When Australian golfers Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman sat down for their media conference ahead of the time-honoured LIV Golf Boston Invitational in the wee small hours of Thursday morning, some of the assembled reporters started to clap, cheer and holler.
Yes, this is the moment when you vomit.
What followed was a 38-minute presser, as we call it in the biz, in which powder-puff questions were tossed up and both golfers, in reply, handled them like they were tapping in for par.
Most disappointingly, no reporter asked the questions that matter most …
Um, Cameron and Marc … It’s been interesting, even slightly refreshing, in the last couple of days for some golfers who have signed with LIV Golf to say it’s about “the money”. It’s great money. Amazing money! We all love money. But are you concerned or even conscious about where the money is directly coming from? Are you aware of the human rights abuses of the Saudi government, whose investment arm funds this whole thing? Do they sit a little uneasily with you? What say you of these sports-washing claims that have torn the golfing world asunder? Do you know what sports-washing is? Also, while I’ve got you, how do I get rid of this godforsaken slice I’ve had since I was about 12 years of age?
Alas, no reporter over 38 minutes cared to ask any of these very pertinent questions.
Cameron Smith speaks to the media during a press conference at the LIV Golf event near Boston.Credit:Getty
Because that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? How much money does it actually take to turn a blind eye to where it’s coming from?
About $140 million apparently.
Which is fine. Athletes can earn their money whichever way they want. You can never have enough 12-bedroom mansions in Florida with a pitch-and-putt course out the back. I mean, you gotta live your life.
Just have the balls to say it’s about the money, which Smith initially did until someone — presumably Norman — rammed the Kool-Aid down his throat. Shark’s been mainlining the stuff for a while now.
After telling Golf Digest on Tuesday that $140m was an offer too good to refuse, Smith had dramatically changed his tune by Thursday morning, denying his decision was “first and foremost a business decision”.
No, it was about attending the weddings of family and friends in Australia before adding: “I think this is the future of golf … I think with the music, with the fans, it will be embraced. Particularly with the younger fans. I think speaking to the kid that drove me back from the driving range before, he loved the fact that there was music on the course, music on the range. He loved to see how relaxed the players were, how not so uptight I guess it was.”
There you go. Who knew? Music shall be golf’s saviour. Don’t take a drop if you’re in trouble — just drop the beat.
Stadium wars not going away any time soon
“We almost lost an election on the construction of this stadium,” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet declared to reporters on Sunday after cutting the ribbon on the New Allianz Stadium, which cost taxpayers $828 million and loose change.
Nice try, Premier, but that’s not quite right.
The big takeaway out of the state election in March 2019 was how building shiny new stadiums weren’t an issue for voters, despite Labor leader Michael Daley running a campaign along those very lines.
Daley was so obsessed with the issue that he spent most of the campaign holding all-in media conferences with the Old Allianz Stadium in the background.
The ploy backfired. As reported by this column at the time, exit polls revealed only 12 per cent of voters considered stadium policy as one of the key issues in how they voted.
On election night, Channel Nine’s state political editor Chris O’Keefe was all over it. He asked Labor MP Prue Car during Nine’s coverage if the stadium issue was a “gimmick” that had backfired for her party.
Of course, she said no. Privately, her colleagues conceded otherwise.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the Coalition comfortably won the election and a wrecking ball swung through the stadium a few weeks later.
The New Allianz might be up and running, with the Roosters and Souths getting things underway on Friday night, but the enduring saga concerning Accor Stadium continues.
The state government has pledged four times in six years to give the Olympic Stadium a significant facelift, only to backflip each time.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet at the opening of the new Allianz Stadium on Sunday.Credit:James Alcock
For now, the Perrottet government has shifted much-needed funds towards flood victims, much to the chagrin of ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys, who wants the money for suburban grounds.
But expect the debate about Accor to ramp up after the next state election in March next year.
Opposition Leader Chris Minns is sitting on the fence on the stadium issue. Probably a smart move given he and Labor are poised to govern this fine state.
But there will be pressure soon enough to reconfigure Accor into a rectangular stadium and put a roof on it, which will be needed if it’s to compete with Melbourne and Perth for the right to host the Rugby World Cup final in 2027.
