Veteran rugby league journalists Brent Read and Danny Weidler butted heads over a News Corp story in which the latter was named in the headline of a story related to Jack Bird’s future.
Weidler claimed Bird had made calls to rival clubs to offer his services on 100% Footy, but the St George Illawarra Dragons star vehemently denied the allegations in a spicy press conference on Wednesday.
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“I’ve only just re-signed last year. It’s frustrating (losing) but I’m happy (at the Dragons). It’s hard to lose games but it is what it is,” Bird said.
“You’ve got to let the journalists do what they want to do, let them make stories up and run with it. You’ve got no control over those things.
“Like Danny (Weidler) said, I rang him when I heard about it and tried cooling the air and telling him not to do it. But he still goes ahead and does it.
“There’s no truth to it so if he wants to go and say that stuff, I can’t help it. He’s got the control over it.”
The Daily Telegraph then published an article centred around Bird’s denial but featured Weidler’s name in the headline.
Weidler then had a crack at News Corp when speaking on the Footy Talk podcast, but Read, who works for News Corp, returned serve in a rather unusual exchange.
Danny Weidler: “I ended up in a clickbait story on The Telegraph. How often do they put a journos name in the headline?”
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Brent Read: “Can I just say, your column for about the last month has had a News Limited story every Sunday. So if you want to go down that path, you’ve got to tell both sides of the story.
DW: “Hang on. Have I put any journo’s names in the headline?”
BR: “Why does that matter?”
Weidler believed it was “different” before adding the most “fascinating” part of The Telegraph’s report was that they claimed Bird was linked with a move to Manly despite denying he wanted out at the Dragons.
DW: “After saying Bird’s blowing up at me, which is fine, it happens all the time. Manly has emerged as a potential new home for Bird given his connection with assistant coach Shane Flanagan from Cronulla.”
BR: “That doesn’t say he’s going, Danny.”
DW: “I didn’t say Manly had emerged anywhere. So The Tele have taken the denial story further. I find it fascinating.”
BR: “Do you? You know the way journalism works. All these years in the game, it still fascinates you.”
DW: “I can’t work out whether they’re poo-pooing the story or they’re saying there’s something in it.”
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BR: “They’re not poo-pooing the story, Jack is. They’re quoting what Jack said.”
Weidler then pointed out the main premise of the story is Bird “having a crack” at him, which he felt was justified in terms of coming from the player and not necessarily the outlet.
But Read took it a notch further.
BR: “You’ve had plenty of cracks at News in the past month. Plenty of cracks at News Limited, based on your facts.”
DW: “Hang on. Kyle Flanagan, wasn’t he supposed to be at Manly last week? Signed, sealed and delivered? What’s the answer?”
BR: “If you’re going to have cracks, they’re probably going to have cracks back at you. That’s the way it works.”
DW: “What’s the answer? Who’s Kyle playing for?”
BR: “Let’s see if Jack leaves. You’ve said he reached out to clubs.”
DW: “I said that, but I didn’t say he was leaving. I didn’t say he was about to leave. In Kyle Flanagan’s case, he was there. Signed, sealed, delivered.
BR: “I think it said the expectation was he would be there. It hasn’t gone down that path. You know how things change, Danny. You know how things change in the space of a week in rugby league.”
DW: “I do.”
