Sport Confidential: Anthony Milford’s Magpies debut faces broadcast blackout
Anthony Milford’s Souths Logan debut won’t be broadcast this weekend – and it’s caused a major spat between the league and its clubs. SPORT CONFIDENTIAL.
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The Queensland Rugby League is at loggerheads with clubs over coverage that could see fans denied the chance to watch Anthony Milford make his Intrust Super Cup debut this Sunday.
Axed Broncos star Milford will make one of the most anticipated Intrust Super Cup debuts against Norths at Davies Park, but regional Queensland fans will not be able to see him play due to a political livestreaming stoush.
Several Intrust Super Cup clubs, including Brisbane Tigers, Ipswich and Mackay, are furious at a QRL ruling that has banned them from livestreaming their matches for free on social-media platforms.
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The QRL took over broadcast rights from Channel 9 this year and are bankrolling two matches per week that are streamed via Kayo, 9Now and their official website.
The QRL have chosen Wynnum’s clash with Redcliffe as their Sunday televised game, preventing Souths Logan potentially live-streaming coverage of Milford’s maiden outing for the Magpies.
“It’s a joke,” said one club official.
“Clubs are only trying to promote games to grassroots fans.
“Anthony Milford will play for Souths Logan this week yet fans cannot watch him on TV across the entire state.
“It makes no sense for the QRL to ban streaming of games that only promotes their competition.”
QRL chief operating officer Rohan Sawyer defended the decision.
“We don’t mean to be Bad Cop, but under the initial broadcasting framework, clubs weren’t legally allowed to be streaming games,” he said.
“When Channel 9 withdrew its support this year, the QRL made the decision to self-fund and pick up the rights.
“I understand the feelings of the clubs but there is a broadcast framework in place and as the holder of the framework, we can’t allow the clubs to just stream games outside of that framework.
“We have a right to protect the value of our broadcast because in 2023, if a network bids for the rights, they could right argue why should they bid for it when clubs stream it for free on their Facebook every week?
“It would be great to see Anthony Milford on a live stream. Equally, fans are more than welcome to go to Davies Park this Sunday to watch Milford, pay $10 for entry, get a few XXXX Golds, and support their local club through the gate.”
Ultimate insult: Broncos’ latest unwanted record
The Broncos have registered a new unwanted record.
Brisbane entered Friday night’s clash against the unbeaten Penrith Panthers at Suncorp Stadium as rank $14 outsiders with TAB.
It was the longest odds the Broncos have ever been in recorded betting history.
The Panthers were at the ridiculous odds of $1.01 to win the game, which unsurprisingly was also the shortest price any team has ever been to beat the Broncos.
And in the end, Penrith just scraped through.
The bookies had given the Broncos a massive 27.5 points headstart in line betting.
The previous longest odds the Broncos had ever been was $12 to beat the Roosters in Round 16 last year. The Roosters won 58-12.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters said despite being written off, Brisbane had plenty to play for.
“Can I borrow $100 off you?” he joked when informed of the odds.
“There is always pressure on the Broncos. It’s the jersey and badge, regardless of what other people think.
“I believe this team will go out and give a good account of themselves.
“We don’t look at odds. It’s irrelevant. It’s what happens with the Broncos jersey that I’m most concerned about.”
Stinky start to Hayne’s Titans career
It is widely accepted that Jarryd Hayne’s stint at the Gold Coast Titans was a failure but what many don’t know is it stunk from the start.
Hayne signed a $1.2 million-a-year deal with the Titans in late 2016 to return to the NRL from the NFL in America. It was the biggest story in Australian sport.
The negotiations to make Hayne a Titan transpired over a crazy day as he flew up to the Gold Coast from Sydney to ink the deal before it was announced.
And among the drama was a smelly story that proved to be an omen for Hayne’s time at the Titans.
Former Titans CEO Graham Annesley and COO Tony Mestrov had a meeting at the home of chair Rebecca Frizelle in Southport to finalise the terms of Hayne’s contract.
Annesley and Mestrov left the house and returned to the Titans’ headquarters to get some paperwork together.
A germaphobe, Annesley noticed a strange smell in his office which turned out to be dog faeces Mestrov had stood in and carried into Annesley’s car and through the Titans’ office.
