Celebrity crushes revealed
Liam Martin and Mitch Kenny have revealed their celebrity crushes whilst growing up. Put under the pump at a corporate event on Monday night, Marto declared Megan Fox was his celebrity crush while for Mitch Kenny, Selena Gomez topped the list.
Bosses stay home
Despite all the euphoria around Las Vegas in the past week, Panthers Group CEO Brian Fletcher and Football CEO Matt Cameron opted not to head over for the games.
Many other club CEOs jumped at the chance for a trip to Vegas but Fletcher in particular knows all there is to know about the concept and the funds around it. The Panthers are still keen to be involved in 2025.
Will NRL pay again?
One of the reasons the Vegas games received so much PR is that the NRL itself funded the costs of so many of the journalists who travelled over to cover the double header.
It wouldn’t have been cheap and there’s no doubt the NRL will have lost money on the venture, though it sees the long-term benefits.
If the NRL doesn’t keep paying the costs of journos in future years, those heading over – and the coverage – will start to dwindle.
Cleary had final say on doco
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary retained the right to pull any footage or audio from the recent ‘Undisputed’ documentary, which the club produced in partnership with Channel Nine.
Cleary would be shown each episode upon its completion just in case any particular element wasn’t right for public consumption. I’m told he wasn’t an overly picky director.
‘Undisputed’ almost never was
Henry Ward is the genius behind the ‘Undisputed’ documentary and there was nobody more dejected than him when Ezra Mam scored his hat-trick of tries in last year’s Grand Final.
He’d gone back into the sheds after Mam’s third try, dealing with the realisation that all of his hard work filming behind the scenes would probably amount to nothing.
He happened to spot Isaah Yeo undergoing his HIA and filmed it. The pair then heard the roar when Moses Leota scored his try – and suddenly, Ward’s camera was back to the field to record the magic of that final stanza.
Scoop confirmed
I told you last week that Sunia Turuva and Mitch Kenny were close to signing new deals with the club.
Panthers CEO Matt Cameron has now confirmed he’s in deep negotiations with the pair about extending their time at Penrith, along with Taylan May.
He expects announcements to be made very soon.
Cleary goes early
It seems Ivan Cleary will continue his trend of speaking to the media in the early part of the week, rather than the day before the game. He held his first game week press conference of the year on Monday. The tactic allows Cleary to escape any questions about late changes or fitness of players heading into game day.
Low key launch
With all the key NRL personnel over in Vegas, as well as the main league journos, a very low key Australian season launch was held in the Sydney CBD last week. The Panthers sent co-captain Isaah Yeo along as their representative.
Kenny’s suspension a top secret
Mitch Kenny won’t play for Penrith against Melbourne on Friday after being handed a one game suspension for that awkward Instagram post in the off-season.
But there’s one problem – the NRL has never formally announced the penalty. Mainstream media outlets reported it extensively last week, and Kenny was missing from the team list on Tuesday, but the NRL has remained publicly silent. It did not send out a media release or announcement confirming Kenny’s penalty. It only confirmed a breach notice was issued on February 8.
Grand Final stays in Sydney
The State Government and the NRL has confirmed this year’s Grand Final will be played at Accor Stadium. With no long-term deal in place, the Grand Final location is currently being decided on a year-by-year basis.
“NSW is the home of the NRL and there is no better city in the world to host another incredible Grand Final showdown,” Premier Chris Minns said.
Spotted
The campaign to bring back the North Sydney Bears reaching all the way to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
