The Eddie Hayson press conference? What was that all about? What was the purpose of putting Mr Hayson, sitting beside Max Markson, in front of people like the Herald's own Kate McClymont to publicly skewer him, point out the inconsistencies in his account, the troubling aspects of his whole story, the strangeness of his position – yes, I am close to many players, did heaps of favours for them, gambled with them, placed money in to their gambling accounts, but cross the line into getting inside info, NEVER! – all of it with nowhere to run? I have no idea. Seriously, no idea what he and Max were thinking. Whatever happened to "No comment", "I was never there on the night", "I was there on the night, but never met him before!"
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Eddie Hayson vs Kate McClymont
Controversial gambling identity Eddie Hayson and Fairfax investigative journalist Kate McClymont go back and forth during a press conference in Sydney.
Hayne denials
Jarryd Hayne's position on the bikie charged with extortion Chris Bloomfield, remains a curious one. For Hayne, after the video in question of the two partying together was circulated, could not have been more vigorous in his denials.
"I categorically deny any previous affiliation with Chris Bloomfield. I had never previously met Chris Bloomfield ... Over the weekend [I met] Chris Bloomfield ... for the first time. At the time, I was not aware of this person's history with the law and alleged bikie affiliations."
Fair enough then. But hang on, odd that, as revealed by Andrew Webster, "within days of Jarryd Hayne signing a $2.4 million deal with the Gold Coast Titans, the NRL integrity unit told him to keep away from known criminals."
Could that have been other "undesirables" Hayne was hanging with?
But, hang on again, Adam Magill, the lawyer for Bloomfield, was equally categoric, and let us remember it is his professional duty to speak the truth as he knows it: "[Bloomfield] told me they knew each other and were mates."
Strangest of all?
Bloomfield has an Instagram account, and though he has now deleted many of his posts, one of my technical boffins has managed to retrieve two interesting ones. This one was from over a month ago: "Quietly just a tad excited for the weekend hangin out with the brothers @winnerscircle_kempy @chriscahill_ & @jarrydhayne38 and ma sissy poo @candy.coco_ then watch the bros first game in titans colours and obviously school him on some GC knowledge do's and don'ts haha and obviously the usual Kempy and Bloomfield show to follow...ohhhhhhh and @candy.coco_ pork crackle and mash OMFG"
I've had it translated, and it means he was going to see Hayne's first match, show him the ropes around the Gold Coast afterwards, and head out on the town afterwards.
And so it goes. Like Webster, I support the right of players to hang with whoever they want. But I don't get, firstly, the bone stupidity of broadcasting it on social media. And in the case of Hayne, who sets himself up as holier than thou, I'd be interested to hear his take on that posts from Bloomfield which, if they did hang out that night, would suggest a much closer relationship than a bloke for whom he said "I categorically deny any previous affiliation."
Concussion fails the test
Told yers. It is one thing to have great concussion protocols, and quite another to have a culture where everyone actually observes them. A classic case in point where, in my humble view, there is a chasm that would do the Grand Canyon proud, came last Saturday in the Swans vs Giants match. In the fourth minute of the match, the shoulder of Steve Johnson comes into heavy contact with the Swans star Josh Kennedy, who goes down like a sack of spuds, his head whip-lashing back into the turf. Dazed, incapable of getting to his feet, Kennedy is assisted from the field. But, lo and behold, 15 minutes later, apparently after passing the concussion test, he is back!
I call bullshit. I accept that he passed the test. I do not call into question the integrity of the medical people that passed him fit to play. But I defy ANYONE to look at that footage, and say he was not concussed. Staggeringly, even after the AFL reviewed the whole thing, they gave it the thumbs up, noting, among other things, "The player passed the test, and also passed another test post match. The Swans were at the time also managing Tippett's head knock, and were unable to gain access to all the available vision of the Kennedy high shot due to technical issues."
All good to go then? Finals are finals, and we can sweep this little problem under the carpet?
No, we cannot. The bottom line is that a concussed player was returned to the field just 15 minutes after his concussion took place. And now he takes his place in the field this weekend too. I repeat: this is bullshit. You either take concussion seriously, or you don't, and this is the demonstrable turning a blind-eye to a player with an injured brain, putting the result of a game ahead of his long-term health. And I repeat, one more time. It is stunning that both the AFL and the Swans are so blasé about the legal aspects of this. Some time in the next few years you will have a player who is put back out there – at a time when the dangers of second-impact concussion are known – who will suffer damage. The law-suits will be horrendous and they should be. Let columns like this be added proof that the dangers were known at the time.
Paralympics is winning
TFF's Special Correspondent at the Paralympics, my brother, reports the whole thing has been going superbly, from first to last, with a wonderful atmosphere, inspiring performances, and ... huge crowds! Last Saturday Rio's Olympic Park had 167,000 people on site, which is to say 10,000 more more than highest day during Olympics. It was sold out on Sunday too. Rowing attendance has been higher than on any Olympic day, as has basketball – and that is without people with dodgy accreditations!
THEY SAID IT
Eddie Hayson on whether offering free sex to NRL footballers at his brothel, Stiletto, was a way of getting inside information out of them, to guide his bets: "No, it was a way of promoting my business ... word of mouth is a very powerful tool ..." Brilliant! So, the footballers go back to the dressing room, and say "Boys. You've GOT to get down to Stilettos! I went there last night and it was just great!" Sounds very likely indeed.
