{"id":711218,"date":"2026-06-02T21:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/711218\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:57:13","slug":"nrl-news-2026-the-mole-exclusive-parramatta-eels-boss-jim-sarantinos-at-odds-with-podcast-host","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/711218\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: The Mole exclusive, Parramatta Eels boss Jim Sarantinos at odds with podcast host"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an ugly spat going on at the Eels<\/a> between the club and leading podcast Talking Parra.<\/p>\n

The club had a special meeting with players and officials last week, ordering them to have no contact with the podcast, which has over 23,000 followers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos.\u00a0Edwina Pickles<\/p>\n

The creator of the podcast, Adam Martin, has also had his membership of the club revoked, receiving a letter from the Eels accusing him of abusive behaviour towards officials and people connected with the club – a claim he strongly denies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to promote the Eels but they now see us as a competitor,\u201d Martin told Nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to help them on game days\u2026 They even used to get me to leak stuff that they couldn\u2019t say publicly – like about the Zac Lomax<\/a> saga – and get me to say it for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club got angry at me for leaking that Adidas would be their gear manufacturer next year, and also that we put together a Vegas package for fans for only $3500 which is lower than I believe they are going to charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are trying to stop us doing the podcast. They see us as a competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eels CEO Jim Sarantinos had a heated exchange with Martin at a fan event last weekend that shocked onlookers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also got a phone call from a private number with a guy telling me I better stop doing the podcast or things will turn out very bad for me,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jim Sarantinos speaks with Eels podcaster Adam Martin at a fan event.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

Nine.com.au is not suggesting that the phone call came from anyone connected with the Eels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martin said he never uses abusive behaviour towards anyone on his podcast or social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to keep things civil,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes fans will have a go at players and I will fire back, telling them to be respectful – but that is it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has really blown up – you would think Parramatta has bigger problems than me and my podcast at the moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parramatta provided the following statement when contacted by Nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club welcomes and encourages constructive feedback from all members and supporters and recognises they are entitled to express their views and concerns respectfully,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage fan pages and appreciate their contribution to the Parramatta Eels community. The club has no issue with creator and fan pages voicing opinions or their personal views as long as they remain respectful. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we will not accept false and misleading allegations that are directed towards staff and players or other members of the club or are designed to damage the reputations of individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dragons set to face fresh hurdle<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a fantastic week for the Dragons<\/a> after breaking their long drought in such great style in Brisbane<\/a> – but things are about to turn bleak for the club again.<\/p>\n

Major sponsor Squadron Energy is considering walking away from the Dragons at the end of their contract in a few months – a move that will cost the club an estimated\u00a0$1.2 million per season.<\/p>\n

A senior insider at Squadron put the move down not so much to the club\u2019s poor on-field performances, but more to the uncertain economic climate.<\/p>\n

\u201cTimes are tough at the moment and we aren\u2019t the only business cutting back on marketing and promotion,\u201d the insider said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pity but this is the world we are living in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dragons<\/p>\n

Squadron Energy is the club’s main jersey sponsor.\u00a0NRL Images<\/p>\n

It is believed Squadron won\u2019t be totally walking away from the club, however, and may take a much cheaper community sponsorship package.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Squadron sponsor the club\u2019s jersey front and there are rumours doing the rounds that the club\u2019s jersey back sponsor, travel company Trip A Deal, is also in danger of ending its association with the club at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

St George Illawarra were contacted for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tigers premiership hero joins Benji\u2019s staff<\/p>\n

Another member of Wests Tigers\u2019 never-before-never-again premiership winning team of 2005 has joined Benji Marshall\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n

Pat Richards, the man who scored off THAT famous Marshall flick pass in the grand final, has been appointed senior manager of the NRL team and will work closely with Marshall and the players.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pat Richards celebrates with fans after the 2005 grand final.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

The former star winger will be in good company, becoming the sixth player from that wonderful Tim Sheens team to get a job at the Tigers, alongside Marshall, John Skandalis, Brett Hodgson and Chris Heighington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Richards was doing some part-time work at the joint venture but has now taken on a senior role and is highly respected by the young players in the Tigers\u2019 ranks for his deeds on the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cowboys to lose highly-touted youngster<\/p>\n

North Queensland have done well to pick up experienced Sharks outside backs Jesse Ramien and Sione Katoa – but it was always going to come at a cost.<\/p>\n

And it looks like the club is poised to lose boom former Australian Schoolboys utility back\u00a0Mason Barber\u00a0as a result.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old speedster, who missed much of last season after shoulder surgery, is squarely in the sights of the Perth Bears.<\/p>\n

A product of renowned league nursery Keebra Park, Barber has been on the\u00a0Cowboys\u2019 development list this year but has yet to taste NRL footy.<\/p>\n

That should change next year though – he\u2019s certain to be given a chance to show his skills in Mal Meninga\u2019s young Perth squad in their maiden season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s an ugly spat going on at the Eels between the club and leading podcast Talking Parra. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-711218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}