Sidelines

Newcastle Herald

Monday June 9, 2008

EDITED BY MICHAEL PARRIS

Houston, no problem

KNIGHTS back-rower Chris

Houston has a 100 per cent

record as captain after leading

Newcastle to their gritty victory over

the Bulldogs.

In his first year at the Knights,

the former Dragons lower-grade

skipper was a surprise selection

ahead of playmaker Jarrod Mullen,

but he led from the front, and coach

Brian Smith was more than pleased

with his contribution.

Houston felt honoured to captain

the side but will happily take a

back seat when Danny Buderus

and regular

understudies

Kurt Gidley

and Steve

Simpson return

from State of

Origin duty for

Newcastle's

next game

against the

Cowboys in

Townsville next

Monday.

"He now has

a perfect record, so I suggest he

retires from captaincy, though it will

probably be a while before he gets

another go at it," Smith said.

Soccer team lets in 54

ALL 11 players players from a

German lower-league soccer

team were banned for a year by

local football authorities yesterday

after the team lost a match 54-1 the

previous weekend.

Cologne authorities ruled

that the team, DJK Loewen II,

lost deliberately to allow their

opponents, Rheinkassel-Langel

II, to win promotion over rivals

Germania Nippes II.

The team were also

docked 12 points

for next season.

The authorities

did not nullify the result

as Rheinkassel did not

manipulate the outcome.

But Germania were promoted as

well at the expense of Loewen's

first team. Football officials

punished the entire Loewen club

because no one from the club

had made an effort to prevent the

record-breaking defeat.

Numbers off the pace

NEWCASTLE Harness Racing

Club general manager Ross

Gigg could manage a laugh despite

being forced to delete the $15,000

Newcastle Four- and Five-Year-

Old Championship from Saturday

night's paceway program.

Gigg had no alternative but to

scrap the race when only four

defi nite nominations had been

received when entries closed last

Tuesday.

"Maybe the trainers got a bit

mixed up and thought the race was

for only four or fi ve horses," Gigg

quipped.

Group 19 has real flavour

THERE was a Real NRL flavour

in the Group 19 side that took

on hosts Group 11 in the Centenary

Cup country rugby league semi-final

at Apex Oval in Dubbo on Saturday.

The Group 19 side included

former Knights junior and Western

Suburbs, Maitland and South

Newcastle back Clarrie Moran.

Moran was halfback and Jason

Ferris, who had a brief stint as

captain-coach at Wyong before

moving back to his home town at

Glen Innes, was five-eighth.

Another familiar name on the team

sheet was the Group 19 fullback

from Tingha - former St George-

Illawarra flyer Nathan Blacklock,

who carried his home town as his

nickname in the big smoke.

None of the trio could help their

side as Group 19 were soundly

beaten 62-16 by a Group 11 side

inspired by long-serving NSW

Country hooker Darren Jackson.

The Centenary Cup is a

competition for first-round losers in

the Centenary Trophy.

Group 11 will play Group 9 in

the fi nal after Group 9 crushed the

Castlereagh Cup side in the other

semi-final 74-24.

The Group 9 team is captaincoached

by former Manly, South

Sydney and Wests Tigers halfback

Craig Field.

All quiet on family front

TOUGH Cessnock back-rower

Vern Moana-Mason is a man

of few words, but Newcastle

offi cials were trying to pump him

for information when they arrived in

Dubbo on Friday.

A Sidelines spy noticed a Garrett

Moana-Mason selected on the

wing for Canberra, Newcastle's

opponents in the Centenary Trophy

semi-final on Saturday.

When asked by one of the offi cials

if Garrett was a relative, Vern informed

him he was his younger brother.

"Nice of him to tell us that

now," the offi cial laughed. "I don't

suppose there was any chance he

could have told us a bit earlier and

maybe a little bit about the way he

plays or how some of the other boys

in the team play."

Dying to claim her prize

ELAINE Fulps is thrilled about the

prize she won at a minor league

baseball game in Texas. But she's

hoping she doesn't have to collect

on it anytime soon.

Fulps, 60, won a $10,000 funeral at

the Grand Prairie AirHogs game in

the Dallas suburbs.

The prize won't expire until after

Fulps does, said Ron Alexander,

the sales manager at Oak Grove

Memorial Gardens, which partnered

with Irving?s Chapel of Roses

Funeral Home to sponsor the event.

"I almost croaked many times,"

said Fulps, who was wearing a neck

brace, the most recent effect of

about 20 surgeries she's undergone

for various medical problems. "God

still has me around for a reason. To

win a funeral."

Fans were eager to join in the grim

fun.

