Latest news with #Cronulla
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Meet the greatest centre in the world, who's desperate to play union for England and the Lions, Andy Farrell raves about and has a One Direction-esque fanbase - there's just one catch
The giddy reception waiting for Herbie Farnworth at the Sharks Stadium in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla feels more like a welcome for One Direction. Teenage girls desperate for selfies, ready to hand him personalised T-shirts and Taylor Swift-style friendship bracelets. He is a poster boy of Australian rugby league. His face is on flyers for local sports bars, where you are more likely to stumble upon one of his NRL matches than the British & Irish Lions tour. League is king in these parts.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Why NRL star Addin Fonua-Blake played footy just hours after family funeral
Addin Fonua-Blake has been hailed as 'selfless' for playing in Cronulla's breakthrough win only hours after a family funeral, but the prop says he only did what his grandfather would have wanted. Now the Sharks' prized recruit is preparing to honour his family name again in his 200th NRL game. The Sharks' coaching staff gave Fonua-Blake the option to miss last Friday's home game against the Dolphins after the death of his grandfather Talakai earlier in the week. Talakai was instrumental in Fonua-Blake's upbringing and had regularly cheered his grandson on from the stands, until travelling to games became too difficult in his later years. Last Friday, Fonua-Blake was determined to face the Dolphins not just to boost the Sharks, who had lost four of their previous five games, but to pay tribute to his grandfather. 'Going through the week that I had last week, I just thought he'd probably want me to play. He was probably one of my biggest fans,' Fonua-Blake said. Fonua-Blake said his late grandfather was one of his biggest fans 'He contributed a lot in my upbringing. I thought it was only right if I went out there and did my last name proud and carried his name, and just sort of represented him. 'I'm extremely proud that I get to carry his last name.' Fonua-Blake made an impression on his teammates with his decision to play, and ultimately help the side to a vital win over fellow top-eight hopefuls the Dolphins. '(He's) just a selfless person,' said Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo. 'He put the team first the whole week and didn't miss a beat. 'Just the confidence that he gave the group being in that locker room was massive.' The prop will have another chance to do Talakai proud when he reaches the coveted 200-game milestone against the Sydney Roosters this week. Since his 2016 rookie season with Manly, Fonua-Blake has developed into one of the NRL's premier front-rowers, proving particularly instrumental on the Warriors' charge to a preliminary final berth in 2023. He has had a mixed first season at hot-and-cold Cronulla, but will be crucial to the Sharks' hopes of a top-eight finish as the alpha male of their forward pack. 'I'm extremely grateful that I get this opportunity (to play a 200th game),' Fonua-Blake said. 'Not many people do. I'll just be looking forward to getting out there and representing my last name and the club well.' The match is significant for the Sharks, who are hoping for consecutive wins over sides in the mix for finals. 'It's no secret we've had an up-and-down year this year, but I feel like the boys have had a bit of a wake-up call,' Fonua-Blake said. 'It would be massive for our confidence to get this job done.'
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Gallen challenges Sonny Bill to fight in a locked room ‘in our undies'
SBW has repeatedly referenced Gallen's involvement in the Cronulla peptides scandal more than a decade ago - dubbed the 'blackest day in Australian sport' - while Gallen responded on Monday by again slamming Williams for revealing in his autobiography that he took social drugs early in his league career. 'He wants to talk about drugs,' Gallen said. 'This bloke's an admitted drug user. Admitted drug user. You've admitted to using drugs. You've admitted to using drugs to cope.' Williams replied 'there's a difference between performance-enhancing drugs and drugs for personal use', but that was given short shrift by Gallen. 'Unfortunately for you, there's not,' Gallen said. 'If they're found in your system, they are classed as performance-enhancing drugs ... you used them to cope with the stress of the game. 'That's cheating. No matter how you want to look at it, that's cheating.' Gallen maintains that he still doesn't know what he was prescribed during the Cronulla peptides scandal, because it was dispensed by the club's medical staff. And he insists that he offered to be drug-tested in the lead-up to this fight. 'I said to certain media people in this room, the first thing and the only thing this dope's going to go on about is drug-testing because he's a stupid prick,' Gallen said. 'He's got nothing else to say. He's an idiot. That's all you've got.' Williams, for his part, said he had requested two minute-rounds, instead of the usual three-minute intervals, 'basically because there has been no drug-testing about'. 'I've heard a lot of rumours … he's a person that can't be trusted, at all,' he said, adding that shorter rounds might actually benefit Gallen, who at 43 will be the elder combatant by four years. Loading 'I think he's had three or four fights of two-minute rounds, and I've never done it,' he said. Naturally, Gallen wasn't buying that line. 'He wants two-minute rounds because it suits him,' Gallen said. 'The thing about Sonny, you look back at what he did at the Bulldogs [walking out on the club mid-contract] many years ago, he did that because it suited him. 'We all want more money, we all want better contracts, but the bloke walked out on his teammates overnight. The bloke's a disgraceful human being … two-minute rounds totally suits him down to the ground - a big, powerful athlete, absolutely suits him.' There will be six fights on the SBW-Gallen undercard, one of which will feature Rahim Mundine - son of Anthony - against Fijian southpaw Joe Vatusaqata.
