The Buzz: No tee party for Braith Anasta

WESTS Tigers have told new signing Braith Anasta to put his promising golf career on hold.

Stuart Raper - Shake n' Bake

WESTS Tigers have told new signing Braith Anasta to put his promising golf career on hold.

The former Roosters star plays off scratch and started in last year's NSW PGA tournament.

The event is on again this month, but new coach Michael Potter wants him at training with the rest of the Tigers.

It's a sign of things to come at the Wests Tigers with a much tougher approach to discipline from the new coaching staff at the club.

The club has been criticised in recent years for allowing Benji Marshall, Robbie Farah and other stars to run the show.

Chief executive Steve Humphreys confirmed Anasta had been told he couldn't play.

"He spoke to Mick Potter about playing, but it clashed with our training schedule," Humphreys said. "There was no drama - that was the end of it."

The move to stop Anasta from playing in the tournament shows the Tigers are prepared to take a much stronger stance than the Roosters with their star players.

Last year, Brian Smith allowed the then Roosters skipper to play in the tournament and this year Sonny Bill Williams has been given the all clear to continue his boxing career.

Meanwhile, Anasta's long-time agent Greg Willett has quit his job as a player manager after being recently exposed in an ugly court battle with former business associates from a decade ago.

Willett also managed the affairs of new Sharks signing and former Panthers star Luke Lewis.

* * *

THERE'S a massive push to give former Socceroo boss Frank Farina the toughest coaching job in Australian sport at Sydney FC. Insiders say the likeable Farina is itching for a return to big-time football after leaving Brisbane Roar under the cloud of a drink-driving charge three years ago. "Frank's a natural for the job," said a close source.

* * *

THE NRL is close to reaching an agreement with the NSW and Queensland governments to keep Origin football in the rugby league states. Sources at Moore Park headquarters are suggesting Melbourne will miss out on any Origin games for at least the next five years. In a multi-million dollar boost for the game, premiers Barry O'Farrell and Campbell Newman have thrown their chequebooks open to beat off an approach from the powerful Victorian Events organisation. The independent commission is expected to announce the decision on Tuesday.

* * *

Stuart Raper - Shake n' Bake

STUART Raper has gone from being a refs boss to a rock star. We spotted him at the Miranda Hotel on Friday night on the drums in his band called Shake n Bake. Former Kings basketball star Damian Keogh also plays. Shake n Bake play at different venues to raise money for charities. Friday night's gig was for Movember and to raise funds for prostate cancer. Raper is a self-taught drummer. He took up music while coaching Castleford in England in the late 1990s for stress relief.

* * *

TODD Carney is trying to fast-track his return to football by doing altitude training over the summer months. It will ensure he is at peak fitness when he fully recovers from surgery on his achilles tendon. Carney and his stunning partner Lauryn Eagle were spotted shopping at Woolworths Caringbah last Wednesday, sparking speculation the pair were about to share a house. They were buying cleaning products, a kitchen bin and several other domestic products.
"No, that's not right,'' Carney said. "Lauryn is still living at home with her mum. I'm moving house and she's helping me set it up.'' His mates say they have never seen him happier in a relationship. Carney is renting a house in the Shire but will buy a property if he extends his contract with the Sharks beyond 2013.

* * *

WE received this lovely email from a grateful country footy player that is worth sharing.

"I write to you to nominate the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club for your 'Saints' part of the column. I am a 24-year-old rugby league player who plays (first) grade for the Tumut Blues in the Group 9 competition in country NSW. About a year ago, I broke my ankle as well as dislocating it and to this day it has not improved well at all.

"I have been to physiotherapists and not much has helped. This prompted me to send an email to the Broncos to get some advice which has worked for Jharal Yow Yeh who broke his ankle badly earlier this year. I thought what they did with him could help with me but I rated it a slim chance of the Broncos replying.

"However, within a week, I had a reply from my email from the Broncos' head physiotherapist who gave me advice and told me how they were working to make Jharal's leg stronger as well as how they were helping his leg with range of motion.

