Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has made an awkward gaffe while posting a tweet announcing a state memorial service for Olivia Newton-John that missed her name.
The iconic Australian singer, who starred in the hit musical Grease, died aged 73 at her home in southern California on Monday, after a long battle with breast cancer.
Ms Newton-John’s death triggered an outpouring of heartfelt condolences from celebrities and fans all over the world and prompted Mr Andrews to offer her family a state memorial service for the star.
“I’m so pleased that Olivia Newton-John’s family have accepted our offer of a State Memorial Service,” Mr Andrews’ official account tweeted.
The spelling error, in which an extra “w” was added to “Newton”, was quickly pointed out by followers who accused the premier of making the service about himself instead of honoring Ms Newton-John.
“It’s Newton NOT Newtown. With the amount we pay for your PR team they could get the spelling right,” one person wrote.
“Her name was Olivia NEWTON John. You’re absolutely embarrassing,” another posted.
Several Twitter users claimed that the error was disrespectful because it allegedly showed a lack of attention to detail.
“At least have the respect to spell her name correctly,” one wrote.
Olivia Newton-John. With respect Premier, please be mindful of the correct spelling,” another advised.
And: “You can’t even get her name right. So much for respect.”
Earlier, Mr Andrews said he spoke to Ms Newton-John’s niece, former Neighbors star, Tottie Goldsmith to discuss plans.
“I can update that I’ve spoken with Tottie Goldsmith this morning and she, on behalf of the family, have accepted my offer of a state service,” he said.
“This will be much more of a concert than a funeral, I think it will be a celebration of such a rich and generous life.
“As I said the other day, Olivia Newton-John was a very special person and to take her cancer journey and to turn that into more research, better treatment, better care and this focus on wellness, is such an amazing legacy and that’s why I think we all feel the pain of her passing.”
Mr Andrews said the family was touched by the Australian public’s outpouring of grief following Ms Newton-John’s death.
“There will be further discussions, those discussions have started today, but there will be further discussions in my department and the family about what’s appropriate,” he said.
“I think giving Melburnians and Victorians and indeed people who travel from other parts of the country and maybe even the world to be here to celebrate such an important, rich and generous life — that was the right thing to do.”
“And I must say, it’s very clear to me the family were quite touched by the prospect of Victorians being able to come together and celebrate Olivia’s life.”
The British-born actor and singer, who moved to Melbourne aged six, identified as Australian and became a devoted advocate for cancer research.
Her family will hold a private funeral for Ms Newton-John in the US – where she has lived for decades.
She is survived by husband John Easterling and daughter Chloe Lattanzi.
It’s no secret there has been a “massive rise” in Australian companies collapsing but new findings show they have skyrocketed by a whopping 50 per cent since April.
The construction industry has faced a particular crisis with dozens of firms going under this year, but everything from billion dollar tech starts up to grocery delivery companies have become casualties of this “disturbing trend”.
Overall, companies going into external administration are up 46 per cent year-on-year, while court actions are up 54 per cent year-on-year, the latest data from credit reporting agency CreditorWatch found.
The huge jump has been blamed on interest rate rises causing “cheap money” to dry up, while spooked investors are pulling back on spending their cash on start-ups as valuations have taken a dramatic dive, with a slew of staff cuts battering the sector .
Meanwhile many businesses are already suffering depleted cash reserves as a result of the pandemic and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has ramped up its debt collection, according to the agency.
‘Ramping up legal action’
CreditorWatch has issued a chilling warning that the rise in business insolvencies will continue this year as multiple impacts batter the economy including ongoing supply chain issues, declining consumer confidence, rising interest rates, inflation and labor shortages.
CreditorWatch chief executive Patrick Coghlan said the hands-off approach to debt collection adopted by the ATO and many lenders during the pandemic is clearly over.
“The massive rise in external administrations is certainly a disturbing trend – now up 50 per cent since April. Our data shows that court actions are back to pre-Covid levels and the ATO has also stated that it is ramping up legal action for outstanding debts,” he said.
“With business and consumer confidence declining and inflation and interest rates on the rise, this doesn’t bode well for businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises whose cash reserves were depleted during the pandemic and are now operating on much tighter margins.”
No longer ‘awash with cash’
Aussie start-ups have been particularly hard hit, with the casualties piling up in the tech sector.
