Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Triple M host Ben Dobbin in doubt for NRL grand final after neck injury
Triple M host Ben Dobbin is out of NRL action indefinitely, the sad decline of the Kangaroos jumper, and Kevin Walters’ possible next career move. All that and more in Saint, Sinner, Shoosh.
Host Ben Dobbin is a scratching from Triple M’s Sunday Sin Bin show this weekend – for a very good reason.
He’s actually lucky to be alive after crushing two vertebrae in his spine as he tumbled off his pushbike in Brisbane last Thursday.
‘Dobbo’ was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.
“I’m lucky I’m not in a wheelchair.
“I saw a snake, swerved to miss it, and catapulted myself into a steel post.”
Dobbo has been overwhelmed with messages of support, even one from Kevvie Walters on the day he was sacked as Broncos coach.
SAINT
Loyalty and mateship last a lifetime in rugby league and there’s no better proof than Cronulla Sharks old boys reaching out last week to try to locate and help their former teammate Michael Speechley who has been down on his luck for a long period of time.
SINNERS
The Virgin and Qantas airfares price gouging for the AFL grand final, costing Sydney and Brisbane fans a squillion to get to Melbourne. It also affected Roosters NRL fans who flew south on Friday for the Storm semi-final at AAMI Park.
SHOOSH
Which NRL club has recently signed the richest deal with a jersey sponsor in the game’s long history. It will nearly double the amount some other clubs are getting. You will read all about it in the very near future.
SHOOSH II
Still no denial from Nathan Cleary in regards to the rumour we published last week – that he would consider playing a season in the UK Super League to be close to his partner — the Matildas and Manchester City star Mary Fowler.
SHOOSH III
Which superstar State of Origin player is on the verge of splitting from his manager.
SHOOSH IV
Which chairman of an NRL club is blowing up about not being included in a ‘hottest man in league’ article published last week. And, tragically, I think he was being serious. Not surprisingly, Broncos superstar Reece Walsh came out on top.
SPOTTED
Gus Gould going for a ride in his tinny on Port Hacking last Sunday in his first free weekend without NRL commitments at Canterbury Doggies or Channel 9.
BIG BREKKY
Catch you this morning on the Weekend Big Sports Breakfast with hosts Ray Thomas and Dean Bulldog Ritchie to discuss all the rugby league action in the build-up to the grand final.
NO LOVE FOR ROOS
The green and gold Australian rugby league jersey has sadly lost its value.
Modern-day footy for the younger generation is more about the premiership and State of Origin.
This generation generally switches off after the grand final following trial games, 27 rounds, the finals series and three Origin games.
Last week, I spoke to Eels legend Peter Wynn to see if there was any interest these days for the Kangaroos jersey in his Parramatta sports store.
“The NSW Blues jersey probably outsells the Kangaroos 10 to one,” he said. “Origin jerseys have dominated the market for so long. Look at the marketing and promotion behind the event and the sellout crowds and TV ratings.
“It’s just the way it is these days.
“I’ve been in business since 1988. Back then, there was huge support and demand for the Kangaroos jerseys but it’s certainly dropped away — which is a real shame.
“Growing up as a kid in Werris Creek, it was all we wanted to wear.”
I’m only telling this story today to put some perspective into the Kalyn Ponga debate around his decision to turn down an Australian jersey for the Pacific Championships, before he backflipped on Friday night and made himself available.
Mal Meninga has worked so hard since he was appointed in 2016 as coach to create a culture where wearing the green and gold meant more than anything else in rugby league.
The growth of Pacific nations Tonga and Samoa has lifted the international game, yet weakened the Aussie team.
Times have changed.
The best players in the NRL no longer play for a green and gold jersey like 20 years ago.
They’ve chosen Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG and, in Victor Radley’s case, England.
Youngsters these days are very much like Ponga.
It’s why Sydney has barely hosted a Test match in the past decade.
The last game was Australia v Lebanon in 2017 in front of 21,127 at Allianz. Before that in 2014, against the Kiwis at the same venue — the crowd was 25,429.
We’ve only played England in Sydney once in 32 years.
Once upon a time, the Kangaroos v Great Britain game was as big as Origin. Kangaroos games have been taken to Darwin, Canberra, Newcastle, Wollongong, Melbourne and Townsville because of the lack of interest in rugby league’s biggest city.
Ponga’s mistake was not the fact he put his club before his country.
He’s carried the Knights all year.
This would not have blown up in the week of the grand-final qualifiers if he’d shown some class by ringing Meninga and Peter V’landys first to explain his situation.
That his announcement was made so amateurishly and so disrespectfully is far worse than him declaring himself unavailable for selection.
REYNO-VATIONS MUST BEGIN
The sacking of Kevin Walters is not the only leadership change the Broncos need to make.
I agree with club legend Gorden Tallis – they need to axe Adam Reynolds as captain.
Two years ago I wrote of his unprofessional behaviour at Magic Round. He’d been injured playing for the Broncos, replaced during the game, but went out all night from the Caxton Hotel to the Treasury Casino, then turned up at Souths’ team hotel for brekky.
A leader would have gone home to ice and rest the injury.
Earlier this year the veteran half was also involved in a roadside scuffle with teammate Pat Carrigan.
Seriously, what sort of leadership is this? This club needs a new coach and captain.
KEVVIE’S FOX FUTURE
Kevvie Walters won’t be lost to rugby league despite finishing up the Broncos.
There is always television. Before taking on the head coaching job, he worked as a panellist and commentator on Fox Sports.
