What’s the Buzz: Adam Reynolds’ rehab priorities questioned, V’landys reaches out to Barrett

South Sydney are privately angling for change behind the scenes after being left behind in an $800m heist. All that and more in Australia’s best sporting gossip column.

South Sydney boss Blake Solly has been spotted deep in Sydney Roosters territory in Moore Park for a crucial meeting about the Rabbitohs’ long-term home ground plans.

Solly met with Venues NSW chief executive Kerry Mather on Tuesday amid speculation the Rabbitohs wanted to quit Accor Stadium in Homebush, their home base since 2006, to share the new Allianz Stadium with the Sydney Roosters.

This adds another chapter to the Souths/Roosters Book of Feuds.

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Since 2016, the State Government on several occasions has promised to invest money to upgrade the Olympic Stadium — including a retractable roof.

Instead, the Government has now decided to invest around $800 million at suburban grounds in Manly, Penrith, Cronulla and Leichhardt.

The Sunday Telegraph understands Venues NSW favours the Rabbitohs remaining at Accor for the remaining seven years of their contract.

Blake Solly and the South Sydney Rabbitohs are eyeing off a move to Moore Park. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Solly, however, wants the best facilities for his members and fans … and is sick of all the broken promises.

Souths’ move towards the new Moore Park Stadium was first revealed in this column two weeks ago.

The club would be prepared to stay in Homebush but only if the venue is refurbished.

The Souths boss confirmed the meeting took place on Tuesday.

“We understand the NSW Government’s decision is complex, with many stakeholders and involving significant investment,” Solly said. “We aren’t being critical of the Government, we just want the best match-day experience for our players, members, fans and commercial partners.

“This would require investment into Accor Stadium, particularly the configuration, seating and facilities in the lower bowl. If that isn’t on the table, we would like to be able to look at alternatives in the Venues NSW network.”

INJURED REYNOLDS CAUGHT OUT

If you were judging an NRL buy-of-the-year on 11 rounds, Adam Reynolds would be the man. The veteran halfback — unwanted at Souths — has been outstanding for Brisbane.

Yet there is an issue around his absence from Thursday night’s match against the Knights.

The Broncos skipper hurt his groin towards the end of last weekend’s win over Manly, about 10 minutes from the end.

Any medical expert will tell you there are three key steps to recovery: avoid alcohol, sleep and ice the injury.

And this is where it becomes a story.

After the game, Reynolds had quite a night out.

Adam Reynolds suffers his groin injury

He was seen at Treasury Casino by partying Magic Round fans until close to 7am on Saturday morning.

He went to the Casino via the Caxton Hotel.

When we made inquiries, he told Broncos general manager of football Ben Ikin he wasn’t drinking.

Yet the photo taken with Alfie Langer at the Caxton clearly shows he was.

At 8.30am on Saturday, I saw Reynolds at the Sofitel Hotel, where the Rabbitohs were staying. He had coffee with his former teammates.

Adam Reynolds and Alf Langer.

Adam Reynolds at the Sofitel.

And still in the same clothes from the night out.

On Thursday afternoon the Broncos announced Reynolds had withdrawn from the team to play Newcastle.

We’re not saying he would have played if he had treated the injury more professionally.

Yet this is a guy who was signed by the Broncos to help fix a bad culture.

It’s not a scandal, but at the same time, probably not a good look, so we spoke to Ikin.

“While I accept that the recovery process you’ve outlined is not ‘best practice’, let me be clear on this, no one has been more committed than Adam Reynolds in driving our team standards,” Ikin said.

“This is the guy who came back early from holidays to give his new teammates more time to get to know him in the hope it might help us start the season a little better.

“We love our captain, and he’s one of the main reasons our culture and our club are heading in the right direction.”

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SAINT

Royce Simmons originally planned a charity walk of nearly 300 kilometres from Gooloogong to Penrith to raise $50,000 for Dementia Australia. The response has been extraordinary for the 62-year-old former Panthers, Kangaroos and NSW Blues star and old footy legends who are helping out. Royce now looks like raising more than $500,000.

SINNER

Did someone say there was a soccer A-League finals series happening right now? Not even the desperates and diehards on social media are talking about it and the ratings on Channel 10 have been pathetic.

SPOTTED

Magic Round was not just an enormous occasion for the 130,000 fans who braved the shocking weather. It was also the highest-rating round ever on Fox League, with an average audience of 470,000 across Fox Sports and Kayo.

SPOTTED

We mentioned last week how all NRL administrators travelled to Brisbane for Magic Round in economy seats after slashing travel costs as a result of Covid. Channel 9, however, has no such spending restraints. We spotted the great Gus Gould and the eighth Immortal Andrew Johns sitting up in the front of their Qantas flights.

SPOTTED

A couple of handy cricketers, Mitchell Starc and Ash Gardner, winning the men’s and women’s competitions at Long Reef golf club last week.

For Buzz ST column

SPOTTED

Rugby union ambushed the NSWRL’s annual City-Country fixtures at Leichhardt Oval last week. Fans arrived at the venue to find promotional flyers on every seat for the Wallabies v England rugby Test match in Sydney in July, with the chance to win free tickets.

SPOTTED

Normally messages from nightclub employees about NRL players are bad news. Not this one from Canberra: “Jack Wighton and Jordan Rapana were here enjoying a night out last week. They were nothing but true gentlemen taking photos and chatting with the fans all night.”