The latest was an Australian tech company called Metigy, which left staff “shell-shocked” by its sudden collapse last week, after it planned to raise money with a valuation of $1 billion.
Businesses that are trying to raise money for growth are particularly at risk in the current environment, added CreditorWatch chief economist Anneke Thompson.
“When interest rates were low and the world was awash with cash, investors were hungry for investment opportunities, and willing to move up the risk curve to find good returns,” she said.
“Now that cash is being consumed by ever-increasing prices and debt costs a lot more, the appetite for risk is dropping.
“Start-up businesses or those in the growth phase are always considered riskier. We have already seen this phenomenon hit the tech sector, and many well-known companies are being repriced to reflect this.”
Other recently failed Australian start-ups include grocery delivery service Send, which went into liquidation at the end of May, after the company spent $11 million in eight months to stay afloat.
There was also a Victorian food delivery company that styled itself as a rival to UberEats and Deliveroo that collapsed in July as it became unprofitable, despite making more than $6 million worth of deliveries since it launched in 2017 and had 18,000 customers.
Meanwhile Australia’s first ever neobank founded in 2017, Volt Bank, went under last month with 140 staff losing their jobs, while 6000 customers were told to urgently withdraw their funds.
A venture capital firm issued a sobering message about the state of Australia’s start-up industry, warning that more new companies would go bust and pulling back on funding as a result.
CreditorWatch also identified five regions where businesses are most at risk of going under with the suburbs of Merrylands, Canterbury and Auburn in NSW on the list, alongside Surfers Paradise and Ormeau in Queensland.
Construction collapses to continue
After four consecutive months of increases to interest rates and inflation continuing to rise, it is now clear that a slowdown in demand in many industries is inevitable, added Ms Thompson.
She said construction companies will continue to be impacted by late payments and reduced demand, particularly smaller operators.
The most recent company impacted was Melbourne-based Blint Builder which collapsed this week with approximately $1 million in outstanding debt owed to 50 creditors, according to the liquidators.
It joined smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Horsham, which was based in Victoria and a franchisee of a national construction firm – which collapsed in July affecting 11 homeowners with $1.2 million in outstanding debt.
It was the second Hotondo Homes franchisee to go under this year, with its Hobart branch collapsing in January owing $1.3 million to creditors, according to a report from liquidator Revive Financial.
Others include two major Australian construction companies, Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild, which went into liquidation earlier this year.
There was also Norris Construction Group, which was in Geelong, collapsed in March with $27 million in debt. It owes $3.2 million to around 140 staff that it is unlikely to be able to repay, according to the liquidator’s report.
Meanwhile, Snowdon Developments was ordered into liquidation by the Supreme Court with 52 staff members, 550 homes and more than 250 creditors owed just under $18 million, although it was partially bought out less than 24 hours after going bust.
Other casualties this year include Inside Out Construction, Solido Builders, Waterford Homes, Affordable Modular Homes and Statement Builders.
Parts of NSW are preparing for the worst day of a rain band that is moving through the state, leading to renewed fears of flooding at inland rivers.
A cold front, associated with a low pressure system that moved through Western Australia, brought showers to western NSW from late Thursday and extended into eastern parts of the state on Friday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said Friday was forecasted to be the wettest day of the rain event for most NSW regions, with inland rivers at an increased risk of flooding due to recent deluges in the area.
“This rainfall may cause widespread minor to moderate and possibly major flooding along inland NSW rivers, many of which experienced flooding due to the rainfall last week,” it wrote.
The bureau expects renewed flooding at multiple river catchments littered across the state on Friday, including a minor to major flooding for the Macquarie River downstream of Burrendong Dam.
The other 13 warnings were either minor or moderate in nature for parts of inland NSW, with up to 25-55mm of rain possible around the northwest and central west plains.
Widespread rain and possible storms are predicted until Saturday across the coast, with Sydney and Newcastle expected to experience a deluge on Friday, while it could last until Sunday for inland regions.
Last month was the wettest July on record for much of the NSW east coast, including Sydney, with rainfall around four to eight times higher than average.
Parts of Victoria are also being impacted by the east-coast deluge, with rain bucketing down since 9am on Thursday.
Mount Buffalo copped 51.6mm of rain in the last 24 hours, while Archerton experienced a 34.6mm soaking.
