COVID prediction, sneaky drink ploy and Bellamy bid: Coast gossip

There’s a COVID-19 prediction, a sneaky drink ploy and a bid for Bellamy in this week’s Gold Coast sports gossip.

The Sniper is back with all your Gold Coast sporting gossip.

CRICKET

JOSH Kann may be a promising allrounder at the Dolphins but he’s quickly accruing an unwanted nickname by coach Chris Swan.

“He promised me he was going to hit the gym. He looks like spaghetti on legs,” the coach joked.

“We want him fitter than he’s ever been before. He’s got a big off-season in front of him. He would surprise himself with how well he could go.

“He needs to get more reliable in his body so he can be asked to do a wide variety of roles. That’s the challenge of being an all-rounder.”

AUSTRALIAN RULES

Suns Irish recruit Luke Towey returned to his homeland once COVID-19 restrictions tightened in Australia but he is yet to see his own family.

Towey hoped to spend isolation with his family and partner but has only been able to see the latter.

He is living with his partner and because residents can only travel within a 2km radius it has meant Towey has been able to reconnect with his parents who live around 100km away.

His partner was due to fly to Australia in April but Towey was the one who joined her in Ireland once the virus put the AFL season on hold.

Towey’s car has been parked on the street outside his home at Mermaid Waters for a month and housemate Sam Collins thinks it will have a “police aware” sign on it in no time.

The car is on the street because Collins and housemates Corey Ellis and Izak Rankine are using the garage as their personal gym during isolation.

They got the biggest haul from the club’s gym of all the Gold Coast players.

“I got a pilates reformer, watt bike, 100kgs of weights, couple of dumbbells, barbell and a rock climbing simulator,” Collins said.

“I waited until everyone took everything and then I topped up again beause noone else is going to use it.”

RUGBY LEAGUE

THE footy may be off but the talk rolls on.

Call it wishful thinking but Titans fans have started to dream of who would be the single best signing the club could make.

While some opted for David Fifita, the Broncos star who last week drew mixed reviews, many selected Storm coaching guru Craig Bellamy as the man they’d love to have on board.

THE 10 BIGGEST COAST SPORTS STORIES OF THE WEEK

SURFING

GOLD Coast may be a surfing mecca but athletes all over the globe are finding unique ways to discover the perfect swell.

WSL last week launched a new series calling for surfers to submit their videos of how they are still taking to the “waves” during the coronavirus lockdown.

WSL Surf Breaks April 11 pic.twitter.com/G0XqV2ClCm

— World Surf League (@wsl) April 12, 2020

From balancing a board on a gym ball to being sprayed in the yard by a hose, there were no shortage of innovative ideas provided.

AUSTRALIAN RULES

The Suns may not be working from their Carrara headquarters but the players have still managed to get access to club dietician and chef Ben Parker.

Parker has been cooking meals for all the players who want them at a small cost.

“We just pay and pick it up,” Sam Collins said.

“It keeps him occupied and keeps the money coming in fo rhim. A few of the boys have jumped on that.

“He is a really good cook. He is looking for ways to kill time and if he wasn’t doing that then he would probably be doing an extra four hours of yoga.”

When they don’t have Parker’s meals, Collins said he had enough talent in the kitchen to get by, while housemate Corey Ellis did a great pulled pork burrito bowl.

The Suns have also been helping the community keep fed through their new program - Suns Community Crew.

The program will provide meals to senior (60 and over) and vulnerable club members plus create local jobs. It will see Suns employees, AFL/AFLW players and coaches deliver free ready-to-eat fresh meals to up to 1500 eligible club members.

GOLF

HE will start as an underdog but Adam Scott's quest to become Australia’s best ever golfer has started.

As part of the PGA of Australia’s Greatest Golfer battle, our 64 finest golfers – including Gold Coast star Scott – will go head-to-head in a series voted by the public.

Using a matchplay-bracket formula that will see 32 first-round matches, the best players Australia has seen will have to progress past fellow legends in a vote in order to be crowned No.1.

Adam Scott. Picture: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images

Five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson was seeded No.1, with Greg Norman No.2 and Karrie Webb No.3.

MAL’S BOLD CALL TO SAVE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

Action started on Monday and Scott will face Jarrod Lyle on Sunday.

“What excites me the most is seeing all the different generations of golfers mixed in together and it will be interesting to see how the different generations of Australian golf fans vote over the coming weeks,” PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman said.

