Sledge too far, ultimate weapon against loudmouths: Coast gossip

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

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

RUGBY LEAGUE

REGARDLESS of your side of the vaccination debate, spare a thought for those at the centre of it.

Titans player Bryce Cartwright might have his detractors over his anti-vax stance but that doesn’t give critics the right to fire potshots at will.

For what it’s worth the Sniper feels, in this time of great upheaval, play the ball and not the man.

CRICKET

THE masters remain the leaders of Gold Coast cricket, according to the numbers anyway.

While backyard action is as close as we’re getting at the moment, we hear Cricket Gold Coast is looking at additional grades in masters to cater to the influx of veteran players.

Physios and chiropractors all over the city are said to be delighted with the prospect of new clients.

AUSSIE RULES

WE’RE all for finding new and inventive ways of keeping fans entertained despite a lack of sport, but some codes are rolling the dice with their ideas, quite literally.

The AFL last week launched the ADFL, Australian Dice Football League for those playing at home, which pits two players against each other to see who can roll the highest score.

Over the weekend, Suns player Lachie Weller took on Bulldogs defender Easton Wood, the latter prevailing 118-102.

We’ll take real footy thanks.

RUGBY LEAGUE

WHAT goes on tour doesn’t necessarily always stay on tour.

A certain NRL star could learn that the hard way as an epic end of year tour prepares to celebrate a milestone anniversary.

What stories could his teammates tell, almost 10 years on from a legendary overseas trip?

It’s bound to be a firecracker.

RUGBY UNION

Wycliff Palu of the Barbarians tackles Jordan Uelese of the Wallabies. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

A TRIO of Wallabies has sent the Gold Coast’s club rugby contingent into a recruitment tizzy.

Tatafu Polota-Nau, Dave Dennis and Wycliff Palu are set to land on the Coast in coming weeks to celebrate the wedding of Polota-Nau’s younger brother.

Clubs should starts practising their elevator pitches to sell the 2014 Super Rugby champions on life on the Gold Coast and in their rugby clubs.

As one GM put it,” Could be a handy back row …”

RUGBY LEAGUE

IF a teammates’ ribbing ever gets too tough, just be thankful you’re not Burleigh’s Brett Stratton.

The former Titans U20 was featured on Channel 9 last week demonstrating exotic push-up techniques for a piece on keeping fit in lockdown.

Burleigh's Brett Stratton tacked by Campbell Pirihi. (Photo/Steve Holland)

It didn’t take long for tech-savvy teammate Lochie Sheldon to put his video editing skills to good use and pull the “show-off” down a peg at the team’s next Zoom call.

A Sniper source says the act was pure jealousy because none of Stratton’s teammates would be game to get their iso rigs out for a TV spotlight.

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FOOTBALL

BURLEIGH might have cleared up their future in Gold Coast football but we hear there’s a bigger issue soon to arise.

Double winners Burleigh retracted a confusing social media post about their involvement in 2020.

Behind the scenes, though, lurks the issue of registration fees and how exactly that looks.

We hear there is a lot still to play out.

RUGBY LEAGUE

THE Sniper has uncovered one of the great rugby league innovations of yesteryear and it’s time to bring it back.

Back in the early 2000s, the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League battled the scourge of abusive parents on the sideline with a creative fix.

The body signed a partnership deal with prominent candy suppliers to provide chuppa chups to all ground security staff.

If a spectator started to mouth off, they scored a free lollipop.

You can suck on that instead, champion.

RUGBY LEAGUE

Don’t rule out the possibility of the next Queensland School Sport documentary featuring Keebra Park.

The school has already met with one documentary film crew to document a season at Keebra but balked at the asking price, between $5,000 and $10,000.

Keebra Park coach Glen Campbell says the school is actively seeking a cheaper alternative to bring the public inside the walls of the famous program.

SURF LIFESAVING

THE COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to connect in ways like never before and even surf clubs are jumping on the bandwagon.

The Kurrawa surf club has been closed to the public since March, robbing them of the chance to welcome members so instead, they’ve launched a new television show.

Kurrawa TV screened its first episode on Monday to social media, interviewing club staff like operations manager Tracy Gardner, club manager Geoff Toussaint-Hayes and long service member Kenny Coulston.

Gold Coast SUNS CEO Mark Evans. Picture: Supplied

AUSSIE RULES

THE Suns AFLW team held their Club Champion awards via Zoom last week and while the night of nights looked a little different than usual, there was no shortage of highlights.

The ceremony was kicked off by Suns CEO Mark Evans who welcomed players and sponsors, before standing up to get changed out of his tuxedo, revealing he was wearing a pair of brightly covered boxer shorts in a perfectly executed gag.

Later in the night, runner-up club champion Jade Pregelj was accepting her well deserved gong but wasn’t overawed by the formality of the ceremony.

“This is f**king brilliant,” the defender said during her acceptance speech.