Good evening, sports media consumers. I hope you’ve had a great weekend; I know I did.
I’m excited to write a Better Late Than Never column again; it’s been a couple of weeks since I last wrote one, and now that I have started a Substack newsletter, it’s the perfect time to bring it back.
In this edition, I cover reactions to Dianna Russini’s return to sports media, ‘Buzz’ Rothfield’s exclusive Sam Walker news on The Bye Rounds Live Podcast, and whether Rugby League’s best player award, The Golden Boot, is stupid. Or does it just need a revamp?
Since it’s the weekend, grab yourself a beer, wine, or soft drink, sit in your favourite chair, and put your feet up—ready to read your second-favourite sports media column.
Russini’s Return Draws Criticism
It must not have been easy for former Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini to return to sports media, but what people said to her upon her return would have made things worse.
What the sports media world said about the first episode of the Russini Report was brutal. Many are upset that she didn’t address the Mike Vrabel scandal head-on. I wrote in Thursday Briefing that I think she should address the scandal when she is ready; I stand by that. But I can understand why others think she should have addressed it in this debut episode.
Here are some of the best (or worst) Twitter/X posts about the Russini Report:
What happens from here remains to be seen, but Russini doesn’t look like she is going to give up, so no doubt the Russini Report will soldier on.
Russini is also facing another battle: getting credentialed for the Super Bowl. Front Office Sports reported that Russini is looking to be on Radio Row in Los Angeles; for those who don’t know what Radio Row is, it’s a media hub where different sports radio shows, podcasts, TV networks, and digital content creators film live broadcasts and conduct interviews.
In the article, FOS reporters Ryan Glasspiegel, Mark Maske, and Michael McCarthy report that Russini may have a hard time getting media credentials because the Russini Report is on BetUS, an offshore bookmaker, and the NFL typically stays away from offshore bookmakers.
The article goes on to say that Russini will use her affiliation with iHeartMedia, where she told People that she was starting a podcast with Jon ‘Stugotz’ Weiner instead of BetUS. Hopefully it works out for Russini, and I’m looking forward to hearing the new podcast when it drops.
‘Buzz’ Comes Through With The Scoop
Our man Phillip ‘Buzz’ Rothfield is at it again, this time dropping an exclusive during The Bye Round’s live World Cup show in Brisbane on Sunday.
Charlie White, Gordon Tallis, and James Graham were all there for the live show, with ‘Buzz’ saying Sam Walker will most likely stay at the Roosters in 2027 rather than move on, as Sydney Roosters Chairman Nick Politis had said.
Talk during the week was that Walker was likely to go to the South Sydney Rabbitohs. However, ‘Buzz’ said that move will happen over Politis’ dead body. For those who don’t know, the Rabbitohs and the Roosters are fierce rivals, with plenty of feeling in every game they play each season (Sin Bin Sunday, anyone?).
Anyway, for the Rabbitohs to land Walker, ‘Buzz’ said they have to get rid of a player, and someone could be Jack Wighton, whom the former News Corp journalist said Hull KR have offered an attractive deal.
However, ‘Buzz’ believes Roosters coach Trent Robinson and Politis have had a long talk about it and now want Walker to stay for one more year, which would technically see out his contract with the Bondi club. “Buzz’ added that Robinson thinks that the Roosters’ best chance of going back-to-back is to have Walker at the club. Add to that, players love Walker and want him to stay, with some saying in interviews that after the blow in talks they hoped something would get worked out.
If Walker stays at the Roosters for 2027, “Buzz” thinks the PNG Chiefs are odds-on favourites since they enter the competition in 2028, while he also said the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs may be in the mix, along with the Rabbitohs still.
No matter what happened, let’s hope things work out for Walker; he’s too good a player for this to bring him down. Tell me in the comments: where do you think Walker will end up?
Golden Boot Farce
Last Thursday, Kalyn Ponga was awarded the International Rugby League’s (IRL) Golden Boot for the best rugby league player in the world. While Ponga was a worthy nominee, announcing the winner before the World Cup final was a big misstep, given that Reece Walsh, who was another nominee, starred in Australia’s win over New Zealand in the final.
But the bigger conversation is around whether the Golden Boot should include club matches as well as State of Origin and internationals, instead of just internationals.
On SEN’s Sportsday with Rat and Jarrod, a listener, Mark from Fairfield, said the Golden Boot is the stupidest and weirdest award in any sport in the world, and thinks all games in a calendar year should count, not just international matches.
I agree with Mark from Fairfield. Like Jarrod Croker said when I was younger, I assumed the Golden Boot went to the best player in the world across all games, whether they played in the NRL or the Super League. 20 years ago, it may have made sense to include international matches; there was an Anzac Test every year, but now an international rugby league footprint is just starting to emerge, so until there are more internationals, it doesn’t make sense to use international matches as the barometer.
As I mentioned before, announcing it before the final—when the two best players of the World Cup would easily have been neck and neck (especially since Walsh played more games than Ponga)—would have been interesting. It would have been interesting to see how Walsh’s performance in the final might have affected the voting, particularly given how well he played.
Personally, the IRL needs to look at this in the new year and make the right decision; otherwise, people like Mark will keep thinking it’s weird and stupid.
We have now come to the end of Better Late Than Never; thanks for taking the time to read, sports media, consumers.
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Have a great Monday, and until next time, take care!
Merce