BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

Rugby league you son of a bitch. Just when you thought the sport couldn’t get any stranger, peculiar and downright silly – rugby league has decided to take it to another level and go as nuts as Michael Keaton with a fire poker.

Some of the headlines in recent days have been crazy.

Others so out there that you can’t put them into words.

The New Zealand Warriors just sacked Aussie Nathan Brown. They are finally home in Auckland and have made the decision to replace Brown with another Aussie in rookie head coach Andrew Webster. While he has played a bit-role as an assistant at the all-conquering Penrith Panthers, the fact the Warriors ignored the ready-made local hero Stacey Jones is very Warriors.

Considering the roller-coaster, emotional ride they will go on in 2023 being back at home and playing additional games around New Zealand, surely Jones was the right call?

We’ll concede Webster has spent time in Auckland.

“Andrew has a great understanding of the Vodafone Warriors from his time here. He truly believes in what our club has, our values, what we stand for and where we can go,” under siege Warriors CEO Cameron George said in a statement.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to secure a coach of his calibre.

“He has terrific experience at three clubs, not least at the Penrith Panthers where he played such a critical role in helping them to the premiership last season.”

For this writer, the Warriors need to become New Zealand’s team again as quickly as possible and the first step was appointing the legendary Jones as coach.

Oh, Luke Brooks is still in the Wests Tigers team.

His team are running 15th and on the cusp of their maiden wooden spoon since their inception as a merged entity in 2000.

On Saturday night, they host Parramatta at Leichhardt.

You’d think club chief executive Justin Pascoe and chairman Lee Hagipantelis would be stopping traffic on Norton Street this week tossing free tickets into any car with half a window down.

Instead, to stand on the hill in the rain this weekend, it will cost an adult $45.70 on Ticketek with service fees.

A ‘reserved seat’ behind the posts at either end will set you back over $60.

Then there’s the NRL buying the Caxton Hotel in Brisbane for a speculated $25 million.

How much?

Do we have $25 million to spend right now?

“The ARLC were very focused upon acquiring an asset which could in and of itself independently trade profitably over a sustained period,” HTL Property director Nic Simarro said.

“Importantly (the property is) also one which could enjoy the benefits of new revenue creation following the activation of many levels the ARLC has as its disposal.

“The buyer said the acquisition is part of a strategy to invest in hard yielding assets and diversify its balance sheet “to underwrite the future of the code”.

The worst part for Queenslanders is the pub will be rebranded.

Hmmm.

‘Future of the code’?

How about $25 million for grassroots?

Nah, let’s buy a pub.

What about Brandon Smith calling referee Andrew Gee a cheat at Shark Park on Thursday night? He quite rightfully got sent to the sin bin and copped plenty from the ever-loving crowd in the western grandstand as he was banished to the sheds.

Incredibly there were plenty of punters on social media who defended Smith and thought the referee overreacted.

Really?

You just don’t call a referee a cheat.

Ask Gorden Tallis.

We are just days removed from a volunteer OzTag referee getting coward punched by some dickhead in Queensland.

That’s horrible on its own.

There’s so much sputum out there right now from some on social media about gambling and alcohol ads in the game’s coverage (but those do-good nobodies won’t complain about fast food – which they feed their kids to keep them quiet three nights a week), but it’s okay to stand in the middle of the field in a nationally televised game and call a referee a cheat?

And let’s not get started on the absolute atrocity that is NRL club’s roster management, deliberate breaking of rules and agents continuing to hold the sport to ransom.

Rugby league.

@woodward_curtis