Sam Newman

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Sam Newman
Personal information
Full name John Noel William "Sam" Newman
Date of Birth December 22, 1945 (1945-12-22) (age 62)
Place of Birth Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Recruited from Geelong Grammar School
Height/Weight 189 cm / 94 kg
Position Ruckman
Playing Career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1964 – 1980 Geelong 300 (110)
¹ Club statistics to end of 1980 season
² Representative statistics to end of {{{repstatsend}}}

John Noel William "Sam" Newman (born December 22, 1945 in Geelong, Victoria) is a retired Australian rules football player and current television personality. He is a featured star of the AFL version of The Footy Show, and is currently 'being rested' from that show. He is also a part-time specialist ruck coach.

Contents

[edit] VFL/AFL career

Newman's entire VFL/AFL playing career was spent at Geelong. He played his first senior game for the club in 1964, having been recruited while still at Geelong Grammar School. Newman being a tall man, in his first four seasons he played with acknowledged ruck master, Graham 'Polly' Farmer.

As a player, Newman quickly distinguished himself because of his prodigious athletic skills, and the wide range of positions that he could play in an era when players tended to specialise to a great degree.

In the 1967 finals series, he suffered a serious kidney injury in the first semi-final, and as a result missed the Grand Final, which Geelong lost to Richmond. He had part of one kidney removed, but returned to play the next season and win Geelong's Best and Fairest award.

During his 17 season career he played 300 games, primarily as ruckman. He played 41 games as Geelong captain before he was sacked from the job in a dispute with the club, and threatened to transfer to Richmond.

[edit] Football honours

He twice won club Best and Fairest (1968 and 1975), was selected All-Australian (1969), and played for the Victorian state team 8 times. He retired in 1980, having polled 100 Brownlow Medal votes throughout his career. In 2002, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and has also been honoured as a "Legend of the Geelong Football Club".

In December 2005, Newman was appointed as ruck coach for the Melbourne Football Club to mentor players such as Jeff White, Mark Jamar and Paul Johnson.

[edit] Media career

Newman is a regular on the AFL version of The Footy Show on the Australian Nine Network. He acts as sidekick and resident clown, and frequently stirs up controversy.

Main article: AFL Footy Show controversies involving Sam Newman

He regularly hosts "Street Talk", a vox populi segment in which he interviews people on the streets, usually in Melbourne. His interviews often contain sexual innuendo (especially when interviewing women) and mocking of the interviewees. Also, Newman is known for his continual defence of the Nine Network, and often takes the opportunity to mock the coverage from Channel Seven and Network Ten, given they have secured television rights for the AFL.

His other media appearances have included the Sunday sports show Any Given Sunday in 2005.

On radio station Triple M, Newman previews Friday night and Saturday afternoon matches. He formerly provided special comments during AFL games, but on May 8, 2006, was suspended indefinitely from those duties for telling a talkback caller that he was a "fuckwit" after the Round 6 match between the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda.

Two weeks earlier, he walked out on a broadcast midway through a round 4 clash between the Western Bulldogs and Geelong, having expressed disgust at the style of football being played and the perceived quality of umpiring.[1] .

[edit] Tabloid celebrity & personal life

The house Sam Newman built in St Kilda, featuring an image of Pamela Anderson's face
The house Sam Newman built in St Kilda, featuring an image of Pamela Anderson's face

Newman has been married three times and has also been linked to a number of other women:

  • Australian model Imogen Bailey, but the two have refused comment to such rumours.
  • Pamela Anderson, who is apparently 'just a good friend', although Newman erected a large image of her on the front exterior glass wall of his Melbourne home without obtaining council permission. However, he was later allowed to keep the artwork when permits were issued. The building later won architectural awards and is renowned as a St Kilda landmark.
  • Jo Hall from Channel Nine.

Other reported incidents include:

  • having his nose broken in a fight with an ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend.
  • having a female fan break a window whilst trying to break in to his Brighton house.[2]
  • being ejected from Perth's Burswood Casino for being drunk.
  • In 1997 his leg was broken after it was run over by Leonie Jones, a woman 26 years his junior (who was pregnant with the youngest of Sam's three children, Max) eight days after he had clashed with another pregnant woman in a Brighton supermarket. Jones said in an interview with New Idea magazine that Newman had not bothered to see Max until three weeks after he was born.

In 2004, Newman was reported to have had plastic surgery, most noticeably a facelift.[citation needed]

In 2005, he bought a Lamborghini Murciélago, number plate KGB-000.[citation needed]

[edit] Cancer Diagnosis

On the 5th of March 2008 it was revealed that Sam Newman was in hospital, undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. [3][4] On March 6 he underwent a procedure at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne to have the cancerous prostate removed. Sam asked that television cameras from Channel Nine's news program 60 Minutes have full access to the procedure, as he believed it could help raise awareness of the issue amongst the greater public. Nine personality and close friend Eddie McGuire covered the story for the program.

The program went to air on Sunday, March 9. It contained footage filmed earlier that day, where Sam's urologist, Dr. Laurence Harewood, told Sam that the operation had been a success, and that he had been cleared of the cancer. Sam is now expected to make a full recovery.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sam Newman walks out. Herald Sun (April 24, 2006).
  2. ^ Newman's 'aggressive' female wake-up call - National - www.smh.com.au
  3. ^ Sam Newman has prostate cancer | Herald Sun
  4. ^ Sam Newman diagnosed with cancer
  5. ^ Sam Newman gets prostate cancer all-clear after surgery | NEWS.com.au

[edit] External links