Nine News reporter and Sun-Herald columnist Danny Weidler has defended himself against criticism from News Corp and Queensland coach Billy Slater after the veteran journalist claimed Maroons star Selwyn Cobbo wasn’t seeing eye-to-eye with the state’s coaching staff.
Speaking on the Footy Talk podcast on Tuesday night, Weidler responded to Slater’s claims of “fake news” and also hit back at criticism of his story from several members of Fox Sports’ NRL 360 magazine show on Tuesday night.
“I’ve had the same target for 25 years,” Weidler said of the origins of his tension with News Corp and its staff.
“I’ve had News Corp write and say horrendous things about me. Make up lies about me. On one occasion, I had to write to News Corp in a letter form where they just totally made something up about my personal life. We wrote a cease-and-desist type letter about that.
“I’ve copped it for years, and I’m not the only one. To pretend it’s a new thing would be totally inaccurate. It suits them when they want to call a truce. They’ve been very selective at times. When they’ve had people in their organisation who have been under fire, they’ll suddenly want a truce.”
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Weidler reported on Monday night that Cobbo, who returned to the Maroons side for Origin III after being axed for game two, wasn’t on the same page as the Queensland coaching staff.
It prompted a response the following day from Slater, who described the report by his Nine colleague as “totally fake news” and suggested that “gone are the days when you’ve got to report the truth”.
Weidler, who has written several articles about former NRL 360 host and Daily Telegraph columnist Paul Kent over the past few months, was then criticised for the story on NRL 360 by hosts Braith Anasta and Gorden Tallis, as well as panel members Paul Crawley, a News Corp sports journalist, and Nate Myles, the Queensland team manager.
Read Michael Chammas’ full Origin III column here.