"I couldn't believe I had a reply and their advice has been fantastic. The Broncos have always had a great reputation of being a great club and this is testament to that. It would have been easy for them to shrug the email off and not reply, but I was flattered I got help. Let it be known, I do not support the Broncos. I am an Eels tragic.'' - Ben Roddy

* * *

VICTORIAN Events boss Brendan McClements has denied that he’s about to become the new NRL chief executive.
‘‘I wouldn’t be writing that,’’ he told me yesterday, when I called to check it out. McClements is currently involved in talks with the NRL about taking State of Origin games to Melbourne. He says it would be wrong to be talking to the
commission about David Gallop’s old job during the negotiations. McClements is highly regarded in sports and entertainment and would have been a good choice. Not surprisingly, commission boss John Grant is not returning my calls.

* * *

Ian Schubert - Salary Cap enforcer

SALARY cap boss Ian Schubert is one of the most pugnacious and unpopular officials in the NRL because of his refusal to back down in disputes with clubs, players or their agents. New Parramatta coach Ricky Stuart recently went
on a shooting trip to the Northern Territory with his great mate Bob Fulton, Royce Ayliffe and Schubert. They drank lots of beer and bonded like all men do on ‘‘away’’ trips. Not that it has helped Stuart sign Israel Folau at the Eels. Schubert, his tour partner, has been the stumbling block, refusing to register Folau’s contract for anything less than $400,000.

* * *

THE NRL draw was supposed to be released to the clubs, their fans and the media at a big press conference on Friday. The plan fell through when Channel Nine rejected the draw. They had only been given 11 of their 20 choices for Sunday afternoon games. Officials are working over the weekend to come up with something more suitable to the broadcasters. Fans are up in arms about the delay.

* * *

TEST cricket doesn’t have the ratings power it once had. At 6pm on Monday, as Michael Clarke was approaching his double century at the Gabba, Nine News thought they had the perfect lead-in. Not so. Seven beat their arch-rivals with 60,000 extra viewers on the night.

* * *

DAVID Gallop says he has been overwhelmed with the number of rugby league people who have wished him well in his new job as the boss of Australian football. ‘‘I was particularly chuffed to get a message from Ron Coote, a childhood hero of mine,’’ Gallop said. ‘‘Connecting with the history and heroes of the past was something we really improved in rugby league and something I would like to achieve in football.’’

* * *

THE future of the NSW Origin Legends organisation remains in doubt. Calls to their office in Homebush were not answered last week and general manager Max Krilich has not been seen at work for weeks. It’s known that the
former Kangaroos skipper has been looking around for another job. Earlier this year, the NSW Rugby league cut ties with the Legends following the group’s failure to provide financial records. The association has held no fundraising activities since a golf day last month.

* * *

SAINT - THE fighting qualities of Test discard Brad Haddin, the only Shield batsman to score two centuries this
season. You’ve gotta love his never-say-die spirit.

SINNER I - SONNY Bill Williams says he was honouring an old handshake agreement with Nick Politis when
he signed at the Roosters. What a shame he didn’t show the same honour with his previous NRL contract at
the Bulldogs.

SINNER II - NRL marketing boss Paul Kind for wanting to use Sonny Bill in a TV advertising campaign. What he did
to the Bulldogs in 2008 was the greatest act of disloyalty that I can recall in the game.

SPOTTED I - OLD NRL boss David Gallop and interim NRL boss Shane Mattiske enjoying a beer and each other’s
company at the Clovelly Hotel last week.

SPOTTED II - FORMER Roosters and Bulldogs front-rower Mark O’Meley outside NRL headquarters on Friday chatting to old Roosters boss Steve Noyce. Noyce has been hired by the NRL to help out in negotiations with the players union for the collective bargaining agreement.

SHOOSH - WHICH NRL chief executive was spotted holding up the bar at a recent grade cricket game with a beer in
each hand.

SHOOSH II - WHO is the veteran NRL club official looking about 15 years younger after apparently undergoing
some off-season Botox treatment?

SHOOSH III - A MASSIVE story is brewing over a contract row involving one of the biggest names in the NRL. If
not resolved, it could be the biggest story of the year. Stay tuned.

EAGLE HAS LANDED - MANLY backrower Glenn Stewart and his wife Jo are a proud mum and dad after baby boy, Mack, arrived during the week. He texted this message to his mates: ‘‘Mack Stewart, born 10.08pm 15th of nov. 7 pound, 11 ounces. Mum and the little weapon doing great.’’