Time On: Sam Newman setting sail from miserable Melbourne winter
Sam Newman is leaving Melbourne’s dreary winter behind, setting sail in his 66-foot yacht for blue waters up north. But there’s one weekly commitment he won’t be taking a break from.
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Sam Newman is packing up and setting sail on the high seas for a winter sabbatical.
The podcaster and footy legend is driving his 66-foot yacht, named Angst, to the Whitsundays and will live on board for three months.
He is going with his good friend and fitness queen Sue Stanley.
“I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time and I want to do it before I can’t,’’ Newman, 78, said.
“I’m not moving, we’re just going up there over the winter. Sue and I are very good friends and I told her I was doing this and asked if she wants to come. We’re going to see if we get up there without doing any damage to either ourselves or the boat.”
Former Footy Show favourite Newman will still do his weekly You Cannot Be Serious podcast from the boat.
His yacht has seen plenty of drama over recent years, hosting parties with Warwick Capper, Ricky Nixon and Brian Mannix, as well as the wrap party for the cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Blues hijack latest celebrity arrival
Carlton has done it again — recruiting Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou to its star studded celebrity supporter ranks.
While Robbie Williams is the club’s global ambassador, Postecoglou is an honorary Blue having supported the club his whole life.
He delighted a select group of players at training on Tuesday night at AAMI Park, presented with a Blues jumper signed by the entire team. In recent times the Blues have given jumpers to NFL legend Tom Brady and singer Pink, among others.
Defender Brodie Kemp was starstruck.
“Yeah it’s awesome,” he said.
“I have been a Spurs fan for 5-6 years now. I’ve seen a lot of game overseas but this is my first time watching pitch side which is pretty cool and obviously meeting Ange was awesome.”
Kemp is going to the Spurs game against Newcastle on Wednesday night at the MCG with teammates Sam Walsh, Adam Cerra, Marc Pittonet, Lewis Young and Jordan Boyd.
Postecoglou sat on a panel in 2015 alongside Chris Judd, Ken Sheldon and others that selected Brendon Bolton to succeed Mick Malthouse as Carlton coach.
Lyon embarrassed by State of Origin disgrace
Garry Lyon has labelled it a disgrace that the AFL no longer has State of Origin football.
“It is an unmitigated disgrace that we don’t have State of Origin football,” Lyon said on SEN on Wednesday.
“I know people say, ‘you’re flogging a dead horse’.
“It’s an out and out disgrace that we don’t have it. I’m embarrassed that we don’t.
“We gave it up, we ceded control of the golden ticket and now they’re going to wander into our town in the middle of the football season and have 95,000 people watching their State or Origin while we play tiddlywinks in the corner.”
The last serious Origin AFL game, not counting the Big V v All-Stars match in 2020, was played between Victoria and South Australia in 1999.
“On June 26, it’s Victoria versus whoever, Harley Reid would be playing for Victoria, Nick Daicos would be playing for Victoria, Zak Butters would be playing for Victoria,” Lyon said.
“Tell me why we don’t have that in our game? It is a disgrace.
“Didn’t you hear Billy Slater? The game owns the players. Give something back.
“The clubs’ entitled view on things — look beyond it. It’s beyond you. Grow this game.
“We are getting taken over by the game in the northern states in the eyes of the country. We will become a little, small game and code again that pleases ourselves when we had the capacity to please the broader community.
“Reid, Daicos, Butters against Gulden, Heeney, Warner, all playing at the elite top level. Their CVs are worse off for not having been able to establish themselves in this game at that level.
“Those that run the game, you have let us down badly.”
Reid claims another victim
Melbourne star Christian Petracca knew he’d become part of footy folklore the moment he’d been brushed aside.
Petracca was another victim of the Harley Reid fend-off on Sunday.
“I knew it would go viral straight away,’’ Petracca said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I tipped my hat to myself for running that fast (chasing Reid) to be honest.
“He’s a generational talent; an absolute freak — I had a good laugh after it.”
The dashing 19 year-old, the Eagles’ first draft pick, also fended off Clayton Oliver in the same play with Dustin Martin-like ease.