“I’ve worked in golf for the past 35 years of my life and I know myself I have had so many favourites throughout that time.

“Growing up I was a huge Greg Norman fan but when my father was alive it was Norman von Nida, Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle.

“Working in golf retail during Norman’s 331 weeks as world No.1, I saw first-hand the influence he had on the entire industry. People were flooding into pro shops wanting to buy something with the Shark logo on it and go and play nine or 18 holes.

“Then I went into a time where I got to know people such as Wayne Grady, Peter Senior and Ian Baker-Finch and they became my heroes because it was clear to me that not only were they great golfers but great people as well.

“I was fortunate to deliver so many Australian Ladies Masters titles to Karrie in my time at RACV Royal Pines Resort and you look at her playing record and in Australian golf it is unparalleled. No one has won more majors than Karrie, not to mention her other tournament victories.

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“Then you move into the modern-day players such as Adam Scott and although he has only won one major to date, he is another great person who continually gives back to Australian golf.

“Add in those guys slightly younger than Adam such as Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith and I am really excited to see how that crop develops and the careers they put together.

“It’s an incredible list of our highest-achieving golfers and I’m sure as we progress everyone is going to have their own favourites who they want to vote for.”

The two-month-long competition comprises of 63 matches across 69 days.

SPORT

WE hear there is a big change that could be arriving at Gold Coast sport in the coming months.

While chaos has hit elite sport everywhere, we understand there is a mighty silver lining for one aspiring organisation.

Watch this space for some big news.

SURF LIFESAVING

LAST week we were singing the praises of Northcliffe surf lifesaving star Olivia Corrin who manged to continue board training in her backyard pool.

MEET AUSTRALIA’S MOST POLARISING ATHLETES

Well she’s been outdone by teammate Harriet Brown. The world ironwoman, missing racing like many others, decided to complete a backyard ironwoman race. Completing the ski, board and swim legs on a skateboard, Brown proved that no Aussies=no worries.

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https://www.instagram.com/p/B-pr6PaJqK3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Harriet Brown completes the 'ski' leg of her home ironwoman race. SUPPLIED

R UGBY LEAGUE

DON’T question the commitment of those in the lower tiers of sport at the moment.

With Burleigh Bears also hit by the coronavirus, the Intrust Super Cup club has been on skeleton staff, meaning CEO Damien Driscoll has been picking up the slack.

“I’m about to go and do some work on the footy oval and spread some soil,” he said.

“When everything stops someone has to keep doing it.”

SURF LIFESAVING

WHEN there’s no new sport to watch, you may as well reflect on the past.

That’s exactly what Australian Olympian Riley Fitzsimmons was spotted doing when girlfriend and Northcliffe surf lifesaving starlet Gerogia Miller took over the Surf Life Saving Australia instagram last week.

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Posting a photo of Fitzsimmons dressed in his Aussies bib and Avoca beach cap, she said her boyfriend was “enjoying isolation a little too much I think...He has watched the Aussies 2019 open ski final on repeat for the past 2 days.” Fitzsimmons of course won the open final in unprecedented conditions at Broadbeach.

Riley Fitzsimmons has watched his open ski final win on repeat in isolation. SUPPLIED

SPORT

WE hear the departure of a high profile coach has divided a Gold Coast sporting club over the past few days. Keep an eye on this week’s Bulletin for more.

AUSSIE RULES

THEIR season may have been suspended but it’s apparentely business at usual at the Bond University Bull Sharks.

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Last week the 2020 QFA Division 2 South club created a ‘Sharkies Community,’ Facebook group to celebrate old and new Bull Sharks.

Then on Saturday, when Bond were supposed to be playing Victoria Point in their Round 3 clash, the creative page admin (rumoured to be coach Sam Whish-Wilson) took it upon themselves to write an indepth, quarter by quarter match report of the ‘virtual contest’.

It was an 11.9 (75) all draw if anyone was wondering and Victoria Point recruit (and former Richmond premiership Tiger) Alex Rance kicked five.

CRICKET

DOLPHINS coach Chris Swan likes a good joke but he cheekily insists he’s been warning about the coronavirus for decades.

The 41-year-old former Queensland fast bowler runs his own pest control business, meaning he donned the face mask long before it became fashionable and germ-preventing.

“We predicted this 20 years ago,” Swan teased of the coronavirus.

“We have been wearing these masks for years.”

Former Queensland cricketer Chris Swan. Picture: Jerad Williams