“We’ll most definitely have a chat to Kevvie,” Fox Sports boss Steve Crawley says.
“He’s got energy and he’s a great commentator and analyst.”
IKIN NOT BELIEVE BLUNDER
The biggest mistake the Brisbane Broncos have made in recent seasons was not embracing Ben Ikin as head of football.
Ikin joined the club in 2021 but quit two years later to become QRL chief executive. He’d been shoved aside and taken off the club’s recruitment panel.
Ikin has a football IQ like few others.
He should have been given more influence in the day-to-day running of the club in setting better standards.
Some obviously saw him as a threat. Yes, they made the 2023 GF but club culture has always been an issue.
AUNTY QUIET OVER MAXWELL SPRAY
The ABC’s longest-serving and most respected commentator Jim Maxwell has taken a swipe at his own radio network over its coverage of sport.
Maxwell brought up a half-century of cricket broadcasting for the ABC this year but is not happy with some of his colleagues and the decisions they make in regards to covering sport.
Maxwell, 74, recently took to social media to criticise the ABC.
“News Radio used to deliver excellent coverage of sport on their weekend roundups,” he wrote.
“You may recall reports from Tim Flynn and David Lord. Now it’s predictable footie and always EPL scores.
“No Test cricket from Asia, no PGA golf and not a mention of Wobblies/AB test today.”
And this one: “Another stunning (Travis) Head innings … struggles to get a run on ABC TV morning news so far … and the champion women’s team won too … AFL gets a run … netball … batting order needs a fix … again.”
And when Australia beat England in the cricket last week: “In case you missed it … News Radio have so far. Australia won again.”
This is a difficult one for Aunty to handle.
An employee publicly criticising his own company would normally be an unacceptable practice.
Yet the PR people are running a million miles from it.
Maxwell is such a legendary figure in sports broadcasting.
He is a household name and the long-time voice of cricket on summer radio – not that it entitles you to bag your colleagues.
I attempted to contact him with this text message: “Hi Jim, it’s Phil Rothfield. Hope you are well. Just doing a piece on Sunday re some of your comments on social media re the ABC’s coverage of sport. Would you have two secs for a chat please. Cheers.”
I could see he read the message but there was no reply. He didn’t take our calls either.
So, we went to the boss of ABC radio content Tim Verrall. He palmed us off to ABC publicist Laura Todd. She rudely didn’t reply to emails. To think these people work for the taxpayer.
It took the big boss of communications Nick Leys to come back with: “We don’t have a comment.”
RARE FEAT TO TAUNT TRIVIA BUFFS
One for the trivia buffs … who is the only man in rugby league history to win his first games as head coach of both an NRL and NRLW team?
Answer: Steve Georgallis.
The Parramatta Eels NRLW coach steered the Eels team to a first-round win this year against the eventual minor premiers, Brisbane Broncos.
-Georgallis also won his first game as an NRL head coach back in 2011, when Penrith sacked Matt Elliott and gave him the job in a caretaker capacity.
This year, the Eels have thrived under Georgallis’ leadership, making a remarkable turnaround from last year’s wooden spoon to finish just outside the top four.
SHAUN GIVES LEAGUIES GALLOP
Former NSW Waratahs five-eighth Shaune Berne has been handed the prized role of head coach of Randwick rugby club – and he’s already chasing rugby league players.
Berne, who was contracted as a schoolboy to Brisbane Broncos before converting to rugby, says he is open to offering opportunities to NRL players to join the Galloping Greens.
“We’d love to teach some league boys the finer part of running rugby,” Berne said.
“There are plenty of opportunities at Randwick and we can certainly provide a pathway to a global stage.
“I’ve already seen a few aspiring NRL players convert to rugby at Shute Shield level and do exceptionally well.
“We’d be happy to welcome more aspirants to our club.”
Berne, the son of former Easts Roosters and Souths Rabbitohs legend John Berne, can be contacted on shaun@randwickrugby.com.au.
BROWN’S TOUGH GIG
Ex-journo, editor and communications guru Alex Brown has taken on the toughest job in Australian sport.
He is the new PR boss at Rugby Australia with the task of lifting the game off the sporting scrap heap.
It works in his favour with a British & Irish Lions tour next year and 2027 World Cup in Australia to drum up interest.
The Wallabies did well to narrowly lose to the All Blacks last weekend. Yet they have such a long way to go to become a mainstream sport again like the good old days.
HAPPY 50TH TO A LEAGUE INSTITUTION
The NRL is bringing back the good old Big League magazine for the grand final – 50 years after it was first published.
A replica front cover of the 1974 grand final – Eastern Suburbs v Canterbury – will go on sale next week, with all the teams and info on the decider.
Big League will be on sale in limited numbers at NRL Fan Fest on Friday and at Accor Stadium on game day.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said: “Big League is a rugby league institution, so it’s only fitting to celebrate the publication’s 50th birthday with a special souvenir edition on the game’s biggest day of the year. We’ve got exciting plans for a new Big League in 2025 that will combine everything great about the traditional magazine along with new digital options for fans.”
WISE MOVE, FOX
Josh Addo-Carr has wisely withdrawn from the Indigenous Knockout next weekend as he looks to sort out his NRL future.
The Bulldogs winger could’ve played, despite his suspension after a police roadside positive test to cocaine. The Knockout is not a ratified NRL competition.
The Bulldogs have given him permission to talk to rival clubs.
St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan is keen but needs approval from his board.
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