Junior assistant zookeeper turned multifunctional celebrity Robert Irwin got the clicks as the most prominent Australian at the Super Bowl LX, with globally acclaimed music producer and DJ Dom Dolla, (real name Dominic Louis Matheson) a close second.
But fear not. The contingent of Australians rushing over to San Francisco for the game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots had length, breadth and depth.
AFL and MCG executives were on the ground, with various perfectly timed fact-finding missions.
AFL executive general manager football performance Greg Swann hit town for meetings with NFL officials around “advancement in officiating” and the “use of AI (artificial intelligence) in refereeing decisions”. If we needed a cheap gag we would say surely the AFL doesn’t need artificial intelligence in refereeing decisions, it just needs some intelligence in refereeing decisions.
Accompanying Swann was AFL executive general manager finance, broadcasting and infrastructure Matthew Chun.
And as for attending the game at Levi’s Stadium? Well, it’d be rude not to!
The AFL top dogs weren’t the only Australian executives squaring away some business. With the MCG hosting a regular season NFL game in September, when the San Francisco 49ers will face the Los Angeles Rams, Visit Victoria dispatched a couple of its executives for inspiration and tips. We’re told the state marketing agency Visit Victoria’s board, which is now chaired by former Telstra boss Andy Penn and includes Super Bowl fanatic Eddie McGuire, stayed home.
Media lawyer Justin Quill, a partner of the firm Thomson Geer, was pictured proudly in the stands in a photo leaked to us by … media lawyer Justin Quill. But the super eventist nearly didn’t make it, recalling his aborted trip to the Super Bowl in 2022 when he made it to Los Angeles only to be recalled home for an urgent legal crisis.
Quill got as far as Melbourne Airport only to realise he was missing an essential item in the global sporting eventists toolkit – his passport. Which his wife Camilla had to race to the airport to supply just in time.
In the lead up to the game, we were readying ourselves for a parade of tech bros to dot the stands, particularly given the pre-game barbs traded by two of the world’s biggest AI firms, Anthropic and OpenAI, over a series of Super Bowl ads. Google CEO Sundar Pichai was there along with his YouTube chief Neal Mohan, as was Apple CEO Tim Cook and a string of other Silicon Valley heavyweights.
Not so for the local tech contingent, however, whose biggest names steered clear. Canva co-founders Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins opted against the trip to California, CBD was told, as did Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brooks, who we guess is more of a rugby league man anyway.
V’landys’ vow to ditch the chips
Read anything about Peter V’landys, chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, and chances are you’ll learn the man loves his hot chips.
Well, not so anymore. The Rugby League and Racing NSW boss has officially sworn off the treat, along with his other love, ravioli, as part of an off-season health kick that has helped him shed some 12 kilos.
The rugby league boss was telling guests about his new healthcare regimen in the directors room at Randwick Racecourse for Inglis Millennium day on Saturday, CBD was told. But that wasn’t his first public outing sporting his new look. Only a week earlier, his makeover also caught the attention of attendees at the Australian Open.
“My favourite meal is chips … The chips are very high in carbohydrates. And that’s killing me because I love my chips,” V’landys told CBD.
What else has he been doing to trim down? As well as dispensing with carbs, skipping breakfast hasn’t hurt either. V’landys said these days he isn’t eating until about 1pm, to give his body the chance to expel nasty toxins.
Beyond that, it would behove us to note it’s all natural. “I haven’t taken any medication,” the man said. All power to him – and just in time for his trip to Vegas for the opening round of the NRL this month.
Wells runs dry
After a summer of sport spent missing in action, Communications and Sport Minister Anika Wells again sent tongues wagging in Canberra late last week, after she went a few days without being seen.
Rest assured, though, the minister was simply just out sick, CBD was told, and is back on deck this week. Wells’ office declined to comment.
The absence was only noteworthy, of course, given the ongoing scrutiny of Wells’ role in the parliamentary expenses scandal that rattled the Albanese government in the closing months of last year.
That scandal, of course, was triggered by revelations that a three-day trip to New York for a victory lap over Australia’s teen social media ban cost close to $100,000 in flights alone. It set off a wave of criticism over the use of parliamentary entitlements, regardless of whether they are within the rules.
In the intervening months, Wells has been a no-show at the nation’s premier summer sporting events, with the exception of two low-profile events in Brisbane.
As we’ve previously noted, Wells gave the Ashes a miss, and was also a no-show at the Australian Open, leaving Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to represent the government in what was otherwise a thin showing of federal politicians on the ground.
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