Eddie Hayson on why he gave $60,000 to Mark Buddle only a month after the former national president of the Comanchero bikie gang was released from jail. "Why? Because I like him ... he's a friend. I like him and I respect him."Well, that's cleared that up then! All of us hand over $60K to friends we respect, all the time. Go on, say you haven't!
Hayson: "Yes I gamble and like a beer and a punt. It would be un-Australian not to." I must be a Kiwi then?
At 5:30 on Channel 9 on Sunday's football telecast, as Penrith's Peter Wallace scored a fabulous try, Ray Warren exclaimed: "That's gold, gold, gold, Nugget, my dear friend."
Thursday afternoon sports news report on 2GB: "Blake Austin's hand injury could be the Raider's Achilles heel ..." Shades of President Abraham Lincoln noting of one of his Civil War generals, who always sent his reports from his "Headquarters in the Saddle," that "his problem is, he has his headquarters, where his hindquarters should be."
Penrith's Tyrone Peachey on the effect being dropped to reserve grade mid-season had on him: "It was a massive spark up the behind ..." We tried that once in McNeil House in fourth form after baked beans for dinner. It did not end well.
GWS' Giant Shane Mumford reportedly to Lance Franklin in the heat of the Finals clash between the Swans and Giants last Sunday: "Good to see you're not on holidays this year." Mumford later apologised.
TFF on the retirement of Manny Pacquiao from boxing in April: "Of course he'll be back. They always come back, get their brains rattled, do themselves damage, and then retire fully, thicker in the wallet, but slower in the head. No exceptions."
Pacquiao: "It's a big challenge for me to get that belt again and prove that I can still manage serving the people and being a boxer." It ain't the belt, it's the belting that's the worry.
Pacquiao last week, announcing his comeback: "First when I hung up my gloves I realised. I felt lonely. And thinking about it over and over, I thought 'Boxing still likes me. Boxing still loves me.' So why stop my boxing career? So that's why I decided to continue my journey as a boxer."
Stanislas Wawrinka on the US Open: "[Before the final, I was] really nervous like never before. I was shaking in the locker ... Five minutes before the match talking ... I started to cry. I was completely shaking." He won.
Wawrinka, asked what he did to quell his nerves: "I had to put my s--- together. Sorry. That's how I say it." Us, too.
Ricky Stuart: "Why wouldn't I be paranoid? In this job and this game, there's always someone who wants to ridicule me, hurt me publicly, and that's why I'm paranoid, yeah … I don't give a f--- if I'm paranoid." Remember, Ricky, just 'cos they diagnose you as paranoid, doesn't mean they are NOT out to get you!
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan on their start to the final against the Raiders: "I thought I'd killed a Chinaman. I thought our bad luck had come at the wrong time of the year."
Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim: "Nick Kyrgios may have graced the cover of the pre-tournament New York Times magazine, but I'm not sure how much we learned about him this event. Or this year, for that matter. Until the delta between the talent and the conviction/commitment narrows, it will be hard for him to be a top 10 player, much less win majors."
Team of the Week
Rise and Rise of Greater Western Sydney: Sydney Thunder won the Big Bash League, Western Sydney Wanderers have been great since Day 1 and even won the AFC Champions League and now Giants are one game away from a Grand Final. At finals time, Ich bin ein Westie.
Greater Western Sydney Giants. Spanked their traditional big brothers, the Swans.
Sydney Swans. Get a second chance on Saturday night against the Crows.
Henry Family. Four brothers play for Norths rugby. Hugh (15s), Tom (13s), Charlie (11s) and Darcy (10s) and all four won their Grand Final, with their father, Michael, coaching two of the teams.
Angelique Kerber. Won the US Open, her second slam of the year. She is the first woman not called Serena Williams to win two Grand Slams titles in a year since Justine Henin in 2007.
Iluka Cossacks. Won the first silverware in their 25 year history, to go with numerous wooden spoons, by winning the Presidents Cup Division in the Far North coast Rugby comp.
James Beresford. Aussie baseballer who spent 10 years in the minors was just called up to the majors and had his first hit.
Wallabies. After a good win against South Africa, head west to Perth to take on the Pumas on Saturday night.
Let's Elope. Winner of the 1991 Caulfield and Melbourne Cups has passed away at the age of 29.
St Scholastica's all-girl jujitsu squad. No fewer than 11 girls won nine State championships in seven events. They're self funding a documentary gofundme.com/winningtvseries
Australia Davis Cup. Playing Slovakia to stay in the World Group.
Northern Tigers Women's Club. All five of their teams made their respective soccer Grand Finals with three of them successful. They have won promotion to Premier League 1.
RIP Norman May. Died on Sunday morning, aged 88. May worked fulltime for the ABC between 1958 and 1984, and covered a total of 11 Olympic and 11 Commonwealth Games.
Kenny McMorrow. One of the great Clovelly Crocodiles – who turn 100 next year – Ken was graded to Easts in 1955 and went on to play 1st Grade for the Roosters, from 1956 to 1958 in the same team as Jack Gibson. Doco maker Nick Carroll interviewed him just before he passed away. Vale.
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz
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