The Weekend Hangover is back with the fallout from a wild NRL decider and a dramatic final week of the 2019 season.
This week there’s news on Ryan James’ epic case of stage fright, the truth about Dally M night, an unfortunate new nickname for an NRL coach and the coach whisperer is back.
James follows Thurston’s footsteps after Acknowledgement to Country epic fail
Ryan James can comfort himself in the knowledge he’s not the first player to fluff his lines while reciting the Acknowledgment to Country.
Just like James, who pulled out mid-address before the GF kick-off, the great Johnathan Thurston also encountered problems getting the words out.
JT’s brain freeze came during the World Cup opening ceremony in 2017.
He was halfway through the Acknowledgment to Country when he appeared to forget the words.
Thurston dropped an F-Bomb before regaining his composure and continuing the speech without further problem.
James didn’t get to finish, signing off with “I’m lost” before sheepishly leaving the stage at ANZ Stadium.
It begged the question: Why don’t they have the speech written out as a fallback?
“It’s a pride thing. Those who make the address feel it wouldn’t appear to come from the heart if they had the words written on a piece of paper,” one wise league identity told us.
“But there’s a fair bit of pressure when you’ve got 80,000 sets of eyeballs on you and a massive TV audience. Having a copy of the address is not the dumbest idea.”
Dally M night not what it used to be
Dally M night used to be one of the hottest tickets in town.
Not anymore.
The majority of those involved in the game are happy NOT to be invited, so boring and flat is the evening.
It’s now become all about the Fox Sports telecast and what the women are wearing.
The players are almost extras in the whole shebang, while former players are more likely to win Powerball than to score an invite.
As one Dally M regular told Weekend Hangover: “If you went up to every guest on the night and asked if they really wanted to be there, 90 per cent would say no.”
The RLPA Players’ Champion has taken over as the awards night to be at.
NRL coach cops unfortunate nickname
Who’s the NRL coach known as “Mulehead”?
And, yes, it’s meant to be derogatory.
A star is born
Roosters tragic Daryl Hawthorne has a small army of friends and family who sweat on his pre-match Facebook footy rants.
Whether he’s backing his beloved Chooks, Warringah Rats rugby club or the NSW Blues, the animated Daz lets rip with animated assessment of the opposition.
Up until now, his audience has most been limted to those he knows.
But his pre-NRL GF rant has gone viral, as they say in the business, in comparisons to previous rants.
The video is pushing towards 80,000 views on the back of 1000 shares
Daz is now a genuine internet superstar.
Life will never be the same for our little mate.
And a warning – the video does can contain some rich language.
Raiders kings of the livestream
The least watched side is a closely guarded secret but we can tell you grand finalists Canberra were the most viewed team on Telstra’s Live Pass and NRL Live official app this season.
The Raiders knocked 2018 livestream winners Newcastle off top spot, with supporters logging an impressive 43.5 million minutes over the 2019 home and away season.
The Knights were relegated to second (just under 43m), with the New Zealand Warriors in third place on 42.95m minutes. Manly rounded out the top four with 41.7m minutes.
In total, 302 million minutes of NRL were streamed on Telstra Live Pass and the NRL Live official app across 2019.
But our bid to find the least watched side hit a roadblock.
We were told those figures were not available.
Strange.
Morris shoots down Xerri rumours
Cronulla coach John Morris has been quick to hose down reports boom centre Bronson Xerri could be on his way out of the club due to Jesse Ramien’s return.
“He will be here for as long as I am coach,” Morris assured nervous Sharks supporters.
Back to the future in 2020?
Some NRL media managers are pushing for the return of captains to post-match press conferences.
For some reason, the NRL changed things up this year and told clubs they only required their coach to front the cameras after games.
It’s meant more work for media managers, who now have to extract skippers from dressing rooms to answer questions from journos wanting their perspective.
Often, if there’s been drama in a game, the captain will suddenly be required for a ‘team meeting’ or ‘ice bath’ and suddenly become ‘unavailable’.
Most clubs are happy to go back to the old arrangement where captains and skippers both attend press conferences.
The coach whisperer is back baby
He didn’t get Queensland across the line in Origin, but coach whisperer Bradley C Stubbs can at least claim credit in some small part for the Roosters’ premiership win.
Stubbs worked with Trent Robinson throughout the season, the pair exchanging text messages during grand final week.
Stubbsy made an appearance in the victorious Roosters dressing-room, wearing a club tie and posing for a photo with Robinson.
Done. Done .Done
The Coach Whisperer
— Bradley C Stubbs (@BradleyCStubbs) October 6, 2019
EXPECT TO WIN
DONE DONE DONE pic.twitter.com/GOWjPEKyYm