Watch how the Sydney Roosters cracked Hollywood … but didn’t know it

Los Angeles: Look out Russell,Hollywood has a new set of rugby league stars.

A group of Sydney Roosters players have just found out that a diehard supporter,who is a filmmaker in Hollywood,has been using their names in movies and TV shows aired around the world.

Roosters fan and Hollywood director and producer Josh Brandon has inserted several Tricolours Easter eggs into the shows and films he's worked on over the years.

Josh Brandon,a third-generation product of the eastern suburbs who lives in the US,invited players and staff to his Los Angeles home last week for a barbecue and showed them the list of Roosters references he has used over the years in Hollywood.

The filmmaker,who has worked with stars such as Ray Romano,regularly travels to Australia to watch games and is well-known to senior figures at the club. He reached out to the Tricolours via board member Brien Samphier to organise a get-together at his LA home while they were in town preparing for this weekend’s season opener in Las Vegas.

“My family have always been Roosters fans,” Brandon,who also co-wrote William Shatner’s bookBoldly Go,told this masthead.

“My dad and my grandfather always took me to games and we bonded over our love for the Roosters. I’ve been back to every grand final,I flew to England for the World Club Challenge. I’ve even converted my wife into a Roosters fan and she’s an American.

The Sydney Roosters players are entertained at super fan Josh Brandon’s LA home.Supplied

“My relationship with the club has grown over the years,but I couldn’t have imagined as a kid that one day they would be so accessible to me. They are a really good group of people. They’re so well-mannered and respectful. They all came up and introduced themselves and there was no cynicism about it.”

Brandon produced a slideshow of all the references he has used in his films and television series over the years,leaving the players in stitches. The reference to chairman Nick Politis was a hit.

“Mr Politis isn’t a man to be messed with,son,” a man says while standing over the top of a character he had just attacked in the filmBad Tenant. “You’ve got two days or you’re done for,mate. Two days.”

He’s also managed to get an Eastern Suburbs Roosters mug into a film. The characters he has used,and the Roosters name they reference,include:

“I first tried to get Boyd Cordner into an episode of a sci-fi film I did,but you can only get away with it if there are more than five people with the name,” he said.

“If they haven’t heard of it you can’t use it,so I came up with Boyd Davis. Then I did this Fox showHoudini and Doyle in northern England and they didn’t mind if names were real because they couldn’t possibly be referring to anyone given it was set in 1901. That’s when I used Mitchell Pearce,Julia Hargreaves and the Jennings Shipyard.”

Brandon organised for a top magician to entertain the players with illusions and tricks at his home. His replica DeLorean time machine from theBack to the Future trilogy was a big hit with his NRL guests.

The DeLorean replica at Brandon’s house (left) and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves at Universal Studios in Los Angeles (right)Supplied

He also took several staff members and players,including Angus Crichton,Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Lindsay Collins,on a backstage tour of Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Cordner’s knowledge of Harry Potter was impressive.

“I didn’t want to just give them another dinner,” Brandon said. “I wanted to give them something Hollywood.”

Roosters get Clipped

The Sydney Roosters had a night to remember in Los Angeles on Saturday night. They were guests of the LA Clippers NBA team,with about 40 players and staff given tickets to the match against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

Sydney Roosters stars James Tedesco,Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Angus Crichton at the Clippers game on Saturday night.Supplied

For some it was the second match in three days,with James Tedesco and Trent Robinson having also attended the LA Lakers game against rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs.

Spurs assistant coach Matt Nielsen,who is also the assistant coach for the Boomers,spoke to several Roosters before tip-off. Nielsen is a former NBL most valuable player and championship winner with the Sydney Kings.

American eyes on Jason Saab

The NRL grabbed a spot on mainstream television in Las Vegas with 23-year-old Manly winger Jason Saab interviewed on one of the city’s sports programs.

Saab was a special guest onSports Wrap,on KLAS 8 News Now,and answered questions from hosts Chris Maathuis and Ron Futrell as momentum builds before the NRL double-header at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.