sidelined

In which Willie is lead astray but his willie. Yep, league’s human headline is in trouble again. He was busted for urinating in a public place during the Roosters’ trip to Coffs Harbour. To be fair on Willie he had:

discreetly slipped down an alleyway as the group was moving to the next venue. Police confirmed they were searching for another person who fled the scene. It was not clear whether the third party was a Rooster. “Police were patrolling and saw three men urinating in public,” a police spokeswoman said. “Two of the men were spoken to while a third fled. Inquiries are continuing.

Which is not a major incident. If it was any player other than Willie then the media, if the story had run at all, would have left it alone. I’m sure that Willie will do or say something newsworthingly stupid during the season but this is a bit of a beat up.

Out at Belmore, George Peponis has assured embattled coach Steve Folkes that he will be told before any move is made to sign a new coach. Which means that the Bulldogs have already signed someone as Folkes’ replacement.

Warriors fullback Wade McKinnon is out for the season as he needs a full knee reconstruction after suffering an injury in a trail last week. This is a big blow to the Warriors as McKinnon was one of their best last year and one who I enjoyed watching.

The NRL trials this weekend will see more of the regular NRL stars come out of cotton wool. I’ll be at Bluetongue Stadium on Saturday night with Souths tragic and Sidelined commentor Bismarck O’Measles checking out the Bunnies and the Sharks.

Look, it may shock some of you but I don’t mind Phil Gould. He loves the game and still is one of the best footy minds and what he says, even if from left field, is worth pondering. Still, I’m not sure how correct Gould is when he says the AFL will have no trouble winning the hearts and minds of Western Sydney. The NRL administration has at times seemed a little behind events but league has only just recovered from wounds suffered during the Super League war. Super League was a decade ago but that one season really hurt the game. But the NRL is quite healthy now and showing signs it could recapture its former glory. There is a battle to be fought but it would be wrong to think it a lay down misere for the AFL.