Veteran NRL journalist Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield took the joke in stride after Brisbane Broncos second-rower Jordan Riki playfully dubbed him a “sack of potatoes” at the club’s premiership celebrations on Sunday night.
The Broncos ended a 19-year premiership drought with a thrilling 26-22 NRL Grand Final win over Melbourne, and amid the celebrations at the centre of Accor Stadium, Riki playfully targeted one of the team’s most vocal critics this season.
Streaming the celebrations live on Instagram, the 25-year-old second-rower repeatedly called out for Rothfield’s phone number during the festivities.
“Someone send me Buzz Rothfield's number, I’ll call him!” Riki stated
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“Sack of potatoes that fella, man.”
However, the 67-year-old journalist appeared to relish the post-victory NRL Grand Final banter.
Speaking on Triple M NRL on Tuesday, Buzz laughed off the comments and even added to the humour, joking that he plans to fly to Brisbane next season to meet the second-rower in person.
“I liked it, apart from the fact he called me a sack of potatoes or whatever,” Buzz laughingly stated.
“Hey you know what … I love banter. They’ve had a million drinks.”
Buzz added: “I’ve never met Jordan Riki ... I wasn’t sure who it was when I first saw it.”
“No drama. I like seeing them have a good time - they deserve it.
“I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do next season. I’m going to fly to Brisbane and I’m going to sit down with Jordan Riki and say: ‘Here I am! You were looking for me…’”.
The NRL journalist admitted that Riki’s jabs could be linked to his mid-season critiques of coach Michael Maguire and the Broncos, when he famously labeled the club the “flops” of the season.
“I doubted Madge’s coaching at a number of stages during the year. I looked like a genius at round 12 when they were 11th [in the ladder]. He did a great job and I’m paying the penalty for it now,” Buzz said.