What’s the Buzz: Wade Graham’s career crossroads, Dustin Martin’s surprise Sydney base

The previously rock-solid relationship between Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson and Immortal Andrew Johns has soured, plus the surprise Sydney base for an AFL star.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 28: Wade Graham of the Sharks warms up during the round eight NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Cronulla Sharks at Suncorp Stadium, on April 28, 2022, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Former Roosters assistant coach, the immortal Andrew Johns, thinks Sam Walker and Luke Keary should swap positions in the halves. Trent Robinson disagrees.

“Joey can have his comments. That’s his job is to comment on that, not to coach our team,” Robinson said.

Interesting the pair both live in Bronte. We’d love to be within hearing distance when they next cross paths at the beach.

Things might be a little frosty next time (L-R) Trent Robinson and Andrew Johns meet at the beach. Picture: AAP Image/Brendan Esposito

ORIGIN STAR FIGHTING TO SAVE CAREER

Cronulla Sharks are facing a tough call on the future of skipper Wade Graham.

It’s a bit like Canberra with Jarrod Croker and Canterbury with Josh Jackson — all three magnificent clubmen at the back end of their careers.

Sadly, there is little or no room for emotion on decisions like these in the brutal business of running an NRL club where every dollar counts. The salary cap doesn’t allow for sentimentality.

Graham’s on huge dollars and is off contract at the end of the season. If the 31-year-old was to stay, he would face a substantial pay cut.

He has played 257 NRL games and has been a wonderful servant to the Sharks which only makes coach Craig Fitzgibbon’s decision more difficult.

How do you tell a guy who has contributed so much that there’s no space in the salary cap?

Much will depend on his form over the next six weeks.

The 2016 premiership-winning second-rower and former Origin forward played his first game of the season off the bench against Brisbane Broncos on Thursday night.

Can cronulla find a place for Wade Graham next year? Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

SAINT

Nick Kyrgios might be Australia’s most polarising sporting figure but there is no denying his heart is in the right place and that he does some wonderful work for various charities. The spray he received from basketball legend Steve Carfino last week was out of order.

SINNER

The NRL grand final will always remain in Sydney. The suggestion of the game being moved and sold to the Queensland government is nothing but a decade-old media ploy to get funding from the NSW government for stadium improvements.

SINNER II

The NSWRL has ignored the opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs by rejecting an offer to have talks with NRL club bosses to avert court action. Meanwhile clubs in the bush are dying and the blazer brigade at the NSWRL don’t seem to care.

SPOTTED

Ray Hadley demolishing a plate of brown rice and grilled barramundi at 7.30am at the Fish Market Cafe in Pyrmont, an unusual breakfast even for a man who once tried to order a well-done steak tartare at a flash restaurant with his mate John Singleton.

Roy Masters in the Storm sheds

SPOTTED

Media veteran Roy Masters, from the always independent Nine Entertainment, in the team huddle inside the Melbourne Storm sheds for the victory song after the 70-10 victory over the New Zealand Warriors on Anzac Day. In fairness Roy has lived in Melbourne for a long time and is a close friend of Craig Bellamy, Frank Ponissi and the club’s owners.

SPOTTED

Old media legends Max Presnell, Geoff Prenter, Gary Lester and Ray Alexander having lunch in Bowral on Tuesday.

SHOOSH

Which high-profile player turned up to a photo shoot last week in a pair of NRLW shorts which had been mistakenly given to him by a media manager.

SHOOSH

Which sporting organisation is dealing with a highly sensitive security issue involving police. Stay tuned.

* * * * *

The NRL has an exceptional ability to every now and then treat their fans like mugs.

There is nothing supporters hate more in the game than refereeing inconsistencies.

Like Roosters winger Daniel Tupou taking out an opponent on Anzac Day with a blatant high shot but then remaining on the field.

Probably a dozen players have been sin-binned this year for incidents that were not as serious.

The next day the match review committee cleans up the mess to a degree.

Tupou is charged with a Grade 2 careless tackle. He misses a week. He’s a clean player and it’s a fair-enough outcome.

Now this is where they stuff up.

The referee Adam Gee has been in fine form all year but gets sacked.

The video review adjudicator in the bunker, Ashley Klein, keeps his job. He gets two games this weekend. This is an absolute disgrace.

Ashley Klein seems to get all the breaks at NRL headquarters. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Gee is one-out on the football field in a huge game played at great pace and pressure. He’s dealing with a million rule changes in the last couple of years. He misjudges the incident.

That was Klein’s job to rectify. He’s sitting in the bunker with half a dozen camera angles on high-definition screens.

The bunker forensically analyses the most minuscule incidents.

But Klein ignores this one. It is his fault not the referee’s.

Klein must have a gold pass to officiate every weekend. There is no reasonable explanation as to how he kept his job.

The people at the NRL who have allowed this to happen need to put themselves in the bin.

Their handling of this particular incident has been appalling.

* * * * *

Broken AFL superstar Dustin Martin has switched footy codes to seek help and inspiration from NRL legend and boxer Paul Gallen to prepare for his emotion-charged comeback.

The three-time Norm Smith medallist has spent a month training alongside Gallen at his Cronulla gym and on the Wanda sand hills in Sydney’s south that are notoriously brutal on even the fittest professional athletes.

Gallen, arguably Australia’s toughest sportsman, declined to comment when asked about his recent association with the Richmond champion.

“I gave Dusty my word that I wouldn’t say anything if the media found out about it,” Gallen said, “and I have to respect that.”