Top: The newly completed Allianz Stadium lights up ahead of its grand unveiling. Bottom: Inside the rebuilt stadium concourse.Credit:Wolter Peeters
Some estimate a refurbishment will cost $250m. Others say it would cost far more. It’s been a while since I put a Perspex roof on an 80,000-seat stadium, so I couldn’t possibly comment.
What this all means for Souths is anyone’s guess. As we wrote in this space last week, wouldn’t it make sense for the Bunnies to play some of its matches out of Moore Park?
The Rabbitohs are cranky at suggestions they signed a deal in November last year to play at Accor until 2030 knowing there was no guarantee of an upgrade.
Those familiar with the contract insist this isn’t the case with key clauses inserted into the third amendment of the deal. One relates to the operator agreeing to “reasonable endeavours to secure additional funding for upgrades to the stadium and its facilities and will consult with the Rabbitohs’ regarding the Rabbitohs’ priorities with respect to any such upgrades”.
The government needs content for the stadium at Sydney Olympic Park, fearing it will lose Accor’s sponsorship, but surely it can come up with a strategy that sees sport played in the right stadiums at the right time.
Souths want to play just one match at Allianz next year, but Venues NSW is running dead on negotiations.
Repeating the news: Sydney, you’re doing sport all wrong.
Fired-up Roosters to test ref against Rabbitohs
Will the Roosters bring the same ferocious heat to the Allianz Stadium opener against the Rabbitohs as they did against Melbourne a week ago?
Let’s hope so.
Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves faces off with Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona.Credit:NRL Photos
Privately, the Storm are furious with themselves for falling into the trap of getting into a street fight with the Roosters.
Several players admitted as much to coach Craig Bellamy in the dressing-room at AAMI Park after full-time. They won’t make the same mistake again.
They are also angry about a so-called media campaign that has painted Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves as a “hero” and Storm rival Nelson Asofa-Solomona as a “villain”.
There hasn’t been much love lost between the two clubs in recent years, but their rivalry is nothing on the 114 years of toxic hate that’s bubbled between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs.
All eyes on referee Grant Atkins, who is the best whistleblower in the game.
Football greats hit the races for a good cause
If you’re a football fan, the name “Schillaci” evokes images of Italian striker Salvatore “Toto” Schillaci, who was the top goalscorer at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
If you’re a horseracing fan, the name evokes images of the famous grey sprinter of the same name, flashing home for eight group 1 wins for trainer Lee Freedman in the 1990s.
Schillaci, the former player, and his Azzurri teammate, Giuseppe Giannini, will be at Royal Randwick on Saturday to raise awareness for Heartbeat of Football, a charity focused on reducing the number of cardiac events in sport.
You’ll find the football legends on the ground floor of the Queen Elizabeth II Grandstand from 2pm to 3pm for photos and autographs with punters and fans.
THE QUOTE
“The men that I played with, and the sons that I coached, their support has been unconditional.” — Former North Melbourne premiership player and former coach Dani Laidley during her gripping interview on 60 Minutes. Heartening to hear.
THUMBS UP
The Australian men’s sevens team has gone from getting on the cans on the plane after bombing out at the Tokyo Olympics last year to getting on the cans in Los Angeles this week celebrating their maiden World Series title. Join me in congratulating the Australian men’s sevens team. #cans
THUMBS DOWN
Disturbing news out of the free concert at Allianz Stadium on Sunday. According to one attendee, there were no ice-creams available in the Members. None. At all. “We could walk up for a Negroni and some blue-cheese gnocchi (which was delicious, may I say), but not an ice-cream in sight,” our operative said. “Un-Australian.”
IT’S A BIG WEEKEND FOR …
Nick Kyrgios, who is through to the third round of the US Open after accusing a fan at Flushing Meadows of smoking marijuana during his second-round win against Benjamin Bonzi. Electric cabbage at the tennis: that’s different.
It’s an even bigger weekend for … the Sydney Swans, who are coming in hot for the first week of the AFL finals having won their last seven matches. They play defending premiers Melbourne at the MCG on Friday night. Your time to shine, Buddy Franklin.
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