Sports Confidential: Neighbours Lachlan Lewis, Damien Cook set to face each other on the field
Russell Crowe pays tribute to retiring South Sydney great Greg Inglis, the odd relationship between next door neighbours Damien Cook and Lachlan Lewis and the Cowboys snare a promising Dragon. SPORT CONFIDENTIAL
Lachlan Lewis reckons he almost put his back out by putting out Damien Cook’s bins this week.
The South Sydney superstar and the up and coming Canterbury star are next door neighbours in the Sutherland Shire.
That relationship will be put to the test when they square off against each other in the annual Good Friday clash on Friday afternoon.
“He is burying bodies in his bin,” Lewis laughed.
“I almost broke my arm.”
A bit of gardening saw Cook’s green bin rejected after it exceeded the 80 kilogram weight limit.
The pair had only crossed paths once – and that was on the field - before they moved in alongside each other at the end of last year. Lewis’ manager Luke Lombardi helped arrange the houses.
Cook said he had mowed Lewis’ lawns and wanted to have more than just the two competition points on offer.
“We take each other’s bins out and put them back in,” Cook said.
“There is a bit of neighbourly love there.
“He never has his blinds up. I’m not sure what he is doing inside. He is secretive. He doesn’t make a noise.
“We might put the lawn on it. I let my lawn get pretty long. I’d love to see him battle through that in a pair of Souths’ swimmers.
“We don’t cross paths too often but I’m sure I’ll see him on Friday.”
CROWE PRAISE FOR GI
South Sydney co-owner Russell Crowe says Greg Inglis came to the Rabbitohs “to be part of something special”.
“And he did,” Crowe told Sport Confidential this week in the wake of Inglis’ retirement.
Inglis joined South Sydney at the peak of his power in 2011 when he was a well established Test and Origin player.
The then Melbourne Storm superstar shunned a richer offer from Brisbane to join a South Sydney side who had made the finals just once in two decades prior to Inglis’ arrival.
“It’s hard to quantify what Greg’s signing meant at the time,” Crowe said.
“We’d brought together a very good team who were building a reputation of commitment - Issac Luke, Sam Burgess, Roy Asotasi to name a few. There was a strong bond and a loyalty in the sheds and I think that’s what Greg recognised and wanted to be part of.
“He also recognised the clubs deep community involvement and it’s fantastic he wants to add to his legacy by staying connected to that.
“I guess Greg coming on-board at Souths also showed how much the ‘yes’ generation club management had grown.
“Roy’s signing was a boon, discovering Issac was pure luck, getting Sam was a calculated risk ... but Greg was a legitimate superstar that every club wanted and was throwing money at and he chose to come to Souths, not for the money, to be part of something special and to make history. And he did.”
Inglis starred for South Sydney during their 2014 title.
The Rabbitohs plan to farewell Inglis at their next home game against Brisbane on May 2.
JACKSON WON’T EVER QUIT
Canterbury skipper Josh Jackson lives by a simple creed: “when it gets tough the big thing for me is nothing is going to change unless you make a change”.
There has been change aplenty at the Bulldogs in recent years. Only Aiden Tolman remains at the club from Jackson’s debut match in 2012.
Jackson has encountered plenty since taking on the leadership role. A struggling side, a new coach and the exodus of plenty of experienced players.
“It’s hard at times at the end of the day you’ve got to get on with it,” Jackson said.
“I don’t know another way to put it. You can’t be precious about things. Things aren’t going to change. Working hard is what changes performances
“I just have to focus on making sure I perform. Hopefully the rest follow. The first couple of weeks I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing. I needed to make sure what I was doing was good to start with.
“People won’t want to follow people who aren’t doing what they say they are going to do.
“When it gets tough the big thing for me is nothing is going to change unless you make a change
“I needed to simplify it for myself. Get back to what I do well and put in good performance.”
COWBOYS SNAG PROMISING DRAGON
Reece Robson, the talented hooker caught in a logjam for the dummy-half role at St George Illawarra, has signed a four-year deal with North Queensland.
