AFL 2020 Grand Final: Jimmy Barnes will perform for free
Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes has booked himself in for a Grand Final concert and will do it for free - but only if a certain team is playing.
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Rock legend Jimmy Barnes has booked himself in for a Grand Final concert – if Port Adelaide is playing.
The lifelong Power fan has declared he will sing for free at the Gabba if his team knocks over either Richmond or St Kilda in next Friday night’s preliminary final.
“I haven’t been approached, so I think you’re stuck with the Symphony Orchestra,” Barnes said on Adelaide radio.
“It’s not really Up There Cazaly is it? But if Port Adelaide get in, I’ll go sing for nothing.”
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The league has locked in the Queensland Symphony and is targeting local acts after the Sunshine State saved the season.
More than 30,000 are now expected for the historic night Grand Final on October 24, with pre-game and halftime shows on the cards.
Powederfinger knocked back the AFL’s approach and bands who take up the gig are likely to be subject to the league’s strict COVID-19 protocols.
TIGERS MOVE WITH TIMES
Richmond is certainly taking the new COVID-19 buzz words, agile and pivot, to heart.
As AFL boss Gillon McLachlan can attest, these times have meant doing things on the fly and often being unorthodox about it.
On Tuesday night Richmond had the No.1 pick in the AFLW draft, which it used on Northern Knights midfielder Ellie McKenzie.
But Ellie didn’t receive the regulation congratulatory phone call from the coach because the Tigers don’t have one.
In fact they’re still advertising the position on Seek and applications close at midnight on Sunday.
Head of women’s football Kate Sheahan will be the one picking the new coach but after that she’ll be briefly pivoting away from Punt Road.
Sheahan is expecting her third child, which is due early next year when the AFLW season is scheduled to start.
Back on McKenzie, we hear her selection at No.1 wasn’t a shock to everyone in her family.
Her mum, Sue, was told by the Tigers a week ago that her 17-year-old daughter would be wearing the yellow and black but was sworn to secrecy.
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It turns out Ellie has been obsessed with footy from a very young age.
“She’s had a football in her hand since she was two. Here we are in 2020 and she’s drafted to Richmond. We’re over the moon,” Sue said.
This was obvious for all to see when Ellie posted a picture of herself eating breakfast on Wednesday morning in a Richmond jumper (above).
A FINE TATE OF AFFAIRS
We’re pretty sure Jalen Ramsey is off the invitation list for Christmas dinner at the Tate household this year.
Ramsey and his former girlfriend’s brother, Golden Tate, took their messy family dispute into prime time by sparking an all-in brawl at the end of Monday’s NFL game between the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams.
The feud stems from Ramsey’s perceived mistreatment of Tate’s sister.
Ramsey, the Rams’ star cornerback, is the father of two of Tate’s young nieces but broke off a long-term relationship with Tate’s sister Breanna while she was pregnant last summer.
When Ramsey posted to social media a photo with his new girlfriend last October, Tate, the Giants’ star receiver, made it publicly known he was circling their next match-up.
The pair crossed paths during the game when Ramsey landed the first shot on Tate, driving him into the turf in a big tackle in the second half (inset).
After the post-game brawl — which involved players and coaches pushing and shoving — Ramsey was still keen to go on with it.
The Rams defender tried to start a second confrontation by waiting for Tate outside the Giants’ locker room.
Tate’s feelings are no secret, as he told The New York Post last October: “I’m not happy at all with the disrespect that he’s shown towards my sister, and the things he’s done in the past.”
BAILEY JUMPS BACK IN
The new football landscape is a tough business.
Take Hawthorn premiership ruckman Max Bailey’s situation. Last year he coached the Box Hill Hawks in the VFL having been in a development role at Hawthorn since 2016.
Unfortunately, he was among the coaches the Hawks had to let go because of the pandemic’s impact on football department spending.
Bailey, 33, has now found himself another coaching gig, with a bit of a difference.
The 2013 premiership hero will be in charge of the Ormond under-19s in the VAFA next year.
It turns out Bailey, who played 43 games during an injury-interrupted career at the Hawks, lives locally and wanted to work with junior footballers.
ROCKET TIPS TIDY SUM
NBA star Russell Westbrook earns about $55 million per season to ply his trade for the Houston Rockets.
Therefore $11,000 is the equivalent to a normal punter finding a 50c coin under the cushion on the couch and getting excited about it.
Anyway, the amount of money shouldn’t detract from Westbrook’s gesture when he left the NBA’s Orlando bubble.
The Rockets star reportedly left the housekeepers of the Grand Floridian Hotel an $11,000 tip.
“They took great care of us,” Westbrook told Bleacher Report. “Took the time and energy to do their job at a high level. That was the right thing. I like to do the right thing.”
It turns out Westbrook did most of the housekeepers’ job. His room was “virtually spotless” — no surprise, given his neat-freak reputation.
THE WHISPER
Did a club board member leave the Queensland AFL hub less than impressed with the handling of a delicate off-field issue?