“ … the goal and fending me off — and Clarry — was pretty special,’’ Petracca said.
“I messaged him yesterday, and said ‘thanks for that mate’. He replied with a love heart which was nice.
“I had a little bit to do with him, he’s obviously a Connor Sports boy with Toby (Greene) and I so had a bit to do with him before the pre-draft.
“He’s an absolute ripper, a good guy.
“I think the biggest thing as well is what he does for the fans over there (in Perth); when he does those things what he’s doing right now, it lifts the whole crowd, it just honestly is amazing.”
Dreamtime come true
Yorta Yorta-Wurundjeri rapper Briggs will perform at the Dreamtime match between Richmond and Essendon at the MCG on Saturday night.
Briggs will co-headline a pre-match set alongside Frist Nations rap collective 3%, and Indigenous dance groups.
DJ, producer and beatmaker, Cyril, will perform at halftime.
“Growing up, I used to watch teams play at the MCG and thought I’d really love to go,’’ Cyril said.
“Now, I’m playing there for Dreamtime at the ‘G, which is truly something special.
“From the club war cry performances to the annual Long Walk, the Dreamtime game is one of
the biggest events on the mob calendar, bringing all mobs together and showcasing our culture
and spirit to the world. It’s such an honour for us to share and perform on this epic stage.”
Carey’s radio silence after Hall of Fame debacle
Wayne Carey has gone missing from the podcasting world in the aftermath of his NSW AFL Hall of Fame ban.
Carey has been heard each Monday on his The Truth Hurts podcast alongside co-host Tony Sheahan but has yet to surface this month since the situation unfolded.
He posted on X on May 13 that he had taken the past two weeks “to reflect, recalibrate and re-energise for the future”, adding that he’d see fans next week bigger and better.
But he was absent again on Monday this week with suggestions that an impasse with the podcast’s production company remains unresolved.
It means Carey has yet to speak about the NSW AFL Hall of Fame, which he didn’t end up attending after the AFL intervened to stop him being elevated to legend status amid a league-wide domestic violence campaign.
Bucks opens his heart to Lady Whistledown
Nathan Buckley has outted himself as an unlikely fan of Netflix hit Bridgerton.
The Collingwood legend admitted to watching a few episodes with his partner Brodie Ryan on Saturday night.
“I showed the ultimate form of love to my partner on Saturday night,” Buckley said on SEN.
“I came home from the footy and she was watching Bridgerton. If anyone is driving along and their Mrs has dragged them into Bridgerton, please help me out. I need a welfare group or I need a chat group about this.”
Buckley ended up watching three episodes back to back.
“It was alright,” he said.
“It was a display of love by me to sit there on the couch and do that. It’s probably like your partner sitting down and watching a couple of hours of golf with you. That’s how invested I was in it.
“But in the end it took me down a path I wasn’t expecting to go down. There’s some interesting stuff there, you’ve got to keep an open mind.”
‘Commentators’ curse’ strikes in nailbiting Hawks loss
Campbell Brown still can’t believe it – he said it’s been described as one of the worst commentators’ curses in history.
With 43 seconds left of Sunday’s incredible Port Adelaide v Hawthorn match, the Channel 7 commentator said of his beloved Hawks “they’re home now”.
They had led all game but Port came back from 41 points down to make it the most tense few minutes of footy we’ve arguably seen this season.
Brown declared: “They’re home now but gee there were some nervous moments.”
And then Port’s Darcy Byrne-Jones goalled with five seconds left to snatch victory by a point.
One man who missed the thrilling end was Port Adelaide great and commentator Kane Cornes.
Despondent with what he’d seen of inconsistent Port, he headed for the gym at the hotel he was staying at in Melbourne.
“I’m watching, doing some weights and the game is on, Port is coming hard … (thinking it’s) one of those when they end up falling short … I was frustrated and then in the background I see the commotion of other people in the gym,’’ Cornes said on SEN Monday morning.
“In the end one guy goes ‘Port got it’. I said what are you talking about, so I missed it.
