The Albanese footy card T-shirt that almost got a fan thrown out

The retro footy cards T-shirt image of Anthony Albanese that caused offence

Remarkably, there is still one place where sport and politics aren’t ­allowed to mix. Even if – or perhaps because – it is done with a sense of humour.

The people who run rugby league can do politics with the best of them, but apparently they come out in hives when the fans step too close to the federal election.

At least, that is the experience of a bloke we know who was threatened with being tossed out of the Roosters v Warriors game at the SCG last weekend because he was wearing the wrong T-shirt.

Our mate is a Roosters fan of some 40 years standing, a lover of the golden era of rugby league and something of a retro footy cards aficionado. In fact, you might have spotted him tweeting about such things as @ScanlensFooty.

With a bit of help from Photoshop, our mate put a 30-year-old photograph of Anthony Albanese on to a footy card of Newtown Rugby League Club legend Ken Wilson and made it into a T-shirt. Generally when he wears it he gets nods and smiles – no one is offended. For the record, he also has similar footy card T-shirts featuring Liberal figures Harold Holt and Andrew Peacock.

Anyway, security at the SCG took offence. He was stopped by a security guard and told to take the T-shirt off or he would be tossed out. When he appealed to a higher authority he was told his shirt was “political advertising” and he was breaking the rules. Apparently somewhere in the backrooms at the SCG, there is a dusty tome where it is written that novelty T-shirts with a tongue-in-cheek political bent are banned.

“Lucky I was carrying my Easts jersey,” says our mate. “I literally had to strip off in public and change. They wouldn’t even let me wear it under my jersey.”

Of course, Albo should be delighted to have his face superimposed on a footy card image of Wilson, who was one of the greatest Jets ever.

Wilson featured in two historic moments for the club. The second was in 1983 when he captained Newtown in a drab 0-0 draw against Canterbury, apparently the only scoreless match in Australian rugby league history.

The first came a decade earlier when he kicked the field goal that gave the Jets a similarly unique 1-0 win over St George.

Wilson was sitting on the bench towards the end of a dull, defensive grind of a game when coach Jack Gibson leant over and growled: “Wilson, do you think you can kick a field goal?”

Of course he said “yes” – and went out and did it.

“It’s funny,” Wilson said years later. “I’m the leading point scorer in the history of Newtown and the two games I’m remembered for are the nil-all draw and the 1-0 win.”

Clearly he retained his sense of humour – unlike the SCG security guards.

THE DALY NEWS

File this one under chip off the old block … John Daly II, the 18-year-old son of hard-living, chain-smoking, grip-it-and-rip-it major winner John Daly I, has just signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with restaurant chain Hooters.

This despite the fact that young John, a freshman at the University of Arkansas, has played just one tournament for his college team.

The kid, a dead spit for his dad, has signed what’s known as a name, image and likeness deal, which allows amateur college sports stars to make some sponsorship dollars.

Nonetheless, the youngster can obviously play a bit. Late last year, father and son Daly combined to win the PNC Championship, where major winners play with a member of their family. They finished in front of Tiger Woods and his son Charlie.

The Dalys finished with a 36-hole total of 27 under to break a previous tournament record set by Davis Love III and his son Dru in 2018.

Daly Sr is already on the books with Hooters and apparently often uses their restaurants as his 19th hole.

No one’s letting on what young John’s deal is worth, but one US high school athlete heading to college in 2023 is rumoured to have signed a name, image and likeness deal that will earn him $10m before his senior year.

HALFWIT NELSON

While we’re talking golf, if you have recently bought a cheap cart on the internet, maybe it would be worth checking where it came from. You might have to give it back.

The New York Times reported this week that the most prolific golf cart thief in history has just been sentenced to two years’ prison.

Nathan Rodney Nelson apparently stole at least 84 golf carts from courses in several US states and sold them on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. The carts were a bargain, selling for half what they were actually worth.

But Nelson’s nice little earner has been spoiled by the FBI.

Like many thieves, he is clearly no criminal mastermind and they caught him because he used his own mobile number in all his online ads.

He also left some scorecards and pencils in the carts that tied them back to where they were stolen.

KNUCKLES PUNCHING ON

Former Wallabies coach John Connolly, who suffered serious spinal injuries in a fall last year, is out of hospital as he continues his long rehabilitation.

He is back at home on the Sunshine Coast, where he was once a local councillor.

Knuckles is one of the most popular blokes in Australian rugby and about 160 of his mates got together for a lunch on Friday to honour him and raise some cash for the spinal ward at Prince Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, where he has been treated.

Wallabies legend John Eales was the MC and former PM John Howard sent a video of support.

Our former colleague Wayne Smith, a good mate of Connolly, says the former coach has remained in good spirits throughout his ordeal. “I was talking to Andrew Slack today and we were both saying how upbeat Knuckles has been through all of this.”

AWAAT’s best wishes are with him as well.

[e-mail] @walmason