The stinky situation wasn’t enough to turn off the Titans, who announced Hayne’s signing the following day.
Hayne spectacularly quit the Titans after the 2017 season, returned to Parramatta in 2018 and is now awaiting sentencing after being convicted of sexual assault.
No QLD homecoming for DCE
He is the Queensland Origin skipper but Daly Cherry-Evans admits not even the prospect of a new second Brisbane team can convince him to come home.
The ARL Commission will make a call on expansion by July and if a 17th team was added to the NRL for 2023 or 2024, Cherry-Evans is sure to be high on the hit-list for a prospective Brisbane team as they build a roster to challenge the Broncos.
Cherry-Evans is Manly’s man-of-the-moment after once again snapping the last-second field goal to deliver the Sea Eagles’ first win of the season against the Warriors last Friday night.
The Maroons skipper will be 34 when he comes off-contract at the end of 2023 and is keen to sign one more deal. While he backed the NRL’s expansion plans, Redcliffe junior ‘DCE’ can’t see himself leaving Sydney’s northern beaches.
“I really do like it (expansion), there’s a thirst for rugby league in Queensland, the fans love their footy up there and if there is one spot we are going to put another team, it has to be in Queensland,” he said.
“But I’m very happy at Manly ... something would have to go seriously wrong for me to play for another club.”
Cherry-Evans is adamant the southeast Queensland market can sustain a second Brisbane team.
“There has to be a second side somewhere in Brisbane,” he said.
“The Broncos have obviously got a stranglehold on the region but Brisbane is a big enough city to accommodate two teams.
“I don’t think the game would put another team if they didn’t feel they could be financially stable.”
Cowboys lasso ‘next Harry Grant’
North Queensland have scored a major win over NRL rivals Melbourne by snaring the signature of boom Queensland hooker Jai Hansen.
Queensland under-16s hooker Hansen hails from Rockhampton, the same Central Queensland town which produced Storm rake Harry Grant, who delivered one of the great State of Origin debuts in last year‘s decider.
Storm scouts have huge wraps on Hansen, who attends The Cathedral College in Rockhampton, but the teenage young gun has signed with the Cowboys.
Cowboys recruitment chief Dane Campbell has watched Hansen closely and believes the clever hooker can have a long and successful career in the NRL.
Hansen considered moving to Melbourne but was concerned about the prospect of being stuck behind the 23-year-old Grant at the Storm.
TCC coach Mick Busby told the QRL website last year that Hansen had a huge future in the game.
“He has been outstanding,” Busby said. “I’m likening him to Harry Grant ... the quickness around the ears that sets him apart from everyone else. He is just sharp.
“As well as being quite resilient and tough, he can get our whole forward pack going forward from his service at dummy half.”
Kevvie has his cake
As a mathematician, Kevin Walters makes a great rugby league coach.
Walters this week used a bizarre analogy to describe the progress of the battling Brisbane Broncos.
“We are round five of 25 so we are a quarter of the way,” Walters said.
“If you look at a cake there is still three quarters of the cake to eat, so that’s what excites me.”
We hate to break it you Kevvie but five out of 25 is a fifth.
The good news is there is even more cake left to eat!
Simpkin a fine graduate
Jake Simpkin will become the latest graduate of the Queensland’s Confraternity Carnival to play NRL when he makes his debut for Wests Tigers against Souths this Saturday.
Simpkin was a member of the St Mary’s College, Toowoomba team that won the 2018 carnival in Charters Towers. He was chosen in the team of the carnival with Broncos star Xavier Coates (Marymount College).
More than 130 ‘Confro’ graduates have gone on to play NRL including Cowboys champion Johnathan Thurston, who also went to St Mary’s College. This year’s carnival, featuring 48 mostly Catholic schools, will be at Iona College in June.
The 19-year-old Simpkin is 181cm and 91kg and will start at hooker against Wayne Bennett’s Rabbitohs at Stadium Australia.
Be careful, Gal
Former NSW Origin legend-turned-boxer Paul Gallen should be a worried man.
As Gallen prepares for the biggest fight of his career against Lucas Browne this Wednesday, Sport Confidential can reveal ‘Big Daddy’ Browne has been ruthlessly knocking out rivals in sparring in recent weeks.