Rainfall totals have generally been 5-10mm across the state, but increased to around 15-25mm over the central ranges and 20-30mm in the northeast ranges.
Minor flood warnings are in place for parts of the Murray and Kiewa rivers.
The bureau’s climate outlook forecast is that rain will likely be above median for much of Australia over the coming fortnight but below median for parts of the tropics.
It’s the message that should be conveyed (and clearly is behind closed doors) despite Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes scrutinizing Collingwood for over celebrating its epic seven-point win over Melbourne last Friday night.
Cornes this week said the Pies went “over the top” and called for them to “keep a lid on it” given it’s only Round 21.
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“I haven’t seen stuff like this for a long time — we’ve all loved what they’ve done but they haven’t achieved anything yet,” the dual All-Australian said on Channel 9’s Footy Classified.
“You don’t see Geelong doing this — it’s like a WWE wrestler. Fremantle has qualified for finals, have you seen them doing that? Have you seen Sydney doing that?
“If I was advising them, I’d say ‘keep a lid on it’, narrow your focus and we’ll judge you when you win in September, not in Round 20. We’ll see how it goes on for the finals — I’ve still got some question marks on them.”
It came after probably the game of the season between Collingwood and Melbourne that went right down to the wire in front of a rowdy packed house of over 70,000 fans at the MCG.
With it the Magpies had knocked over the reigning premiers for a second time in 2022, extended their remarkable winning streak to 11 games and moved into second place—of course continuing their stunning rise from last year’s 17th place finish.
Ash Johnson celebrates after the win (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
Factoring in all of the above, wins don’t come much bigger than that.
It set up for the euphoric atmosphere for the black and white post-match. Players, just as they’ve done in several of their previous close wins, immediately huddled in celebration before hugging and high-fiving.
Even coach Craig McRae was sighted on the bench going nuts with players and staff.
The Pies then got around their fans, who were as vocal as you’ll ever hear them throughout the night and jumping for joy on the final siren, embracing with the black and white faithful all around the ground and taking selfies with smiles beaming across their faces.
How could you possibly not live at the moment!?
It was scenes of pure passion and jubilation, and frankly, simple human instinct to react in such a way after yet another epic win — scenes of emotion that make footy what it is. After all, the game isn’t life and death.
You can’t even imagine how players would’ve felt. Going from the feeling of being so hyper focused on the game and questioning, ‘can we do this?’ To then the relief and bliss of, ‘we’ve won our 11th straight, and we’re second.’
And for that one hour after the match they can celebrate and soak up the victory as the pressure valve is momentarily released.
Johnson and McRae embrace (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
“I would like to know what the levels of celebrations actually are. How much are you allowed to celebrate after another win like that?” Dual premiership Kangaroo David King awning foxfooty.com.au.
“The excitement should be shared with the fans, which was how it was done. It wasn’t disrespectful, it wasn’t demeaning in any way.
“They are taking their own on a ride that is so special, why wouldn’t you celebrate like that? Why wouldn’t you embrace what’s happening, as ridiculous as it is.
“And the bottom line is—who cares what people think.”
Footy has changed. Ten years ago there was a vibe in the rooms after wins of players trying to cover up smiles and stay in this overly professional, serious mood and act as if they weren’t happy.
This shift to a more jovial, lighthearted approach was widely said to be key to the Tigers’ resurgence in 2017 (where McRae was an assistant), and the exact same can be said for Collingwood in 2022.
While winning clearly helps, the Magpies simply look like a much happier club — you only need to attend or watch a game or be in the rooms post-match to really feel it — and it’s bizarrely made even Collingwood’s biggest haters warm to it (perhaps some more than others).
McRae’s message all season has been for his troops to stay in the moment week to week and celebrate the good times when they come — and this message has clearly resonated with the group in a breath of fresh air for the competition.
Maynard BUZZING after big hit and win | 00:47
Whenever the Magpies coach after a win has been quizzed about upcoming clashes, his reply has been consistently along the lines of: ‘We’re enjoying this one for now and we’ll worry about that later.’
“He’s really light hearted and has a lot of fun,” Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury said of McRae on Triple M over the weekend.
“Even (against Melbourne) before the game he said, ‘make sure we go out and enjoy the occasion. Take a look around, take the crowd in. I want you boys to play with freedom and fun, smile, enjoy this.’
