A Very Special Intermission
Kaufusi, Hancock, Laybutt, a referee, Manzelmann, a mascot, Hansard and trademarks
The sickest of TMO perverts will have noted that there was no intermission in yesterday’s newsletter.
The reasons for that are technical and are mostly that I spent too much time waffling on about the Savanna Soiree, Ooroveeszjun, Queensland of Origin and the other weird pap that fills the newsletter when Peter V’Landys is on holidays or otherwise being suspiciously quiet.
But it was also an unusually hot week for intermission candidates, so here’s some GIFs.
Thank you for reading The Maroon Observer
Felise Kaufusi in space
By request of reader Matty, the face of a man who does his running one hit up at a time and no further.
Steph Hancock in the corner
I briefly allowed myself to think that Steph Hancock, 42, might be coming to the end of her career before she rattled off three pretty cool things in short order, including this try over by the corner post.
Ironically, I turned this game off with less than ten to go, figuring the Clydesdales had it in the bag. Imagine my shock when it turned out the Tigers had scored two tries in three minutes to salvage the draw. Tanika Newtown scores the tries but fullback Tahlia Marshall gets the space. One to watch.
Kyle Laybutt with the game winner
Readers will know that TMO has a soft spot for Kyle Laybutt. The Blackhawks’ most capped player has returned to Townsville to lead from the middle with this coolly slotted shot that seemingly merits no celebration.
Ref is late
We’ve got space today. No, no, no, we’ll wait.
Emma Manzelmann is really strong
That’s a woman who seems to be about five foot flat taking on and stopping Keilee Joseph and then Ngatokorou Arakua in quick succession. Damn.
Manzelmann did get bounced on the Magpies’ next red zone visit but pobody’s nerfect. And like the Magpies, I lost interest in this game about 20 minutes in. Easy dub for the Cuts.
Falcy (?) the Falcon
This is not the first time I’ve clipped the Sunshine Coast’s mascot’s antics. The best to ever do it?
Mark Latham vs Peter V’Landys
Meanwhile, in New South Wales’ state parliament three weeks ago:
RACING INDUSTRY
The Hon. MARK LATHAM (22:06): The whacky plan for the sale of Rosehill racecourse is getting whackier by the day. On the weekend Alex Smith of The Sydney Morning Herald reported government sources saying that the racecourse could be moved to the brick pit site at Homebush. There is only one problem: The pit is filled with water and is a gigantic lake. It has even got a protected frog, the death knell for any development in New South Wales. Next thing the Government will be selling Ms Smith the Harbour Bridge. My advice to the Government is not to get caught up with any more Peter V'landys real estate deals. The guy is all tip and no iceberg. Racing NSW has a huge range of problems and challenges, and the V'landys strategy has been to paper over them with hoopla events like the Everest. It is not hard to impress a bunch of journalists and National Party MPs with a buffet lunch on Everest day at Randwick as part of the senseless V'landys war against Racing Victoria.
But it is all tip, no iceberg, given the problems of workforce planning, country race club finances and run‑down facilities facing the industry. It is just like the NRL hoopla in Vegas, when Part-time Peter spent tens of millions of dollars to attract just 61,000 United States pay TV viewers, most of whom were expat Aussies. Again, the journos and hangers‑on love their free trips and duchessing in Sin City, bought off yet again, but as ever it was all tip, no iceberg, especially when one looks at the decline of rugby league in country New South Wales and in junior league participation. It is said that Part-time Peter is paid an incredible $1.3 million as CEO of Racing NSW. As the Rosehill controversy was raging—there is no doubt it is his real estate baby—he was in Vegas watching and talking footy.
Racing in our State deserves better, especially from the Minns Government, which has very quickly drunk the V'landys Kool Aid, mainly because Mr V'landys has bought off the Tele with the racing form guide payments and 2GB by other means. That is why the Government has appointed Saranne Cooke as the new chair to replace Russell Balding. Ms Cooke has asked experts in the industry when stallions at stud, like Justify and Trapeze Artist, will come back to racing after the breeding season—a laughable proposition showing that her only knowledge of racing is to say, "Yes, Peter", whenever she is told what to do.
Unbelievably, at budget estimates neither the racing Minister nor the public servant who chaired the selection panel for the new Racing NSW chair knew of the blatant conflict of interest in having John Dumesny on the selection panel. Mr Dumesny is a lifelong friend of Peter V'landys from their days together at harness racing. He is also a well-known Las Vegas tourist and all‑time V'landys beneficiary. How could he have failed to declare a conflict of interest in selecting the new boss for his best friend? It was a corrupted process, like much of the V'landys networking.
Another example is the employment of Daniel Hadley as an investigator with the Racing NSW investigations and surveillance unit. This Hadley, a son of Ray at 2GB, was kicked out of the police for cocaine abuse yet has landed with an integrity job—that is right, an integrity job—for racing in our State. It is an embarrassment and it is ridiculous. It is part of yet another sweetheart deal, this time with Ray "The Handyman" Hadley, that undermines public confidence in our sport. It is all about Part-Time Peter accumulating more power and influence rather than the proper professional development of the industry.