The hulking 196cm Browne has a formidable record, winning 29 of his 31 pro fights, 25 by knockout, and has put Gallen on notice by flogging hapless opponents in sparring sessions.
Gallen is unbeaten in 11 fights and believes he will end Browne‘s career after his upset of UFC legend Mark Hunt in December.
Tino making an impact
Titans forward Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has brought some of the Melbourne Storm’s famed professionalism to the Gold Coast.
Despite being only 21, Fa’asuamaleaui has blown Titans coach Justin Holbrook away with his maturity and dedication around the club since joining the Gold Coast this season.
And it is evident on the training paddock that Fa’asuamaleaui is trying to lift the standards around the Titans.
Sport Confidential observed “Big Tino” chipping his teammates at last week’s captain’s run when they were fooling around after the session.
“It’s hot, get out of the sun and start recovery if you’ve finished,” he said to a group of Titans players wanting to kick goals from the sideline.
Fa’asuamaleaui has leadership written all over him and has impressed everyone at the club.
Abdo’s expansion warning
NRL chief Andrew Abdo has issued a stern warning to the Brisbane bid teams vying for the game’s 17th licence – you will need money to survive.
Abdo was in Brisbane on Tuesday at a Magic Round event where he was grilled on the NRL’s expansion plans.
The Jets, Firehawks and Dolphins bid teams are advanced in their planning as the NRL nears making a decision on expansion.
And Abdo said a key component of the process will be analysing the finances of the bids to ensure the new club can remain viable long-term.
“Financial sustainability will be a key criteria for whether or not we’re able to move to 17 teams,” he said.
“What incremental revenue can we bring around broadcast and sponsorship but also how sure we are the club is sustainable in terms of their commercial revenues.
“That is definitely a criteria.”
Mbye keeps options open
Former Queensland Origin utility Moses Mbye is keeping a close eye on the ARL Commission’s expansion plans surrounding a second team in Brisbane.
Moses has been granted to permission to leave by the Tigers, who have him under contract until the end of next year, making him a free agent if a proposed 17th NRL team is born for 2023.
The Noosa Pirates junior has been linked to a move to the Cowboys or Broncos this season, but he would be a handy recruit for a start-up second Brisbane team given his NRL experience.
Mbye, who turns 28 in August, has played 139 NRL games and three Origin matches for Queensland since his debut in 2014. Well-spoken and squeaky clean, he is the type of ambassador a new NRL club would require.
“It’s early days and nothing is in concrete, but if there is a second Brisbane team and Peter V’landys (ARLC boss) wants another team in Queensland, I’d certainly look at it,” he said.
“V’landys seems to be leaning towards expansion and putting a second Brisbane team in.
“I’m contracted to the Tigers until next year so if a team was added in 2023 I could be available.”
Frizelle’s big bash
Titans co-owner Rebecca Frizelle celebrated her 50th birthday in style last weekend.
Frizelle partied at the Star Casino on Friday night but a highlight of the weekend had to be watching the Titans thrash Newcastle 42-16 on a perfect Gold Coast afternoon.
Frizelle had some of her nearest and dearest alongside her, including award-winning journalist brother Hedley Thomas, who made an appearance in the Titans dressing rooms after the big win.
Intrust goes bush
The tiny Queensland town of Quilpie - population 600 - will play host to the Ipswich Jets v Redcliffe Dolphins Round 14 clash as part of the Intrust Super Cup‘s Country Week.
The Queensland Rugby League and state government will reveal the locations in Sunday’s broadcast of the Magpies v Devils game, but we’ve heard plans are underway for one of the matches to be played at Quilpie - 950km west of Brisbane.
It will be a hometown appearance for Jets coach and former premiership-winning captain Keiron Lander, who was born and raised in the small outback town.
The ISC Country Week will also head to four other locations which have never experienced a Q-Cup game before.
In 2019, the Country Week Round was played at Thursday Island, Ilfracombe and Cloncurry.
Whoops
Which Brisbane media personality was left red-faced after asking devout Muslim and teetotaller Usman Khawaja how he planned to drink beer off the Sheffield Shield if Queensland beat NSW this weekend?
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Originally published as Sport Confidential: Anthony Milford’s Magpies debut faces broadcast blackout
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