – should clearly understand that it is not part of the deal.
“Nobody would tolerate abuse in their own workplace and referees should not have to tolerate abusive behaviour while doing their job.”
THE BETTER HALF – with Chenille Panapa, partner of Sharks prop Braden Hamlin-Uele
People see Braden as a pretty scary guy on TV, is he really like that at home?
He is a very loving and caring, thoughtful person. A lot of people see this aggression and big man out on the field, but he is honestly like a big teddy bear at heart and would do anything for anyone. We definitely get a gentler side to Braden which we really love, but he’s kind of a big softie which is different to how he plays. His mum used to call him Boo Bear because he was a big kid who was quite soft.
What’s your favourite part of watching Braden play?
The most special part for me is getting to bring my son to watch his Dad play. You only are in the NRL for a certain time, so any game we can get to so we can support him we are there.
Braden’s end of last year, and start to this season, has been a bit tough; playing a bit of NSW Cup and he’s had a few injuries. What’s that been like to go through?
When you’re with someone who is in the professional sports industry, there are always going to be ups and downs. What I have learnt being a part of the journey is you can feel all of his emotions, but the main goal is always to identify why we sit in those feelings, and then to make sure what I can do to help. His mindset has always been, ‘Okay, well if I am playing NSW Cup and I know where I need to be. And I know what I need to do to get back there’.
How does one fall in love with an NRL hard man like Braden?
We both grew up in West Auckland and he used to play league with my brother, so we actually met when we were like 13. I always knew he had a crush on me because the boys on the team used to make it blatantly obvious.
Wow 13, have you been together that entire time?
No, we both went our separate ways until 2023. Him and I ran into each other at the airport after both of us visited our families in Auckland. Ever since then we have been talking non-stop.
Did he ever tell you he was thinking about you the entire time you spent away?
Yeah he did. He told me growing up I was known as the hot sister around the team, so he was stoked we ended up together. He used to always ask for rides home back when we were really young. He didn’t hide his feelings very well!
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