“You just feel so comfortable and confident. You can see it with how we play, we’ve got energy and enjoying ourselves — and that’s all off the back of our coaching group and ‘Fly’ (McRae) driving that message home.”
What may be perceived as over celebrating is this very positive energy Pendlebury speaks of and aura galvanizing the group and driving one of the most unprecedented runs in league history. The players are simply living McRae’s mantra and riding the tidal wave of emotion.
No matter how far they go, Pies fans will always remember this winning streak and McRae’s first season at large as a truly special period.
This idea that clubs can only celebrate after finals (or grand finals) is mad. Does that mean of the 400 plus games that are played across the season, only one match is worthwhile celebrating because it ends in silverware? Or players who don’t play in flags shouldn’t cherish special victories along the way? That’s too shallow.
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The same can be said for scrutiny towards North Melbourne after it recorded its second win for the season against Richmond in Round 18. The club had just seen its coach depart amid a particularly tumultuous stretch of its horror season, and against all odds, knocked off one of the league’s powerhouses. Bloody lap it up.
There’s too many lows in footy to not enjoy the highs, and for Collingwood, last Friday night might well be the peak of its season. The odds are that the Pies probably won’t go all the way (not that you’d confidently bet against them right now!) But what may or may not happen in September shouldn’t matter.
Of course, context is everything and there’s a line. Not every win should prompt such a reaction, although it’s fair to say the Pies have played in an unrivaled amount of games that have probably warranted it in 2022.
But after having no crowds for the best part of the last two years and the club enduring a particularly rocky period over that span including the infamous 2020 trade exodus and departures of long-time president Eddie McGuire and coach Nathan Buckley, the players should be allowed to enjoy their unforeseen bounce back.
Although winning a flag is ultimately every club’s goal, there’s no rule that they can’t have fun along the journey.
Scammers are pretending to be children in need of financial help as part of a new messaging scam targeting parents, authorities have warned.
Key points:
The scammers invent emergencies to encourage payment, such as needing a new phone or paying an urgent bill
Detectives have identified at least 25 victims of the scam this year
Police say these sorts of scams are often under-reported
At least 25 victims of the scam, which originated in Europe, have been detected in Victoria this year.
The victims typically receive a WhatsApp or text message from an unknown number impersonating their child.
According to police, messages often say something along the lines of “Hi mum, I’ve changed provider/lost/broken my phone – I’m temporarily using this number for now.”
The offenders eventually request money from the victim, usually using some kind of emergency as their justification for needing the funds.
Most of the offenders are based overseas and are not known to the victims.
An example of the scam messages.(Twitter: Scamwatch)
Detective Sergeant John Cheyne from the Cybercrime Squad said such scams pulled on the victim’s heartstrings.
“A child telling you they’ve lost or broken their phone and are in need of financial support is understandably a situation where parents would react without a second thought,” he said in a statement.
“If ever you receive a message from an unknown number asking for money, it’s always worth asking for some kind of verification.
“If they can’t prove who they are or aren’t willing to, don’t transfer the money.”
The conversations usually progress for a while before the offender requests money.(Twitter: Scamwatch)
A recent report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found scammers stole $1.8 billion from Australians in 2021 — more than double 2020’s total.
Factoring in the estimated number of unreported scams, that figure exceeds $2 billion.
“Often, matters of this nature are under-reported and that can be for a range of reasons, including fear or embarrassment, and sometimes feeling unsure if an offense has occurred,” Sergeant Cheyne said.
“We encourage anyone who has been subjected to a scam such as this to speak to police.”
Anyone who has been a victim of the scam should call their bank immediately and report the incident via ReportCyber.
Cameron Munster put on another masterclass at fullback on Thursday night in a 16-0 win over Penrith and earned plenty of praise, along with a cheeky dig, from teammate Brandon Smith.
speaking to Triple Mpost-game, Smith was at his hilarious best in what James Graham described as a “refreshing” interview from the Melbourne Storm forward.
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“He’s [Munster] as thick as pig s***,” Smith laughed.
“He’s the dumbest bloke in the world but when he gets on the field, he’s a genius. It’s outstanding. I’m glad I’m playing with him and not against him. He’s the most annoying bloke on planet earth but he’s one of my good mates so you’ve got to love him.”
