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CHRIS Sandow will make his long-awaited comeback to top grade footy at the Auckland Nines.
Sandow has been training the house down according to Eels insiders and is understood to be keen to make the most of any chance he gets under new Parramatta coach Brad Arthur.
The $500,000 recruit has struggled for fitness and consistency since his arrival at Parramatta, and has battled much-publicised gambling issues.
But should Sandow get through the club's trip to Alice Springs, he'll be on the plan to Auckland for the rich February 15-16 tournament.
At the top of his game, Sandow is a genuine excitement machine and will benefit from the extra space on the field in the Nines format.
While Sandow's inclusion is a big win for the Auckland tournament, there's plenty of sidestepping going on among the coaching ranks.
Des Hasler, Ricky Stuart, Mick Potter and Craig Bellamy are considering brushing the Auckland Nines, sending assistants in their place while they concentrate on the NRL season proper.
The Nines was set up with strict guidelines about the quality of players that must attend, but with no mention of coaches, there's a loophole to exploit.
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ROSS TACKLES A NEW CHALLENGE
RETIRED NRL prop Ben Ross has knocked back the chance to return to the paddock with the London Broncos in the UK Super League, taking up the dedicated role of Welfare Manager with the Men of League foundation.
Ross, who overcame a broken neck to play again in the NRL, will draw on his own remarkable story in his new role with the foundation, which assists former players once they have retired. He had a one year offer from the Broncos on the table but is determined to have a greater impact off the field rather than on it.
Jamal Idris does first media session since leaving the Titans for the Panthers. pic. Phil Hillyard Source: News Limited
JAMAL ESCAPE WELL PLANNED
DON'T for a minute think that the Panthers rode in at the last minute to help Jamal Idris out of his Titans deal. The plan to switch clubs was hatched some time ago, and while you can't argue with the reasons (Idris being closer to his ill mum), it's a bit rich to portray it as some last minute solution that was in the best interests of both clubs.
FLANNO'S HOLIDAY BEFORE FIGHT
SUSPENDED Sharks coach Shane Flanagan is just back from a family getaway on the Queensland border.
He took his family to Rainbow Bay at the southern end of Coolangatta for a 10-day holiday to escape all the attention. He has meetings this week with his manager Wayne Beavis and lawyers to discuss the next move in the Sharks ASADA scandal.
Indications are that he will appeal the 12-month suspension.
SBW KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH FANS
SUPERSTAR Sonny Bill Williams had a busy week, returning to training with the Roosters and sweating in Sydney's brutal sumer heat.
But he also found time to attend a couple of women's touch footy games at Centennial Park, posing for dozens of photos and signing autographs for a host of star-struck young ladies.
TASSIE SCORES A WORLD RATING
RICHARD Sattler's bold vision to build two golf courses on the remote north coast of Tasmania (Barnbougle Dunes and The Lost Farm) has paid off in the best possible way, with the courses ranked inside the top 25 in the world by influential US Golf Digest.
Famed US layout Pine Valley took the No.1 ranking, while Royal Melbourne West is Australia's highest ranked course at number nine.
Barnbougle Dunes came in at 11th, pipping legendary courses like Pebble Beach, Merion and Turnberry.
"A 2004 collaboration of American superstar designer Tom Doak and Australian tour-pro turned architect Michael Clayton, this is a tremendous 18 in a fantastic stretch of sand dunes along Bass Strait," the judges noted.
Barnbougle's second course The Lost Farm was 23rd, just behind Kingston Heath (20) and New Zealand's famed Cape Kidnappers 22). Royal Melbourne East (28), NSW (33) and Victoria (94) are the other local entrants.
It's the first time Golf Digest has produced a world top 100 list, the US magazine calling on its 27 sister publications around the world to pull it together.
David Warner of Australia switch hits for six. Source: Getty Images
SYDNEY'S GIANT HOUSE PARTY
CRICKET Australia officials are quietly eyeing the possibility of a record Sydney crowd of above 60,000 when Australia meet England in the T20 international at ANZ Stadium on Sunday 2 February.
Sales have spiked for the game that represents the Ashes tour finale, with officials confident of a crowd exceeding the 40,242 that attended last summer's T20 international against Sri Lanka.
But there's now a real possibility the game will challenge the record for any cricket match held in Sydney. That stands at 59,569, which was the crowd for the first T20 international held at ANZ Stadium, against India in 2012.
Australia look to have found a natural white-ball opening pair in Dave Warner and Aaron Finch, and Warner has a real affinity for the Sydney Olympic Park venue, and not just because he launched his famous switch-hit for six at the ground two years ago.
Last year Warner smashed 90 from 62 balls, and he remains the only batsman to have hit a ball so high into the stands it slammed into the glass windows of a Level 3 corporate box.
BACK ON HOME TURF
IRONWOMAN Tara Coleman will make the most of a rare opportunity to race on home turf over the Australia Day weekend with the surf lifesaver to contest back to back carnivals on the Northern Beaches.
Coming 12th in the Nutri-Grain series heading into next months finale, Coleman faces the prospect of not automatically qualifying for next summers event.
"The carnivals at Manly and Freshwater are part of the qualifying series for the next one so it's a good opportunity to chase some points," Coleman said.
Coleman was a last minute inclusion into the six-round Nutri-grain series after the retirement of Hayley Bateup from the event.
