0:00

The McChicken is simply simple. No

0:02

bells or whistles. Just a crispy chicken patty

0:04

and fresh lettuce smothered in creamy McChicken

0:06

sauce. Hey, we

0:09

said no bells and whistles.

0:10

Order now on the MyMac as app.

0:13

Available after 10.30am. Thursday

0:17

morning.

0:18

This is your town. This

0:20

is your station. This is

0:22

Waitley.

0:24

Good morning. Should we

0:26

let the mind wander just a little? Maybe

0:29

a bit of music to set the mood,

0:31

maestro.

0:46

It's just gone 1am in Cinque

0:48

Terre. The five towns nestled

0:51

into the cliffs in the coastal region of northwest

0:53

Italy. The restaurant choices here

0:55

are rich. Perhaps Ristorante

0:58

Michi

0:59

in Monterosa

1:00

or Ta Aristide in Manarola.

1:03

Whichever the locally sourced seafood

1:05

and homemade pasta is to die for. At

1:08

a corner table, there's a bottle of white,

1:10

a bottle of red, maybe a

1:12

bottle of rosé instead. The waiting staff,

1:15

they wouldn't have understood the conversation about

1:17

a domestic football team on the Gold Coast.

1:20

But if they'd thought to take a photo of their Australian

1:22

guests, it'll go viral

1:24

on Insta. I like to think

1:27

there's napkins with writing all

1:29

over them strewn around the table. Game

1:32

plans, list analysis, trade

1:34

targets. I wonder if Buddy or

1:36

Dusty show up in the scribblings. And for folklore,

1:39

there's a scrawled five-year contract

1:42

bringing a three-time premiership coach to

1:44

the Suns. It all adds

1:46

an exotic flavour to a pretty

1:48

straightforward story. The only

1:50

shock twist would be if Damien Hardwick

1:53

turns Mark Evans down. But

1:56

I reckon they've known about this rendezvous

1:58

for months. It's just... the location

2:00

that had to be determined. And northwest

2:03

Italy was certainly far-flung,

2:06

but it still didn't remain a secret. clandestine

2:09

meetings in far-off places, it's

2:11

just about my favourite genre of

2:14

story.

2:15

Honestly, it's the most exciting thing the

2:17

sons have done since they got caught out

2:20

courting Gary Ablett in that hotel

2:22

room all those years ago. We can't

2:24

feign surprise and we'll fight off cynicism.

2:27

There's an inescapable logic in the timeline.

2:30

Hardwick left Richmond with plenty of time to

2:32

take a break and freshen up to be in a new

2:35

job come October. The sons opened

2:37

the coaching seats at the juncture

2:39

in the fixture where they were guaranteed

2:41

to lose a couple on the trot to the

2:43

top two teams. Both

2:46

Richmond and Gold Coast remain in

2:48

this extraordinary squeeze for finals,

2:50

but their coaching jobs are vacant.

2:52

That's neither accident nor

2:54

coincidence. And now

2:56

consenting adults are at play,

2:59

turning a wink and a nod into

3:01

a formal union. I like

3:04

to hope it's confirmed with a text message

3:06

from the chief executive to the president that simply

3:08

reads,

3:10

we got him. Scenes

3:12

from an Italian restaurant.

3:25

Chinkuatera

3:26

becomes part of footy folklore

3:29

in the coming days. Coming up

3:31

this morning, Bretton Sanderson with all his strategy

3:34

for round 21, everything you need on that front,

3:36

Max Lynch.

3:38

This week he was forced to end his footy career

3:40

after an independent medical panel ruled that he couldn't

3:42

play contact sport anymore. Max

3:45

will be in the studio shortly as

3:47

the concussion debate moves from the theoretical

3:50

to the frighteningly real in another case

3:52

study before us. Your thoughts?

3:54

The 40 Winks temper text is open 0433981116, temper a mattress

3:57

like new.

3:59

other scenes from an Italian

4:02

restaurant. It's just gone 1am in Cinque

4:04

Terre. I wonder what progress has been

4:06

made.