As impressive as Munster was, Smith himself was key to the win, helping Melbourne dominate up front and allowing its playmakers to work their magic in the red zone.
Smith said that it was all part of the plan for the Storm, who had a relatively simple strategy for Thursday’s night game.
“Our whole game plan was to stay in the fight and let our superstars go and put the points on,” Smith said.
The Storm were able to put 16 on the board in the first half, although they could not breach the Panthers’ line in the second, restricted to just 37 per cent of the ball.
Storm sizzle poor Panthers | 02:01
The fact Melbourne was able to hold Penrith (55 tackles in opposition 20) scoreless would have certainly pleased coach Craig Bellamy though.
“I know he’ll be super happy with the zero on the Panthers’ board but still a lot of things we have to work on in attack,” Smith said.
“We had Nick Meaney and Cooper Johns partnering together I think for the first time with Munster at fullback.
“Munster and Justin Olam and Marion Seve, the two centers, deserve massive raps they were outstanding.”
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Smith was not just at his cheeky best post-game, also getting under Panthers front rower Spencer Leniu’s skin in the latter stages of the second half as the two sides briefly came together.
“I didn’t say anything,” Smith said of his exchange with Leniu.
“I just pushed him to let him know that… I think it was an accident but still, he hit me in the head and I wasn’t happy.”
“It still bought about 30 seconds off the clock,” he added, laughing, “that was pretty handy.”
“It was a tough game out there tonight. I don’t think I’ve come off the field with these many bumps and bruises.”
Brandon Smith scuffles with Spencer Leniu. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Parts of NSW are preparing for the worst day of a rain band that is moving through the state, leading to renewed fears of flooding at inland rivers.
A cold front, associated with a low pressure system that moved through Western Australia, brought showers to western NSW from late Thursday and extended into eastern parts of the state on Friday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said Friday was forecasted to be the wettest day of the rain event for most NSW regions, with inland rivers at an increased risk of flooding due to recent deluges in the area.
“This rainfall may cause widespread minor to moderate and possibly major flooding along inland NSW rivers, many of which experienced flooding due to the rainfall last week,” it wrote.
The bureau expects renewed flooding at multiple river catchments littered across the state on Friday, including a minor to major flooding for the Macquarie River downstream of Burrendong Dam.
The other 13 warnings were either minor or moderate in nature for parts of inland NSW, with up to 25-55mm of rain possible around the northwest and central west plains.
Widespread rain and possible storms are predicted until Saturday across the coast, with Sydney and Newcastle expected to experience a deluge on Friday, while it could last until Sunday for inland regions.
Last month was the wettest July on record for much of the NSW east coast, including Sydney, with rainfall around four to eight times higher than average.
Parts of Victoria are also being impacted by the east-coast deluge, with rain bucketing down since 9am on Thursday.
Mount Buffalo copped 51.6mm of rain in the last 24 hours, while Archerton experienced a 34.6mm soaking.
Rainfall totals have generally been 5-10mm across the state, but increased to around 15-25mm over the central ranges and 20-30mm in the northeast ranges.
Minor flood warnings are in place for parts of the Murray and Kiewa rivers.
The bureau’s climate outlook forecast is that rain will likely be above median for much of Australia over the coming fortnight but below median for parts of the tropics.
Port Adelaide president David Koch has emphatically declared Ken Hinkley will see out his current contract and coach the club in 2023.
A question mark had been hovering over Hinkley and his position at the Power, despite being contracted to the club until next year and his defiant AFL 360 interview on Monday night where he said he expected to be at Alberton next year.
Amid mounting criticism over Hinkley’s coaching from fans, Koch said earlier this week “every single person’s role” would be assessed at the end of the season, which has seen the Power drop out of finals contention after back-to-back preliminary final runs.
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Koch spoke on 5AA radio on Monday and conceded the club was “not afraid to make change.” His comment from him, “turn it around or watch out”, fueled speculation there could be sweeping changes to the club’s football department.
But Koch confirmed to 7 News Adelaide on Thursday night Hinkley would remain at Alberton.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley with Chairman David Koch.Source: Twitter
“Obviously, for all of us, this season has been a major disappointment … (and) as we always do, we’ll thoroughly assess our football program at season’s end,” Koch told 7 News Adelaide.
