What’s the Buzz: Saint, Sinner, Shoosh
The story to restore your faith in rugby league, Cronulla’s board games and legend’s lucky escape — check out all the latest NRL chatter and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.
All the latest NRL chatter and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.
SAINTS
Cowboys players involved in the massive flood operation in Townsville. Also Bulldog Rhyse Martin who flew home to the stricken region to help out family and friends.
SINNER
Lote Tuqiri’s dumb and insensitive comment on Twitter that he ‘felt sad’ for disgraced woman basher Ben Barba. Perhaps Lote should check the horrifying domestic violence statistics in Australia that, on average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or ex-partner. Barba deserves zero sympathy.
SHOOSH
In a highly embarrassing situation for the NRL, one of the game’s leading referees has been caught with his pants down in an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer at Moore Park HQ during the off-season. Understandably, it’s causing him huge issues on the home front.
SHOOSH II
Which NRL coach received a phone call from the integrity unit last week about the bad behaviour of one of his star forwards on a recent night out? The coach managed to convince the investigators that the matter had been dealt with internally.
SPOTTED
Footy star in limbo James Segeyaro and new Dragon Corey Norman in Caringbah on Wednesday. The pair featured in an infamous photo with bikies in a Parramatta restaurant in 2016 and remain close mates.
SPOTTED II
Old Illawarra Steelers teammates Trent Barrett and Paul McGregor along with Rocket Rod Wishart and Shaun Timmins at courtside for the Hawks v Cairns NBL clash at WIN Entertainment Centre on Monday night.
SPOTTED III
Superstar Winx jockey Hugh Bowman driving a hotted up, bright orange Mini Moke convertible in Coogee.
SPOTTED IV
Dragons enforcer James Graham checking out Bohemian Rhapsody at the Moonlight theatre on the shores of Sydney Harbour on Monday night.
SPOTTED V
2GB’s Ray Hadley made the mistake of sending this photo to his Continuous Call colleagues, one of whom forwarded it straight to me! The pin-up boy of nursing homes has joined his local gym.
LUCKY ESCAPE FOR RUGBY LEAGUE LEGEND
Veteran TV and radio commentator Graeme Hughes is recovering from a heavy fall after hosting a charity function last weekend.
The 63-year-old Fox Sports and 2SM broadcaster was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in an ambulance after falling down stairs at the Hotel Ravesis in Bondi on Sunday night.
Hughes hit the ground head first and suffered a wound to his left ear so serious that doctors had to perform emergency plastic surgery that required more than 30 stitches.
“I’m lucky,” Hughes said.
“I could have broken my neck.”
The former NSW cricketer and Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league star says he had several drinks during the function but was not inebriated.
Other stars at the charity event included Sydney Roosters fullback James Tedesco and Queensland Origin legend Mark Coyne.
“I was walking down the stairs and turned around to talk to someone when I slipped,” Hughes said.
The savage wound to his ear kept him in hospital for three days.
It was a tough week for the Hughes family.
Graeme’s granddaughter Tahlia, 11, who has just started at Endeavour Sports High, is in a moon boot after breaking her foot.
FIVE SPOTS UP FOR GRABS IN CRONULLA BOARD GAMES
If it were Canterbury Bulldogs or Parramatta Eels, it would be back-page news but the Sharks have managed to keep next month’s board elections low key despite tumultuous recent events.
Five positions on the Cronulla board are up for grabs with nominations closing on Thursday.
The unusually high number of vacancies is a result of the club’s salary cap scandal and four directors standing down.
Their replacements were temporary board-elected directors.
Former star centre Mark McGaw stood at the last election but it is unclear if he will have another crack as an independent.
FORMER TEAMMATES WITNESSES TO BARBA ABUSE
They are the two former Canterbury Bulldogs players who know most about Ben Barba’s shameful history of harming his partner, Ainslie Currie.
Big Sam Kasiano and Frank Pritchard have actually witnessed it.
Back in 2012, Kasiano, Pritchard and Barba shared a car home from a function with their partners when an incident occurred in the back seat. Mario Tartak, the manager of both Kasiano and Pritchard, says neither player will talk about it.
The Sunday Telegraph understands on this occasion it was shocking verbal abuse rather than physical but it ended Barba’s relationship with the two players.
FROM BUSINESS CLASS TO BUDGET FOR NRL
Travel costs for rugby league’s independent commission have been slashed by 48 per cent since the departure of former chairman John Grant and his extravagant methods of transport.
Grant was renowned for enjoying business-class flights, limousine transfers and luxury accommodation, which were all banned for NRL executives when Peter Beattie started in February last year.
The commission’s travel costs fell from $350,000 in 2017 to $180,000 last year.
Under Beattie’s leadership, the NRL had $17 million worth of cost savings last year by tightening spending in all areas of the business.
SEA EAGLES CEO GORMAN STAYING PUT
Manly Sea Eagles boss Lyall Gorman has denied speculation he is on the verge of quitting as CEO. Gorman’s future has been the subject of rumours since he was interviewed by the integrity unit over the Cronulla Sharks salary cap investigation. “It’s not right,’’ Gorman said. “I’m as driven as I’ve ever been. I’m working on a whole range of great initiatives we’re doing at Manly.”
HULL OF EFFORT FOR ‘ONE OF THEIR OWN’
This is a story to restore your faith in rugby league.
Adam Maher played a handful of games for Cronulla and three seasons for Hull in England. He was no superstar but a good, honest footballer and a nice, genuine bloke. He is now 48 and battling motor neurone disease.
There is a huge fundraiser in Brisbane for his family being hosted by Matty Johns, Gorden Tallis and Bryan Fletcher on February 22.
Maher’s great mate Craig “Knuckles” Greenhill rang Hull FC in the UK last month to ask for some old footage to be shown on the night.
Better still, Hull decided to put on their own fundraiser. They provided the airfares for Adam and his wife Trudy. His daughters and Greenhill flew over separately. It was the most wonderful function. Adam received a standing ovation as members sang a rousing rendition of Old Faithful, the team song.
Tough old men in the room were reduced to tears.
It’s a beautiful rugby league story of the bond and mateship the game can build. Maher faces a really tough battle in coming years but at least he’s got the great game in his corner.
SHARKS STAR’S SPONSORSHIP SUCCESS
Andrew Fifita has often been blamed for the fact Cronulla Sharks can’t find a sponsor. The Tonga international has no such problems himself. He recently became a poster boy for Puma football boots, with his image on display on bus sheds across the city.
COMMENTATOR’S GRACIOUS EXIT
Fox Sports boss Steve Crawley recently sacked one of the network’s most talented broadcasters.
V8 Supercars commentator Russell Ingall has been dropped from its race coverage this year, causing a social-media backlash and an online petition to get the decision reversed. His contract was up in December.
Instead, Fox Sports has hired the recently retired champion driver Craig Lowndes to join Jess Yates and Mark Skaife in the commentary box.
The Supercars are a boom TV sport with ratings jumping 18 per cent last year.
“There was one job, two people and we had to make the call,” Crawley said.
“Russell was very gracious and I’ve got total respect for him.”
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