“The pink included the shorts and socks. We wore it the following year, but when Phil Gould arrived at the club [in 2011], that’s when it burst to life.”
Coach Ivan Cleary wanted the pink used as the permanent away strip the first time he was at the club in 2012.
The pink strip has also been used in the early rounds of the regular season because the colour reflects heat better than the traditional black.
Hannant’s scratchie joy
There was plenty of laughter when Ben Hannant took to the stage as part of a guest panel at the NRL’s official grand final luncheon on Friday.
Hannant told those in the room at the Fullerton Hotel he won $200,000 on a scratchie during his only season at the Sydney Roosters.
“I’m tipping ten other young Roosters won the same scratchie,” host Andrew Voss quipped.
Former Rabbitoh Adam Reynolds after defeat to Penrith in the 2021 grand final.Credit: Getty
Reynolds’ Storm advice
Adam Reynolds lost two grand finals against Penrith – one with South Sydney and another with Brisbane – and says that if Melbourne are a chance of winning, they need to take risks in attack.
“You have to give them something they haven’t seen before, because they’re such a strong defensive unit – you have to play a bit of ad-lib football that can throw them off and create a bit of confusion,” Reynolds said.
“Last year, we spoke about getting one or two offloads every couple of sets, and trying to play fast. They slow the ruck right down, and work extremely hard from the inside.
“When I was at Souths, our strength was playing to the left. But we got them in the semi with a double-pump and a lead [down the right], which we hadn’t tossed up before. It was a different look. But they hunt so hard from inside, it’s hard to get those plays on.”
Reynolds predicted a low-scoring game, and would have leaned towards Melbourne had Nelson Asofa-Solomona not been banned.
Burton finishes on top
Bulldogs superboot Matt Burton was crowned winner of the inaugural Levels Network rugby league golf day at Concord on Thursday.
The brainchild of former Eels and Manly forward Justin Horo, the golf event featured some of the NRL’s biggest names competing for the cash prizes.
Burton, playing off 18, posted the best stableford score with 43 points on a countback from Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses and Todd Carney.
Dylan Walker and Feleti Mateo won the twoball event, while Souths pair Latrell Mitchell and Lachie Ilias and two sponsors won the fourball. Gold Coast’s rugby recruit Carter Gordon shot 37 points off a handicap of one.