“But, as the club has maintained all year, Ken Hinkley is contracted and will be our coach in 2023
“Prior to this season, Ken led us to two consecutive preliminary finals.
“Some will argue we should make a change based on our performance this season alone and that Ken has never taken the team to a grand finale.
“But we base decisions on all the information in front of us.
“We believe Ken gives us the best chance of successfully rebounding next season, of successfully attracting new talent and football department resources to make us better.”
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Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Thursday night, St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt said it was a “big backflip” from Koch that should never have happened.
“I like it from the point of view that it provides fodder for all of us to talk about, but Ken Hinkley must get to the end of the week and think: ‘What did I just go and endure – and for what?’” a passionate Riewoldt said on AFL 360.
“So Kochie comes out on Monday saying what he said after the CEO, the footy manager, everyone else in the club has been on the same page – and five days later he backflips on the statement? He could’ve said on Monday what he said tonight, but he chose not to – and by omission, he put Ken Hinkley under ridiculous, undue pressure this week. It was really poor.
“I think Ken’s probably got a reasonable tolerance for it now after all of this time, but I’d be scratching my head.”
Hinkley is Port’s second longest serving coach, behind the club’s sole AFL premiership coach in Mark Williams.
In his 10 seasons in charge, Hinkley has steered the Power to finals in four seasons and has a 60.8 per cent win rate from his 212 games as coach.
When asked directly on AFL 360 if he felt any uncertainty as coach after Koch’s “turn it around or watch out” comments, Hinkley replied: “No, no I don’t”.
Koch statement awkward for Hinkley? | 01:36
“David (Koch) himself has said that he expects me to be coaching Port Adelaide in 2023, as I do and that’s what I am preparing for,” he said.
“I think I’ve been given enough assurances (he’ll see out his deal) through the season, not that I needed them to be fair.
“We all get there’s a finish line for everyone at some point.
“But as I sit here tonight, I’m more than confident that that won’t be at the end of 2022.”
Hinkley said despite the outside pressure, his players “100 per cent” continued to back him in for an 11th season in 2023 – and final year of his current contract — saying:
“My players, they play for me every week. They play for us every week.
The most explosive clash of the NRL season is set to unfold when Penrith host Melbourne on Thursday night in the wake of a bitter war of words between the clubs.
They’re the two most successful teams, alongside the Roosters, of the past five years and will meet in a highly-anticipated top-four showdown.
The Storm and Panthers have ended each other’s campaigns in arguably the two best games of the past two seasons.
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Melbourne won the premiership after Penrith finished on top of the ladder in 2020 and then those roles were reversed last year.
The rivalry between the past two premiers is the fiercest in the game right now.
Panthers players were outraged by Instagram videos after the 2020 grand finale and they got their revenge by knocking the Storm out in an epic preliminary final last year.
“They don’t like each other,” The Australian’s Brent Read said on NRL360 on Wednesday about the rivalry
“It’s been evident for a while that these teams dislike each other but it’s gone up a notch this week.”
Both teams will be missing key cavalry for the blockbuster at BlueBet Stadium but tensions will still be sky high with plenty on the line for both teams in the run to the finals.
The Panthers were superb last week against the Canberra Raiders without the State of Origin halves pairing of Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, but things get even tougher with James Fisher-Harris now suspended.
The latest chapter in the clubs’ fierce rivalry is now set to be written after Panthers great Greg Alexander and Storm legend Cameron Smith traded barbs throughout the week.
The Panthers and Storm have built quite the rivalry. Greg Alexander (left) and Cameron Smith (right). GettySource: FOX SPORTS
That stoush over who is responsible for an influx of dangerous tackles in the game quickly escalated.
“I thought it was just a general consensus that over the last 20 years that all the tackles, the wrestling techniques had come out of Melbourne,” Alexanders said after Smith blew up at his initial accusation.
The exchange between Alexander and Smith prompted a stunning outburst from Melbourne’s chairman and owner Matt Tripp.
Tripp blasted Penrith deputy chairman Alexander’s comments as “stupid” and accused the reigning premiers of arrogance.
“Absolutely unfair,” Clearly said of Tripp’s comments.
“I’m not here to judge anyone else. But I know that Brandy (Alexander) is an outstanding commentator and a decorated figure in the game. If anyone’s able to have an opinion it’s Brandy.