Any doubts about Martin’s fitness as he prepares for a much anticipated comeback in the blockbuster clash with traditional rivals Collingwood at the MCG next weekend have been quickly dispelled.

Former Camden boy Dustin Martin has been spotted back in Sydney. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

One onlooker told News Corp: “He’s been working his butt off and looks incredibly fit. Gal was really impressed and loved having him around.”

Martin has not played for five weeks after taking personal leave to deal with the anguish and pain of his father’s death in New Zealand late last year.

He came to Sydney as a broken man but has now returned to Melbourne in a much better head pace according to those closest to the champion midfielder.

Martin had previously met Gallen at a fight night in Sydney and the pair now share a strong bond.

He has also previously worked out with another NRL superstar, Sonny Bill Williams.

The big question mark now is Martin’s long-term future at Richmond.

He is two years away from completing a seven-year contract but a move interstate on compassionate grounds is not out of the question.

He enjoys Sydney’s lifestyle and being more out of the spotlight in the harbour city.

His agent Ralph Carr told News Corp last year: “Dusty loves Sydney. He’s there a lot and he originally lived in Camden with his dad. You’ve got to live there to really know how good it is.”

Paul Gallen is close mates with Dustin Martin. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Obviously there would be enormous interest from the Swans and the GWS Giants, especially at the Swans with their million-dollar man Buddy Franklin well into the home straight of his career.

Both clubs are quietly monitoring the situation behind the scenes.

The GWS giants have struggled to make a genuine impact in Sydney with their crowds and TV ratings way below what the AFL may have hoped for.

Dusty’s profile and freakish talent could change all that and finally get bums on seats.

Giants CEO David Matthews told News Corp: “Lifestyle has increasingly become one of the most important components for athletes when considering their playing career, which is why Sydney is such an attractive option.

“Dustin Martin is a genuine superstar of our game and Australian sport more broadly and that’s why he generates as much interest and excitement as he does.”

“We spoke to him a number of years ago given his Campbelltown background.”

Meanwhile Gallen has his next fight in Newcastle on May 11 for the Australasian heavyweight title against Melbourne fighter Kris Terzievski.

* * * * *

Martin Lang was one of the toughest men to play NRL. So when he starts talking about rugby league forwards you stop, listen and absorb.

After the Gold Coast Titans’ 30-4 loss to the Cowboys last week he had this brutal assessment of their side: “The current problem at the Gold Coast Titans. A meek, submissive forward pack. They wouldn’t bruise a grape in attack or defence…with the exception of (Tino) Fa’asuamaleaui and (Moeaki) Fotuaika.” Ouch.

* * * * *

Will Penisini and Dylan Brown with NT kids

The Parramatta Eels’ relationship with the Northern Territory is more than just playing for premiership points each year.

The club spent a day at the local Litchfield Bears rugby league club as part of a working bee, enlisting sponsor Taubman’s to repaint the clubhouse.

Young guns Will Penisini and Dylan Brown and Eels NRLW Coach Dean Widders also ran a coaching clinic for the junior teams.

The Eels have been in Darwin since Wednesday and held a joint signing session with the Cowboys on Thursday night which was hugely popular.

Legends Mick Cronin, Steve Ella, Bob O’Reilly and Neville Glover are there as well to speak at a fundraising lunch.

* * * * *

NRL bosses breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when a judge in a Brisbane court ruled against media organisations that were seeking access to CCTV footage of Anthony Milford’s ugly incident outside a Brisbane nightclub last year.

Agreed facts state that Milford’s actions that night caused a woman to fall and hit her head on concrete. It would have been a bad look on news websites and television, considering the NRL has cleared Milford to return for the Newcastle Knights in Round 11.

* * * * *

The Bulldogs have suffered another major injury. This time it is major sponsor Arthur Laundy who has undergone a knee replacement in St Vincents hospital. The hotel baron is a mad-keen golfer and has vowed to be back on the course after six weeks of physio. He’s hoping the Bulldogs might win a game by then too.

Anthony Milford reporting for Knights duty.

* * * * *

THE NSWRL is in danger of losing $1.25 million in sponsorship from Bryden’s Lawyers because of its legal stoush with the independent commission and NRL clubs.

This comes on top of the NRL withdrawing its funding following a dispute over the recent board elections in which Cronulla chief executive Dino Mezzatesta was ruled ineligible.

Bryden’s Lawyers is major jersey sponsor of the NSW Blues and the NRL is poised to take over the running of the team.

The law firm’s principal Lee Hagipantelis is watching closely from the sidelines.

“My agreement is with the NSWRL and they have to deliver three Origin games,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen, the contract is what they call frustrated (nullified).

“I would then need to sit down for discussions with the NRL about setting up another arrangement.”

Last week, its officials rejected the opportunity to have mediation talks with NRL chief executives that could potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs.

All this money is being wasted while great clubs such as Laurie Daleys’s old team Junee Diesels and other bush clubs are folding.

* * * * *

Boxing superstar Tim Tszyu is facing the most hectic travel schedule.

He will be in Newcastle on Wednesday May 11 to watch his brother Nikita, Paul Gallen and Harry Garside in a huge card on Foxtel’s Main Event.

Tim will arrive home in Sydney at around 2am for a couple of hours sleep then head straight to the airport at 5am for a flight to Los Angeles with his manager Graeme Jennings and No Limit promoter Matt Rose.

The trio will be at ringside when Brian Castano and Jermell Charlo fight for the super welterweight’s unified titles on May 14. Tszyu will fight the winner.

Originally published as What’s the Buzz: Wade Graham’s career crossroads, Dustin Martin’s surprise Sydney base