FAMOUS SPECTATOR
ONE of baseball's true giants, Hank Aaron, is coming to Sydney to watch the Dodgers take on the Diamondbacks at the SCG in March.
Aaron is the legendary batter who held the Major League Baseball home run record with 755.
He famously broke Babe Ruth's record of 714 hits in 1974 and went on to hold the mark for 33 years until the arrival of Barry Bonds.
The 79-year-old hall of famer will travel to Australia with MLB commissioner Bud Selig, the highest paid sports administrator on the planet.
Selig, who's planning to retire after the next season of the MLB, is on more than $20m a year.
Australian cricketer Holly Fearling at the MCG Holly would be in her Southern Stars gear for a feature we are running on Sunday. Source: News Limited
HOLLY A TRUE STAR ON THE RISE
ELLYSE Perry has some competition as our most marketable female cricketer in the form of fellow quick Holly Ferling.
The 18-year-old university student is in the sights of some of cricket's biggest sponsors.
But, with the Southern Stars- England series moving to Melbourne today for the first of six limited-overs matches, Ferling remains focused on regaining the Ashes.
"We just need to go out there and be confident from ball one," she told our Melbourne colleague Eliza Sewell.
"We need to make sure we play the attacking and aggressive game we have played in the World Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup. We have the playing group to do it. We can definitely do it."
Sharni Layton (foreground) training with fellow Swifts team members at Wanda sand hills, Cronulla, on Saturday 18th January 2014. Pic: Mitch Cameron Source: Supplied
SWIFTS DRAW LINE IN THE SAND
THE NSW Swifts took on Wanda Beach's famed sand hills yesterday morning as they continued a gruelling pre-season
"This is my twelfth pre-season as a Swift and in terms of intensity, this is the most challenging and physically demanding we've undertaken," captain Kimberlee Green said.
The players shared the sandhills with the GWS Giants and spent two hours running up and down the dunes and doing skills-based activities in the fine sand.
"Under new head coach Rob Wright we've worked extremely hard on our fitness and conditioning to put us in the best shape possible for the season proper," Green said.
The Swifts open their season on Sunday, March 2 at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
Thunder fans cheer on their team during the Big Bash League T20 game at Homebush, Sydney. pic mark evans Source: News Limited
THE NEW THUNDER-DOME
THE Sydney Thunder are likely to desert ANZ Stadium for the Giants' home ground for next season's Big Bash. Skoda Stadium boasts a 25,000 capacity and would be a better fit for the T20 franchise. "It's the only way we can create an atmosphere and draw a crowd," one Thunder insider said.
Senior Cricket NSW officials remain pleased with the Thunder's fanbase and growing presence in the summer sporting market.
FINE MESS FOR A PROUD DAD
OUR resident football expert Robbie Slater has got himself in a bind.
Slater is forced to go for the Central Coast Mariners every week in our A-League tipping competition because if he doesn't, his son Tom - who plays for the Mariners - gets fined by his teammates.
The family loyalty isn't holding Slater back.
Robbie's comfortably leading all our football experts and Buzz Rothfield, the regular inhabitant of these pages.
SUNDAY SESSION
SAINT
IT WOULD be easy to give it to James Faulkner for that remarkable match-winning innings at the Gabba - but our Saint this week is Alastair Cook for fronting up for all the
post-match pressers, showing grace and humility after losing what looked an
unloseable match.
Shinji Ono. Source: Getty Images
SINNER
THE Wanderers for letting Shinji Ono return to Japan without putting up a fight. Ono took a massive gamble joining the new franchise and has made a huge contribution to the A-League. Ono has been repaid in the worst possible way by Western Sydney boss Lyall Gorman and his football department.
SSSHHH
WHICH soccer superstar is quietly considering a training stint Down Under to keep up his fitness in the lead up to the World Cup. It would be a massive coup for any club to attract him, even if he's only on the training paddock.
SPOTTED
OUR spies at League Central reported sightings of what they described as "a younger version of John Brady", the former NRL media man who resigned after nearly two decades at the league late last year. "It couldn't have possibly been Brades," one source said. "He was wearing shorts, thongs and he looked 20 years younger than the Brades we remember."
flare dinkum
FOX Sports types were none too pleased when an internal email circulating Channel Ten headquarters was leaked on Twitter. A Ten chief of staff sent a note requesting amateur vision from anyone attending Melbourne Victory's A-League match against the Western Sydney Wanderers - a breach of the broadcast rights deal. "News would be interested in any amateur vision shots of flares / push and shove / security evicting people / verbal abuse etc," the email said.
A MIGHTY UNION
THREE Sydney groupings are among the 41 expressions of interest for the 8-10 spots in the first National Rugby Championship in August. Randwick, Easts and Southern Districts are keen to combine, with Eastwood, Parramatta and West Harbour joining forces. The other major Sydney grouping comprises Manly, Warringah, Northern Suburbs and Gordon. Sydney University want to stand alone.
Russell Crowe and James Packer at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Redfern. Source: News Limited
ONE BUGGED BUNNY
THERE are continued rumblings out of Redfern about coach Michael Maguire's unhappiness on several fronts. We're told that Maguire has had something of a falling out with part owner Russell Crowe. We also understand that the Federal Government's decision to withdraw funding from the Rabbitohs' planned multi-million dollar training facility at Maroubra has caused plenty of consternation.
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