The Age
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
Gallen challenges Sonny Bill to fight in a locked room ‘in our undies'
SBW has repeatedly referenced Gallen's involvement in the Cronulla peptides scandal more than a decade ago - dubbed the 'blackest day in Australian sport' - while Gallen responded on Monday by again slamming Williams for revealing in his autobiography that he took social drugs early in his league career. 'He wants to talk about drugs,' Gallen said. 'This bloke's an admitted drug user. Admitted drug user. You've admitted to using drugs. You've admitted to using drugs to cope.' Williams replied 'there's a difference between performance-enhancing drugs and drugs for personal use', but that was given short shrift by Gallen. 'Unfortunately for you, there's not,' Gallen said. 'If they're found in your system, they are classed as performance-enhancing drugs ... you used them to cope with the stress of the game. 'That's cheating. No matter how you want to look at it, that's cheating.' Gallen maintains that he still doesn't know what he was prescribed during the Cronulla peptides scandal, because it was dispensed by the club's medical staff. And he insists that he offered to be drug-tested in the lead-up to this fight. 'I said to certain media people in this room, the first thing and the only thing this dope's going to go on about is drug-testing because he's a stupid prick,' Gallen said. 'He's got nothing else to say. He's an idiot. That's all you've got.' Williams, for his part, said he had requested two minute-rounds, instead of the usual three-minute intervals, 'basically because there has been no drug-testing about'. 'I've heard a lot of rumours … he's a person that can't be trusted, at all,' he said, adding that shorter rounds might actually benefit Gallen, who at 43 will be the elder combatant by four years. Loading 'I think he's had three or four fights of two-minute rounds, and I've never done it,' he said. Naturally, Gallen wasn't buying that line. 'He wants two-minute rounds because it suits him,' Gallen said. 'The thing about Sonny, you look back at what he did at the Bulldogs [walking out on the club mid-contract] many years ago, he did that because it suited him. 'We all want more money, we all want better contracts, but the bloke walked out on his teammates overnight. The bloke's a disgraceful human being … two-minute rounds totally suits him down to the ground - a big, powerful athlete, absolutely suits him.' There will be six fights on the SBW-Gallen undercard, one of which will feature Rahim Mundine - son of Anthony - against Fijian southpaw Joe Vatusaqata.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Selfless': why NRL star played hours after funeral
Addin Fonua-Blake has been hailed as "selfless" for playing in Cronulla's breakthrough win only hours after a family funeral, but the prop says he only did what his grandfather would have wanted. Now the Sharks' prized recruit is preparing to honour his family name again in his 200th NRL game. The Sharks' coaching staff gave Fonua-Blake the option to miss last Friday's home game against the Dolphins after the death of his grandfather Talakai earlier in the week. Talakai was instrumental in Fonua-Blake's upbringing and had regularly cheered his grandson on from the stands, until travelling to games became too difficult in his later years. Last Friday, Fonua-Blake was determined to face the Dolphins not just to boost the Sharks, who had lost four of their previous five games, but to pay tribute to his grandfather. "Going through the week that I had last week, I just thought he'd probably want me to play. He was probably one of my biggest fans," Fonua-Blake said. "He contributed a lot in my upbringing. I thought it was only right if I went out there and did my last name proud and carried his name, and just sort of represented him. "I'm extremely proud that I get to carry his last name." Fonua-Blake made an impression on his teammates with his decision to play, and ultimately help the side to a vital win over fellow top-eight hopefuls the Dolphins. "(He's) just a selfless person," said Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo. "He put the team first the whole week and didn't miss a beat. "Just the confidence that he gave the group being in that locker room was massive." The prop will have another chance to do Talakai proud when he reaches the coveted 200-game milestone against the Sydney Roosters this week. Since his 2016 rookie season with Manly, Fonua-Blake has developed into one of the NRL's premier front-rowers, proving particularly instrumental on the Warriors' charge to a preliminary final berth in 2023. He has had a mixed first season at hot-and-cold Cronulla, but will be crucial to the Sharks' hopes of a top-eight finish as the alpha male of their forward pack. "I'm extremely grateful that I get this opportunity (to play a 200th game)," Fonua-Blake said. "Not many people do. I'll just be looking forward to getting out there and representing my last name and the club well." The match is significant for the Sharks, who are hoping for consecutive wins over sides in the mix for finals. "It's no secret we've had an up-and-down year this year, but I feel like the boys have had a bit of a wake-up call," Fonua-Blake said. "It would be massive for our confidence to get this job done."
