What’s the Buzz: Trent Barrett, Ivan Cleary split widens, Eels new membership leaders

The Rabbitohs have been toppled as the kings of the NRL membership battle — check out all the latest in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.

All the latest NRL chatter and more in Australia’s hottest sport gossip column.

SAINT

Ty Ayton is a 14-year-old who’s been struck down by the horrible disease dermatomyositis where the immune system attacks and destroys his little muscles and organs. He’s also a mad Cronulla Sharks fan who loves Wade Graham. Ty lives on the mid-north coast. On Tuesday, his granddad Barry Armstrong drove him to Sydney to meet his hero.

“It was the happiest Ty has been since his diagnosis,” said his mum Xanthe. “It meant so much to him.”

SINNER

Aussie cricket coach Justin Langer, who will ignore form, the future and logic by snubbing batting prodigy Will Pucovski for the first Test against India, opting for journeyman Joe Burns. Complete madness.

SHOOSH

It’s been just a month since Trent Barrett left Penrith for Canterbury on a high after the Panthers’ great season. In that time it’s fair to say his once good relationship with coach Ivan Cleary has become strained. The pair haven’t spoken in recent weeks as tensions build over the signings of Matt Burton and Jack Hetherington. The Bulldogs are also trying to pinch Stephen Crichton. The Panthers v Bulldogs game next season will have a spicy build-up.

Ivan Cleary and Trent Barrett haven’t spoken in weeks. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

SHOOSH II

Memorabilia experts say the jumper Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona gave ex-Socceroos star Robbie Slater in 1993 — which sits in the SCG museum — is now worth around $1 million.

SHOOSH III

NRL clubs face huge challenges next year with anti-vaccination players. The Queensland government issued exemptions this year but airlines will be a different story once a COVID vaccine is available. All airlines are expected to enforce a “no-COVID vaccination, no fly” rule for international travel, which means there will be an obvious problem with NZ Warriors home games in Auckland.

SPOTTED

Former Cronulla Sharks premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan and son Kyle watching his old skipper Paul Gallen spar in the gym as he prepares for the blockbuster Mark Hunt heavyweight fight at Bankwest Stadium on December 16.

SPOTTED II

Canberra is on Channel 9 with free-to-air coverage in round one for the first time since 2004. They play Wests Tigers in the Sunday afternoon game.

SPOTTED III

The great Phil Gould has shut down his Twitter account, just a month shy from lasting the full year for probably the first time ever.

SPOTTED IV

Not all NRL stars get a tattoo of their club logo after winning a premiership. Melbourne Storm giant Nelson Asofa-Solomona got his room number from the Novotel Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast inked on to his arm as a reminder of the five months the team spent together in lockdown.

NRL’S NEW NO.1: EELS MEMBERSHIP SURGES

This is the reason why ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys wants to build four ‘mini-Bankwest’ stadiums across Sydney.

The Parramatta Eels have surged past South Sydney to top the NRL’s membership ladder in a significant power shift west.

And why? Because their supporters have the best facilities in the game.

The Eels have hit their highest ever pre-Christmas total of 26,021 members, which comes as they signed off on a series of new commercial sponsorships.

It all comes from their wonderful home ground.

Eels fans have also been buoyed by a club resurgence and the hope they can break a 35-year premiership doubt.

Parramatta fans enjoy the best facilities in the NRL at Bankwest Stadium. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The Eels’ membership count is more than 1000 clear of the Rabbitohs’ 24,980, who have been top of the charts for more than a decade.

It’s been a big off-season for the Eels, who were allocated 15 free-to-air games in the 2021 draw — the second-most behind traditional Channel 9 favourites Brisbane. They also signed an NRL-first apparel deal with global sportswear giant Macron.

The five-year, six-figure agreement puts the Eels under the same umbrella as Italian Serie A sides Lazio and Bologna, French side Nantes and the Scottish and Italian rugby teams.

“Our club has secured a long-term partnership with one of the strongest sportswear companies in the world in Macron and we are also welcoming one of the fastest growing financial services companies in Australia in Lending Association,” Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos said.

“Alongside the renewal of one of our major partners in Actron and some exciting partnership announcements to come, our club is ready to build on our commercial growth even further in 2021.”

To celebrate, the Eels have unveiled a mural (left) in Parramatta’s Centenary Square, featuring captain Clint Gutherson, Mitch Moses and Junior Paulo. Designed by well-known artist Jeswri, the mural will become a fixture of the Eels’ game day in 2021, before finding a permanent home somewhere in Parramatta.