In this dictatorship, yes-men are fostered while those who raise legitimate questions and concerns are exiled. Serious senior people—experienced experts in their field—are the backbone of thoroughbred racing. They know the flaws in V'landyism but are ignored, intimidated and marginalised. How can our industry, under so much pressure and with so many challenges for the future, afford to lose these experts and the experience and knowledge they bring with them? These people—of course, in a divided industry now—want V'landys gone, yet under this Government, as with the last, Mr V'landys is a protected species.
For starters, the shonky real estate deals must end. It is not just at Rosehill. V'landys never supports a country race club without extracting more power for himself. At Goulburn, Racing NSW has offered money for a stables upgrade—but only if the ownership is transferred to the governing body, with Peter V'landys as the CEO. This out-of-control megalomania is happening across the State, unchecked by a racing Minister who says he has no opinion and cannot get involved in the proposed sale of the second most important asset the New South Wales industry has, Rosehill racecourse. What a shambles! There are alternatives to the sale of Rosehill. The outgoing immediate past chair of the ATC has suggested other property sales—and, of course, the ATC could always look at Canterbury. Rosehill should not be sold. Racing in New South Wales deserves a lot better than these shonky V'landys real estate deals.
Worst person you know, etc, etc but sometimes you just got to admire the artistry. Part-time Peter. All tip, no iceberg. V'landys Kool Aid, which I have also used before so that is either deranged minds think alike or Latham is a follower. Both are potentially horrifying.
Intellectual property
Long time readers will know that you can divine some of what the ARLC is up to by doing the occasional trademark search. For example:
Oh dear. Steve Mascord, the journalist, picked up the Rams trademark because no one else had it. He had the idea of selling merch for the dead franchise. It seems the ARLC has had the same idea. Whether that goes through, and who pays for what, will be extremely interesting. In fact, the ARLC seems to have been collecting a number of heritage marks, including this handsome fellow.
It looks very much like any old logo from rugby league that the ARLC could get its hands on, it has. The ARLC holds or has held 168 different marks and recent registrations include the Northern Eagles, Hunter Mariners, Gold Coast Seagulls and Giants and South Queensland Crushers, as well as Manly’s new logo.
One suspects a cynical push into retro merch because, from memory, there’s a use it or lose it provision in Australian IP law. That is, you can’t just sit on a mark forever and not do anything with it. This is why Bulimba Gold Top pops up every decade or so and probably explains the current Power’s push. Whether the guy in Perth that holds the Western Reds mark will yield or not remains to be seen but you can buy a 1995 Western Red throwback jersey anyway.
We also know that the ARLC has been transferring marks back to the clubs, as part of the mostly quiet (there was also the time PVL said a hypothetical ownership of the Titans could be international cocaine smugglers) shift to perpetual licencing.
Current marks for the Titans, Knights, Tigers, Roosters, Rabbitohs, Sharks and Warriors sit with their respective clubs, while the older marks sit with the ARLC or NSWRL. The Dolphins, naturally, hold all of their own IP, as do the Storm. The Raiders’ updated logo doesn’t appear in the quick search, but I would assume that will land with the Raiders rather than the ARLC. The current Broncos, Cowboys, Eels, Panthers, Bulldogs, Sea Eagles, Dragons marks still reside with the NSWRL/ARLC, which is either indicative of those clubs not yet signed up to perpetual licences or the trademark transfer process is expensive, time-consuming, difficult, not yet complete or some combination of.
Notes
Wow somehow this turned into an actual newsletter. Btw, the most clicked Note in recent memory was news that Lachlan Ilias had broken his leg. Sickos the lot of you.
Broncos: Jordan Riki (ankle) probably misses this week and, more importantly, Del Hoeter is done for the year.
Titans: Destiny Mino-Sinapati is out for the year with a knee injury an will miss the NRLW
Bears: Burleigh are celebrating their centenary and dropping interesting anecdotes on their Facebook page.
Tigers: Looking for CEO
Community: A-grade men’s previews on QRL dot com for Brisbane, Townsville, Central West, Ipswich, Mackay and Toowoomba. Norths allocations to the BRL. The highlights are Kane Linnett is captain-coach of the Sarina Crocodiles, Ash Taylor is captain-coach of Brothers Toowoomba, Cam Cullen is at Brisbane Wests, Ben Barba is back in Mackay so hopefully Cairns or Townsville can clear them out of the Foley Shield before the XXXX semis, Bessie Toomaga is in Ipswich A-grade now and the Jets have joined the Ipswich RL, as if it wasn’t bad enough they’ve under-represented the area at state level, but that isn’t that different to the BRL.
Very Far North Queensland: Digicel Cup kicks off on Saturday. If we’re serious about PNG footy, how about getting their comp on the TV huh?