“Then I got a text from (my wife) Lucy, she just got a knock on the door, a guy thought someone had been assaulted … and says is everything all right in here I heard the screaming. My 16 year-old son goes everything’s all right, Port just effing won.
“Apologies to anyone staying on level 17 of the Pullman on the Park, it was just a game of football, there were no crimes happening.”
Brownless tells of lucky escape during Amazing Race
Billy Brownless has told of his lucky escape while overseas filming The Amazing Race.
Brownless is competing with his son Oscar who he said had saved him.
“We did have one of the challenges, it was out in the desert and I had to climb a big mountain,’’ Brownless told the show he co-hosts with James Brayshaw, Triple M’s The Rush Hour.
“Lucky Oscar got me through and I needed a lot of Hydralyte … but I was in trouble.
“I didn’t think I’d make it down from that big hill. I’ve got a big ticker, I’ve got a big heart, that has got me through. This is tough, it’s mentally tough because you’ve got to wonder where all the teams are and what they’re doing and where you’re placed in the race and it’s physically tough.”
Brownless has been based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
TJ apologies to Albo for ‘fake Hawk’ gibe
Tony Jones has apologised to Anthony Albanese for going so hard at him feigning support for the Hawks last week.
The Prime Minister joined the Hawks huddle, wearing a Hawks scarf, to sing the team song which drew an irate response from the Sunday Footy Show host, who said he should stay away.
On Sunday he backflipped after seeing that MMA fighter Alexander Volkanovski had joined the Swans’ team song.
“Anything we can do to foster the game outside of Victorian borders,’’ Jones said.
“I almost need to apologise to the Prime Minister because he is actually a Hawthorn supporter.”
Hughsey ventures into enemy territory
Dave Hughes was deep in enemy territory on Friday night.
The Carlton tragic had to accompany his radio co-host Erin Molan into the Sydney Swans rooms after they’d just thrashed his Blues.
“I’ve never seen a man in so much pain,” Molan said.
“He smiled in our first picture and then realised and frowned.”
The duo joined dating expert Jana Hocking in hosting a singles night at the SCG.
To rub salt into the wound, Hughes was wearing his Carlton jumper.
‘Still battling every day’: Murphy still coming to terms with retirement
Retired Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy is still adapting to life after footy.
Murphy was medically retired in April due to an ongoing battle with concussion.
“It’s been tough watching the boys play,” he said.
“I’m still battling symptoms every day and working with professionals to hopefully improve that. I’ve been supported amazingly which I’m so fortunate to have, other people don’t have that on offer. I’m in a really good space and focused on my health with good people around me.”
Murphy has turned his attention to supporting Connor’s Run, Australia’s largest event for pediatric brain cancer.
Along with Essendon stars Archie Perkins and Andrew McGrath, and Collingwood star Brayden Maynard, he has been announced as one of the ambassadors for the event on September 15.
Since 2013 the Run has celebrated and commemorated the life of Robert Connor Dawes who lost his battle with brain cancer aged 18.
“I’m an ex-Brighton Grammar boy, and I remember in my first year I was in year 8 and we had the big funeral for Connor,” Murphy said.
“It was amazing and awesome to see the community aspect and I’ve done the run since the first year. Being a retired footballer now I am able to jump on board.”
Perkins said: “I was a Brighton Grammar student as well. The first run I did, my mum dragged me out of bed, I was really hungover, but when I got there and did it everyone was so cheerful. There’s such a passionate, spirited team behind it.”
McGrath added: “To grow awareness for kids and their families going through a really hard time is really important.”
Actor Lisa McCune, comedian Dave Hughes and Miss Universe Australia Moraya Wilson are also Connor’s Run ambassadors.
LA stars hit Melbourne ahead of NFL Rams blockbuster
LA Rams stars have touched down in Melbourne to meet with fans and spread the NFL hype ahead of the first of the team’s multi-year deal to play games locally from 2026.
Tony Jones axed from Channel 9’s Wimbledon coverage
Channel 9’s veteran sports reporter Tony Jones will not be part of the network’s ‘on the ground’ coverage of Wimbledon this year.