“Most of his opinions are spot on. But that was his opinion of him in a completely different role. So, I don’t think it’s fair for everyone else at our club to be labeled what we were, but these things happen sometimes.”
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Following Tripp’s blow-up, the Storm were then accused of having a “chip on their shoulder” by the NRL 360 panel who also believe the Panthers will use Tripp’s comments as motivation.
“There’s going to be plenty of spice, it’s going to be a great game,” Paul Crawley said.
“The Storm are in a bit of strife on the field and they really have to show some signs of fighting back and I just can’t see how they’re going to do that against the Panthers.”
“What I’m fascinated with is the chairman versus the deputy chairman, Tripp versus Alexander,” Paul Kent said.
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“Some of the things that Tripp said about Penrith, he said the club was arrogant, he turned from criticism of Greg Alexander into criticism of the club.
“And I’ll tell you one thing about Penrith, when you criticize them, they respond to it and they’re very good at coming out and saying ‘is this what you think about us, well we’ll show you what we think about you’ and they deliver.”
Brent Read believes Alexander may have tactically brought up the tackling argument ahead of the clash.
“At this time of year, this invariably raises its head, you point the finger at Melbourne and say they invented the wrestle and it’s just an easy argument,” Read said.
“I’m it doesn’t hurt Penrith (this week).”
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Read also defended any perceived arrogance from Penrith players during matches.
“On the field they play with swagger. They play with a bit of arrogance. You have got to have that to be successful.”
Braith Anasta agreed that arrogance can be a powerful tool for a sporting team when used correctly.
“In any sport you have got to have confidence,” Anasta said.
Some people think they cross the line a little bit but you need confidence. You need a little bit of arrogance. You need to go out there thinking, I’ve got you covered.”
Storm star Jahrome Hughes apologized earlier this season after being named as the main culprit in 2020 grand final celebration footage mocking Panthers players’ Mt Druit roots.
Panthers center Stephen Crichton revealed the footage was used as motivation, sparking their stunning 2021 preliminary final win over Melbourne.
To motivate his players prior to the 2021 preliminary final, assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo saved the clip.
Ciraldo told his players in the lead-up to the Panthers’ huge 10-6 win they needed to “protect where you come from”.
Carlton has omitted Tom De Koning, Will Setterfield and Paddy Dow for Saturday’s must-win game against Melbourne.
The Blues bring Marc Pittonet back into the side along with Liam Stocker, while they’ve named Patrick Cripps in the center as he awaits his fate at the AFL Appeals Board.
The Western Bulldogs have omitted Alex Keath for a second time this season, with Ryan Gardner coming into the side in his stead, while Lachie Hunter and Stefan Martin return.
Key forward Josh Bruce has been managed.
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Meanwhile, North Melbourne has made a couple of selection statements, with Hugh Greenwood, Jason Horne-Francis and Josh Walker omitted from the side that will take on Adelaide on Saturday.
As confirmed on Wednesday, veteran midfielder Ben Cunnington will play his first AFL game in 13 months, with Ben McKay and Jackson Archer also returning.
Dangerfield likely to face Suns | 01:17
Geelong has been boosted by the return of quartet Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood, Mark Blicavs and Gary Rohan to face the Suns. But they’ve managed Mitch Duncan, Isaac Smith and Mark O’Connor, while Luke Dahlhaus (omitted) and Jon Ceglar (medi-sub) also haven’t been named.
Brisbane has turned to a pair of Jack’s — Jaxon Prior and Jackson Payne — to replace injured duo Marcus Adams and Callum Ah Chee for their primetime match-up against the Saints.
St Kilda veteran Dan Hannebery has been ‘managed’ for Friday night’s clash against the Lions after suffering an ankle injury last round.
Fremantle has opted to bring Sam Switkowski straight into its senior team, with the small pressure forward to play his first AFL match since Round 13.
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Bomber Dylan Shiel, as well as Power forward duo Todd Marshall and Mitch Georgiades have been named for Sunday’s Essendon-Port Adelaide clash, but star veteran Robbie Gray has been managed.
Shane Edwards (Richmond), Liam Shiels (Hawthorn), Peter Ladhams (Sydney) and Ollie Henry (Collingwood) have all been named on the extended benches for their respective Sunday matches.