Some finalists for the prize arrived

dressed in black or looking like

death. The fi nalists participated in

a pallbearer's race, a mummy wrap

and a eulogy delivery.

Fulps, randomly chosen as the

winner at night's end, said she

would choose a casket and plot as

soon as she recovered.

"I'm going to pick a spot under a

tree out of the Texas heat," she told

the Dallas Morning News. "And let's

hope it's a pet-free cemetery. I don't

want to get watered on."

Smith gives Dog a pat

KNIGHTS coach Brian Smith

used the media conference after

Newcastle's win over the Bulldogs

on Saturday night to pay tribute to

veteran Dogs hooker Corey Hughes,

who will join the Sharks next season.

In his 203rd game for the Dogs,

the 30-year-old dummy-half was

KO'd early by a late Zeb Taia tackle

but climbed off the deck to be his

team's most effective player on an

otherwise bleak night for the boys in

blue and white.

"If I could just be a little indulgent,

I'd just like to congratulate Corey

Hughes," Smith said of the last link

to the Bulldogs' famous Hughes and

Mortimer clans.

"I saw a guy there who played

his freckle out for his club, and he's

done that for a very long time. I was

rapt to see it.

"Corey is one of those guys who

has played all his career at the Dogs

and he got a [City Origin] rep jersey

not so far back earlier this season,

and he's one of those blokes that

seems to fly under the radar from all

you people that decide who's good

and bad in the game.

"And, from my point of view, I

reckon he's real good.

"He's a good player."

Evander needs quick cash

FORMER heavyweight boxing

champion Evander Holyfi eld

denies that his home will be

foreclosed, saying "everything is all

right with the house now".

A legal notice in a small local

newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia,

said Holyfields

estate would be

auctioned to the

highest bidder

for cash on

July 1.

The 5000-

square metre

home has

109 rooms,

including 17

bathrooms,

three kitchens

and a bowling

alley.

The estate is valued at $10 million.

Holyfield said in Saturday's Atlanta

Journal-Constitution that he's not

broke - "I'm just not liquid".

Eagles rock Freddie

ROOSTERS coach Brad Fittler

should be thankful he still has

a job today after his side's 42-0

loss to Manly at Brookvale Oval

yesterday.

In the corresponding game last

year, Manly blanked the Roosters

56-0 and Chris Anderson quit as

coach 48 hours later.

The last time the Roosters scored

a point at their not-so-happy

hunting ground was in a 30-22 loss

on April Fool's Day in 2006.

Their last win at Brookvale was

on March 20, 2004, as reigning NRL

premiers, and Fittler was one of their

tryscorers in a 42-20 romp.

Second serves

"It would be pretty silly not to

secure the best players on

long-term contracts . . . You

would be stupid not to want

them to stay."

- Jets coach GARY VAN EGMOND

urges the club to lock up Jade North,

Ante Covic and the Griffiths twins.

"He?s one of those types who could

develop into a permanent captain

in future seasons."

- Knights coach BRIAN SMITH on the

club's latest stand-in skipper, Chris

Houston.

"Apparently it went into someone's

house outside the ground. He's just

a pure hitter."

- Boston Red Sox scout JON DEEBLE

on the home run that helped earn

Toronto teenager Moko Moanaroa a

seven-year contract with the Major

League club.

"I played rugby on Saturday and

league on Sunday. That is what we

did out there. There was not much

else to do."

- Wanderers and NSW Country

outside back MARCUS SIMPSON

on football in Nyngan, where he played

rugby for the Bogan Bulls and league

for the Nyngan Tigers.

"At training I kept getting

overlooked. Matt Simon was in front

of me, Bridgey [Mark Bridge], Danny

Allsopp... all these players were in

front of me, and I did not think I had

done anything wrong. I was trying

my hardest to show Pim something."

- JOEL GRIFFITHS on trying to impress

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek.

"They're going to have 65,000 nutbag

redneck Queenslanders supporting

them and going mad and hating us."

- WILLIE MASON on Wednesday's

State of Origin II at Suncorp Stadium.

"When you play for your country

you?ve got a huge responsibility not

only to yourself but the guy at the

other end, and I couldn't live with

myself if I felt that I let somebody

down in that respect."

- STUART MacGILL on his decision to

retire from Test cricket.

"I was very lucky to play under

a couple of very good captains

in Australia. I played under some

average ones as well - you can

make your own mind up which one

is which."

- SHANE WARNE.

"With the Giro and the Tour

de France under my belt, I can

justifiably consider myself one of the

greats of cycling."

- Tour de France and Giro d'Italia

champion ALBERTO CONTADOR.

"To be honest, I think bananas are a

pathetic fruit."

- British tennis star ANDY

MURRAY on what he won't eat at

the change of ends.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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