Source: abc.net.au
Authorities in New South Wales are urgently trying to contact the connections of up to 200 horses involved in a riding club meeting in the Hunter Valley, over fears the animals have been exposed to equine flu.
Earlier (Sunday) Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran confirmed that a new case of the disease had been detected in rural New South Wales, taking the overall number of confirmed cases to 12.
The other 11 cases are all in horses stabled at Centennial Park in Sydney.
New South Wales Primary Industry Minister Ian MacDonald says owners of horses which took part in the meeting at Carol’s Ranch Riding Club in Maitland last weekend need to take urgent action.
"Horses that have tested as positive outside of Centennial Park attended that event," he said.
"We really need to locate every horse owner from around the state and elsewhere that attended that event so that we can test them as quick as possible."
Source: Phil Rothfield and Rebecca Wilson, The Sunday Telegraph
A SECRET meeting tomorrow of Newcastle’s most powerful businessmen will put pressure on the Knights board to immediately sack coach Brian Smith.
The group, known as the White Knights and made up of the most influential movers and shakers in the Hunter, will gather over dinner to discuss the crisis that has torn apart one of the game’s proudest clubs.
The businessmen, including John Singleton and Jack Newton, are working on a secret plan to oust Smith as coach two years before his contract expires.
The White Knights are huge financial supporters of the club and have always carried great influence behind the scenes in the running of the outfit.
Source: Newcastle City Council
Moves to redevelop Merewether Surf House will take a major step forward today with Newcastle City Council and the Department of Lands signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the future of the site.
General Manager JANET DORE says although it has been a long process to get to this stage it has been important to ensure all stakeholders are aware of their role and responsibilities in the future management of the site.
"Merewether Surf House is one of Newcastle’s most talked about beach assets. I am very pleased we have been able to consolidate the land holding and move this project forward. It is important for the community to understand that this process has been essential to ensure when we called for expressions of interest we were able to offer a commercially viable product to the market."
Source: SMH
ST HELENS centre Matt Gidley believes his former Newcastle teammate Danny Buderus is planning to join him in the Super League – possibly as early as next season.
Speaking in the build-up to Saturday’s Challenge Cup final, which pits his Saints side against French club Catalans at the new Wembley Stadium, Gidley said he was saddened by the plight of his former teammates, not least his brother Kurt, in their battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
With tensions peaking and results troughing in the Hunter, Gidley suggested that Buderus, with whom he remains in close contact, might seek a move to the UK in the coming months, even though the Blues hooker has another season remaining on his Newcastle contract.
"Danny is a similar age to me, and he has always said that playing in the Super League is something he would consider if the timing was right," Gidley told the Herald. "I’m not sure what the situation is with his contract and everything, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was looking over here.
"It sounds like there is a fair bit of disharmony there at the moment. It is sad to hear, because the club is still close to my heart. For the sake of everyone there, I hope they can string a few wins together and avoid the wooden spoon.
Source: Newcastle City Council
An original double bill titled ‘Rural Reflections’ will premier at the Civic Playhouse from Wednesday 29 August. Produced by local resident Anne Frost’s award winning theatre company Shakespeare et al, these plays reflect the influence, good and bad, past and present of growing up in the country and should appeal to many people.
The double bill features two one act plays, ‘Grace’ and ‘Lost Property’, both set in Stroud, the picturesque small country town north of Newcastle which was once a thriving milk producing area. The production has been written, directed, and produced by the Stroud born and bred resident Anne Frost.
Source: Josh Massoud, The Daily Telegraph
THIS is the street poll the Newcastle Knights – and the NRL – should fear.
In a damning appraisal of the Kirk Reynoldson controversy, Novocastrians yesterday turned on their beloved Knights in an almost unequivocal vote of no-confidence to coach Brian Smith’s player clean-out.
The deteriorating relationship between a host of departing local juniors and club hierarchy was reflected on Hunter Street.
A Daily Telegraph poll in Hunter Street mall found the Reynoldson drama has deeply disaffected this blue collar community.
Angry that a fellow worker’s rights appear to have been unfairly dealt with, Novacastrians are highlighting the issue as the single biggest reason why rusted-on supporters are now realising there is a sporting world outside the Knights.
"The Jets are taking over," said 33-year-old George Saforis in reference to the rise of the town’s A-League franchise.
Frighteningly for Newcastle – and the NRL – the figures support Mr Saforis’s rhetoric.
Source: Newcatle City Council
Last week the Gallery unveiled the country’s most expensive painting, Lucian Freud’s After Cézanne, to Newcastle audiences. This week local figurative painter Bruce Rowland and acclaimed Feminist artist Julie Rrap have their turn. Rowland and Rrap, like British artist Lucian Freud, are inspired by the human body. But be warned, their depictions of the body and their reasons for doing so are radically different.
Sydney based artist Julie Rrap uses her own body as the starting point for photographic, performance and installation art. Her work is a commentary of the absence of woman as active subjects in art history. One fascinating work from her exhibition which opens on Friday night at the Gallery is Hairline Crack. In this work, 20 metres of human hair is mounted along the gallery wall.
Source: AAP, The Age
Newcastle senior executive officer Steve Burraston has slammed Kirk Reynoldson and his management for an "orchestrated campaign" to destabilise the struggling NRL club.
Burraston received a letter from Reynoldson’s lawyer Tom Sullivan on Monday threatening legal action if the 28-year-old lock did not have the fourth year option on his contract fulfilled.
Reynoldson needs one more NRL game to automatically trigger a $196,000 deal next year, but coach Brian Smith has told him he is unwanted in 2008 and has not selected him to play again this Friday.
Burraston fully supports Smith in not selecting Reynoldson and is outraged the matter is being played out in the media.
The Knights boss slammed Reynoldson’s manager Les Ross for not making any effort to talk to the club.
"I’ve got no question it’s probably an orchestrated campaign to put pressure on the club to cause unrest and probably force us into a position where we want to fold and have the thing go away," said Burraston.
"I can’t understand why people wouldn’t come and sit at the table and try to negotiate a deal or just to completely ignore the deals we do put on the table.
Source: Adam Lucius, Sportal
Newcastle coach Gary Van Egmond is openly targeting disgruntled rugby league fans as the Jets look to cash in on the woes afflicting their NRL co-tenants.
The once revered Knights are on the nose in the Hunter after a dreadful season punctuated by off-field unrest under new coach Brian Smith.
The round ball code will begin a charm offensive to win over league supporters when the 2007/08 Hyundai A-League season begins this weekend.
"There is a real window of opportunity there for us and it’s not to denigrate what is going on as far as the Knights are concerned," Van Egmond said.
"It’s synonymous with the Australian public that they love a winner and if we can do well and have some real success on the pitch then you never know how many you can convert."
Source: Matthew Birt, MotorcycleNews.com
Italian legend Giacomo Agostini has described Casey Stoner’s dominant 2007 MotoGP world championship performances as ‘incredible’.
Giacomo Agostini was full of praise for Casey Stoner, admitting he has been surprised by the Australian’s brilliant 2007 form, with his victory in Brno last Sunday his seventh of the season.
“Casey Stoner has surprised everyone because he is so precise. I remember when he crashed many times but now he is so determined and he is incredible. Casey is a fantastic rider.
“Everybody says he has a good motorcycle and good tyres but you need the rider too and he is very good. I’ve watched him and he is very consistent and very fast, he is incredible because it not easy to beat Valentino Rossi, " Giacomo Agostini told MCN.
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