FORMER PANTHER TO GEYER’S RESCUE

Mark Geyer has credited old Penrith Panthers teammate Scott Sattler for helping his daughter win a recent online defamation court case.

Montanna Geyer, 24, had been slandered and wrongly implicated in a Tyrone May sex-tape scandal. It turns out Sattler played a key role in winning the case by tracking down vital evidence through his business as a private investigator.

“I didn’t even know Scotty was a private investigator,” Geyer said, “Then about six months into the investigation, our lawyers told me he was working on the case.

Scott Sattler helped out old Penrith teammate Mark Geyer.

“He’s been an integral part of it. He’s played a massive role. Without his diligence, we mightn’t have got there.”

Geyer and Sattler played together at the Panthers in the late ’90s.

“We got on like a house on fire,” Geyer said. “It’s the best story. It shows even once you hang up the boots, it doesn’t end there as far as mateship goes and helping each other out.”

Geyer is so proud that he and his family have taken on the person who defamed his daughter and won the case. The judge is due to hand down his verdict on damages this week.

CRONULLA LEGENDS CALLED IN FOR DUTY

Premiership-winning legends Luke Lewis and Paul Gallen are returning home to the Cronulla Sharks next season to help out on John Morris’s coaching staff.

“It’s brilliant to have them back in the fold,” Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta said.

“They’ll both be in specialist coaching roles, whether it’s tactics, attack, defence or skills. They are so versatile and will be a huge help with all the younger players.”

Morris was restricted in getting outside help this year because of the strict biosecurity rules.

As he fights to save his job and get a new contract, Gallen and Lewis will be a huge help.

“It’s so important to be able to call on their experience,” Mezzatesta said.

“You look back on their achievements at all levels of football and think about the knowledge they can pass on.”

Lewis starts this week and Gallen will start in the new year after his fight against Mark Hunt.

Corey Norman has had a big win on the pokies.

COREY NORMAN HITS THE JACKPOT

For all the battlers out there who really deserve a Christmas bonus …

Highly-paid St George-Illawarra Dragons star Corey Norman picked up a $25,000 poker machine jackpot on Friday night.

NRL stars Matt Moylan, Nathan Peats and Bryce Cartwright were all there to help him celebrate the big win.

Norman, who earns $800,000 a season at the Dragons, has been offered a release if he can find another club for next season.

STORM SET TO PAY PRICE

Melbourne Storm is facing fines of up to $40,000 for NRL breaches during the finals.

The biggest whack will be for running out of the sheds four minutes late on grand final night.

The Canterbury Bulldogs did the same thing in 2014 against the Rabbitohs and got hit with a $20,000 fine.

The Storm are also facing fines for breaching media guidelines during the finals.

CHANNEL NINE TAKES IT EASY

Channel 9 is softening its stance on its TV talent working for rival radio networks.

Nine also owns 2GB but has allowed Erin Molan to jump ship from the Continuous Call team to host breakfast at 2DayFM from next year. She will be a huge loss after the departures of Ray Hadley and Bob Fulton last season.

Andrew Johns has also signed up with SEN in Sydney. Other Nine commentators, including Billy Slater, Paul Gallen and Brad Fittler, work on 2GB as part of their TV contracts.

PRICE ALL RIGHT FOR BOZZA

Soccer legend Mark Bosnich is a massive Ray Price fan. He grew up in Sydney’s west and idolised the Parramatta Eels before leaving for the UK in the late 1980s, where he became an EPL superstar.

Bosnich read the story last week about the fundraising to help the 67-year-old as both he and wife Sandy fight cancer.

“I love Pricey and I want to help out,” Bosnich said.

“I’m happy to do a function, donate some memorabilia or anything.”

Already $39,000 of a $100,000 target has been raised. To help one of Parramatta’s greatest, click here and bid.

TELEVISION TITANS TAKE OFF

It’s amazing how the Titans’ fortunes have changed off the back of a five-game win streak to end the 2020 season.

In the draw released on Thursday, the Titans’ Round 2 home game against the Broncos is usually reserved for the Cowboys v Broncos derby.

The club has always struggled for free-to-air TV coverage on Nine, usually averaging only one or two prime-time games each year.

Next season the club will feature on the network no less than seven times.

Originally published as What’s the Buzz: Trent Barrett, Ivan Cleary split widens, Eels new membership leaders