SHOOSH

Disqualified player agents Isaac Moses and Gavin Orr have applied to the NRL to have their management accreditations reinstated. Meanwhile, Wayne Beavis, who handed in his accreditation after the 2016 Parramatta Eels salary cap scandal, continues to work around the edges in looking after Trent Barrett, Shane Flanagan, Phil Gould and a number of players.

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It takes a lot to scare Cooper Cronk, the tough old Storm and Roosters halfback who played a grand final with a broken shoulder.

On Friday night a possum made its way into the Fox Sports commentary box at Leichhardt Oval shortly before the Wests Tigers v Bulldogs kick-off.

Cronk, now 38, showed he had lost none of his speed in getting himself out of the way.

We have an intruder in the @FOXNRL Leichhardt Oval commentary box. This is a first. Are possums good or bad luck? @WestsTigers v @NRL_Bulldogs@[e-mail]/O3qBpyRERq

— Andrew Voss (@AndrewVossy) May 20, 2022

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Legendary boxing announcer Michael Buffer has seen all the world’s greatest boxers in the last 50 years. So when he says Australia’s George Kambosos is special and ‘old school’ tough, it’s a huge compliment.

“George is a blood and guts fighter like we used to see in the 50s,” Buffer said when we contacted him in Los Angeles last week.

“Every round counts, every minute counts. George shocked the world when he won the title. He just took it to Teófimo (López).

“It’s all business. He’s focused, he has no problems weighing in and he’s got an old-school mentality. And he seems impressive in and out of the ring.”

Buffer will be in Melbourne on June 5 to announce “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” when Kambosos steps into the ring against undefeated American Devin Haney for the undisputed lightweight world title.

“It’s a super event,” he said, “I’ve done quite a few of Haney’s fights. He’s very impressive.”

The fight is live on Foxtel’s Main Event ORDER NOW.

George Kambosos is a ‘blood and guts’ boxer. Picture: Tim Pascoe

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No wonder Cameron Ciraldo is in such high demand for an NRL head-coaching gig.

This is a man who has a 100 per cent record against super coach Craig Bellamy.

Back in 2018 when Phil Gould axed Anthony Griffin, Ciraldo stepped in as the caretaker and the Panthers beat the Storm 22-16 in Round 25 at AAMI Park.

With head coach Ivan Cleary missing last week’s Magic Round, Ciraldo again steered the Panthers to a 32-6 victory over the Storm.

Ciraldo is off-contract as a Penrith assistant at the end of the season. He is in talks with CEO Brian Fletcher about an extension.

The club is prepared to add a clause that would allow him to leave if the right head-coaching job comes up at another club.

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Independent commission chairman Peter V’landys wants to ensure sacked Canterbury Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett is not lost to rugby league.

“I spoke to him at Magic Round,” V’landys said. “I’d like to see him stay involved in the game. He’s a gentleman and a really classy guy. Very balanced, very intelligent.

“We could certainly use him in some area of the game. Participation, pathways, anywhere.”

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How we broke the news on the Bears.

Two North Sydney Bears legends – Mark Graham and Billy Moore – have backed moves for a potential joint venture with Western Australia as the NRL’s 18th team.

As a board member of the Bears, Moore has known about the confidential proposal for months.

“We want to be and need to be the 18th franchise,” the former Queensland Origin hero said.

“We’re realistic in that we know we can’t do it ourselves so we’re trying to make ourselves the best dancing partner available.

“We want to explain to the NRL that we’ve got 220,000 fans and 114 years of history. They need to tell us where they want to grow and we’ll get behind it.

“We’ll take our brand, our colours and our logo and go where they think it’s going to aid the game.

“We’ll go wherever the best opportunity is available. Perth sounds like it could be the one.”

Graham, an NRL Hall of Famer, agrees.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to get a foot in the door,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of merit in it. Standing alone is not a possibility at this stage. We’ve tried that and it didn’t work.

“To have the West Australian government involved is a great thing and even three or four games at North Sydney Oval would be fantastic for the whole game, not just old Bears supporters.”

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Super coach Craig Bellamy and Storm general manager Frank Ponissi are planning another overseas study trip at the end of the season – this time to learn from the Aussie who is the talk of European soccer, Ange Postecoglou.

Bellamy and Ponissi used to share training facilities with Postecoglou when he coached Melbourne Victory in 2012 and 2013.

The former Socceroos coach was named Scotland’s manager-of-the-year last week after winning the premiership trophy at Celtic. The 135-year-old club has now won 51 titles.

“We’ve reached out to Ange and we’re looking forward to catching up,” Ponissi said.

Ange Postecoglou won the Scottish Premiership with Celtic this season. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

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It’s not just cashed-up NRL clubs wanting a piece of boom Broncos winger Selwyn Cobbo.

Sportswear giant Nike is set to beat off global rivals to secure a deal with rugby league’s next big thing. The 19-year-old has become the hottest property in the game after just 17 NRL appearances, the latest a slashing two-try effort against the Knights.

The indigenous youngster is set to become a marketing phenomenon, already rated as the next Greg Inglis or Latrell Mitchell.

Andrew Johns said of his performance on Thursday night: “We are watching absolute greatness for the next 10 to 12 years.”

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While the NSWRL has wasted tens of thousands of dollars on an unnecessary legal battle with the NRL, wheelchair rugby league players are crying out for some financial support.

Australia’s Wheelaroos need a major naming rights partner for the team to play at the World Cup in October. Contact Scott Longmuir at Diverse Talent Management on 0430700672 if you’re interested in helping out.