Robson will be a welcome addition, with many of the belief that the Cowboys’ struggling start to the season is caused, in part, by the service out of dummy-half.
As Ben Hunt firms as the choice of Queensland Origin hooker, and Cameron McInnes continues the impressive form that saw him push hard for a NSW Origin spot last year, it is an unfortunate case for the Dragons that you can’t keep them all.
LISTEN! Matty reveals his favourite Inglis memories, the impact of retirement on a player and dissects the five-eighths who are setting the competition alight. Paul Kent and James Hooper join Matty for Australia’s No.1 sports podcast.
THE RACE THAT STOPS HENSON
The Melbourne Cup may be the race that stops a nation. But Winx’s farewell could be dubbed the race which stopped a rugby league match.
The Newtown Jets delayed kick-off in their match against North Sydney at Henson Park on Saturday by 10 minutes to allow punters to watch the final run by Winx.
DIB POISED TO RETURN
A desire to get back into the winners’ circle has seen Billy Dib shelve retirement plans just eight months after walking away from the sport.
The two-time world champion is preparing to step back into the ring next Friday night having struggled to concede his career was over after losing a world title bout against Tevin Farmer in August.
“I would love to get back in the winners column,” Dib said.
“I just want to kill that urge. I just want to get a win. That’s the most important thing for me.
“I’ve been thinking about this since I retired. It’s been a though that’s been lingering for ages. I spoke to my family and my wife. Everyone is like do whatever makes you happy. I’m feeling motivated because I want to win so bad.”
Dib remains noncommittal about this long-term prospects. He isn’t sure if this fight will quell that itch or he will jump into the ring full-time.
He will fight Jason Canoy (27 wins (19 knockouts), 10 losses, 1 draw at Hurstville Entertainment Centre.
“It’s been really easy to get up for,” Dib said.
MILLION DOLLAR KICK
A fan from each NRL club will be given a shot at kicking for $1 million as part of the lead-up to the Magic Round celebrations.
The $1 million kick will take place on the Wednesday, May 8 at King George Square in Brisbane in front of a crowd with each club’s superfan electing to either kick for the money themselves or have a club representative kick on their behalf.
The 40-metre conversion has to go through the posts and land in a basket in order to win the prize.
Titans skipper Ryan James said he was no chance of nailing it.
“I could not kick a ball if I tried,” James said.
“If they get to choose someone I’d chuck Luke Burt in, he’s our assistant coach and does kicking with the outside backs and seems to always put it on the spot.”
To give it a crack click here.
PATTERSON POPS THE QUESTION
It has been a whirlwind few months for Aussie cricketer Kurtis Patterson.
The 25-year-old starred after making his Test debut for Australia. Patterson is a certainty to be picked in the Ashes squad but took some time out to propose to his girlfriend Jocelyn in Seattle this week.
FOXX PAYS TRIBUTE
Wally Carr’s grandson Josh Addo-Carr has voiced a tribute to his grandfather for Fox Sports ahead of Friday’s grand final replay against Sydney Roosters.
Wally Carr was a former Australian middleweight champion and featured in this year’s NRL advertising campaign _ that’s him boxing with his grandson at Woolloomooloo PCYC _ before he was struck down by a highly aggressive cancer.
A tribute for Wally was held some weeks back to raise money for his funeral which took place at Botany on Thursday.
“We raised enough so we can erect a monument that will properly reflect his career, which he missed out on back then,” said his friend Greg Brennan.
More than 500 people attended the service.
IKIN AND TIGER
As far as bucket lists go, Ben Ikin’s little box-ticker to the US Masters might have just about trumped them all.
Ikin, remember, is such a golf nut he qualified for this year’s Queensland PGA, and last week rolled that interest into a trip to the US Masters in his role at Fox Sports.
He not only finally got to witness a Masters, he chanced upon one of the greatest-ever with Tiger Woods’ unlikely but inspiring victory.
When Woods putted in to claim his 15th major Ikin was just 10m away and, better than that, just two metres away when Woods stepped off the green to hug his two children and girlfriend in celebration.
Unfortunately, though he believes he was next in line, Ikin missed out on a hug of his own.
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