TAUPAU ADDRESSES RUMOURS
Sea Eagles star Marty Taupau was forced to angrily deny rumours that he was dead on social media last week.
A troll placed a post on twitter stating “All of these young sportsmen have recently died of sudden heart failure, all vaxxed.”
LIVE UPDATES: Australian Open day two
READ MORE: England greats line up to take shots at players over humiliation
READ MORE: Cummins’ classy Khawaja gesture during celebrations
She then posted photos of a dozen prominent sportsmen around the world – including Taupau.
The post created a Twitter feeding frenzy… until Taupau crash tackled the rumour.
“Psssst F*wit!,” Taupau wrote with an emoji of a middle finger extended.
“Get your facts right before you write this sort of garbage #covidiot.”
Meanwhile, Taupau is delighting the Sea Eagles with his application to pre-season training after it appeared he was set to leave the club a few months back.
Taupau is on big dollars at Manly and the club was reportedly considering letting him test himself on the open market.
But the Kiwi star appears certain to stay at Brookvale now and has been leading the way in the brutal summer training program.
COVID DECIMATES EELS
Parramatta has been hit harder than most clubs by the COVID epidemic.
In just the last week, the bug has hit coach Brad Arthur, many of his staff and star players Mitchell Moses and Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
“About two-thirds of the squad and training staff have had it by now,” an Eels insider told Wide World of Sports yesterday.
“It’s made things tough but better to get it now than during the season and the rest of the boys have soldiered on.”
CANTERBURY BRING BACK OLD DOGS
Phil Gould continues to bring former stars back into the fold at the Bulldogs.
The latest to rejoin the club is 1988 premiership-winning fullback Jason Alchin.
Gould was in his first year of coaching when he took the Bulldogs to the title and he and Alchin have kept in touch since then.
The former utility back – who played over 100 games in all grades for the Bulldogs, will work as a talent scout for the club on the NSW north coast.
News of his appointment comes just a day after former cult hero Willie Mason was appointed as a fulltime member of the Bulldogs Coaching Staff as Pathways Transition Coach.
KNIGHTS STILL HOT ON BROOKS
Starford To’a’s move from Newcastle to the Tigers last week has re-ignited talk of halfback Luke Brooks moving the other way.
The Knights remain keen on Brooks – but the Tigers are refusing to entertain talk of a release.
“Luke is training the house down and working really well with (new signing) Jackson Hastings,” a Tigers source told me.
“We are really keen to see the two of them combining out there once the season starts.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!