BENNY Elias was renowned for his wonderful evasive skills when he was a hooker for the Balmain Tigers. It didn't help last Thursday evening when police pulled him over in his $300,000 Porsche in Double Bay. A punter sent us this on-the-spot photo as the Tigers legend was about to be booked for doing a U-turn over double yellow lines. Elias confirmed he was hit with a $298 fine and lost three points. "I'd left my phone at a meeting in Double Bay and had to dash back to get it," Benny said. An unmarked police car nabbed me. What can you do? They're only doing their job and I was in the wrong. Benny won't have too much trouble finding the $300 to pay the fine. The mining company he is chairman of, Kupang Resources, has doubled its share price on the back of some big announcements since December. THE Manly Leagues Club AGM during the week was one the most fiery and explosive meetings in club history. Debbie Reilly wife of now banned former director Bob Reilly, hurled abuse at a number of directors, including the chairman, David Costello OAM. It all exploded while Costello was informing members of a recent Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing investigation into a range of practices that occurred while Reilly was chairman. Reilly was warned by Costello that she would be asked to leave the meeting if she continued to disrupt it. Chris Branson QC, who represents Reilly, was also told on a number of occasions that his comments were out of order and asked to sit down. He ultimately left the meeting. THE Bulldogs have been quietly making some inquiries about superstar Israel Folau's availability later this season. Folau has signed for only one season in the Super 15s with the Waratahs, who play their final competition game on July 13. The Dogs were hoping he might be available for the last eight rounds of the NRL season, if the Waratahs don't make the finals. The plan was to sign him before the June 30 deadline then wait until Super 15 season was over. Folau's manager is the banned agent Isaac Moses, who is still under suspension for his role in the Storm salary-cap rorting. He was quite rude when I rang during the week to check out the situation. Pressed on the expiry date of his client's rugby union contract, I was abruptly told: "That's none of your business." Sources at the Australian Rugby Union later revealed he was in fact under contract until December 31 and would be available to play for the Wallabies. The NRL's Shane Mattiske also told me a contract couldn't be registered while a player was playing and contracted in another professional sport. YOU will be hearing a lot more of Paul Gallen during this year's NRL. The Blues Origin skipper has been signed up to replace Cameron Smith on Sky Radio's Big Sports Breakfast. He's also picked up a big deal with Triple M, who will be calling four games this year. The big guy has also signed up for more columnist duties at The Sunday Telegraph to give fans an insight into our Origin campaign. FORMER Great Britain halfback Bobbie Goulding has confirmed one of league's worst-kept secrets - that the Roosters once paid players cash in brown paper bags. And he's gone a step further, claiming he received cash from legendary Roosters coach, the late Jack Gibson in 1991. "Jack used to meet me in a silver 4WD in Randwick and give me my wages in a brown paper bag," Goulding told Rugby League Week. The irony is the Roosters still employ recruitment boss Peter O'Sullivan, who was in the thick of the Melbourne Storm salary-cap scandal. THIS columnist grew up getting his weekend footy fix from a transistor radio listening to legends Frank Hyde, Col Pearce and Tiger Black. We had one TV game a weekend from one camera angle on black and white television on the ABC listening to John O'Reilly. From this season, footy fans will be able to access NRL games from their mobile telephones or iPads on a FOX Sports app. How often have you cursed your best mate for putting a wedding on the same afternoon as your team plays? Or when a day out with the in-laws coincides with a local blockbuster? FOX Sports' new app is a game changer. You'll now be able to watch five live games every weekend from your phone. Just keep the sound down in the church! ALESSANDRO Del Piero's decision to stick by Sydney FC is a massive boost for the sport in this town. This bloke is bigger than Benji, Beau, Barba, SBW or any other footballer in the country. THE Australian swimmers who behaved so disgracefully while representing our country at the Olympics. No one minds the fact they didn't win enough gold medals. BULLDOGS superstar Ben Barba has been regularly seen out and about since splitting with long-time partner Ainslie Currie, the mother of his two young children. He was spotted at the Harbord Beach Hotel on the northern beaches on Wednesday evening, playing the pokies, having a punt on the races and enjoying a chicken schnitzel in the restaurant. FORMER Australian swimming boss Kevin Neil labouring on a building site in Canberra last week when the report was handed down into our London Olympics debacle. WE now know that Alessandro Del Piero will earn another $3.6 million for re-signing with Sydney FC. That's a cool $133,000 per game for a standard 27-round A-League season. It puts all the feverish talk of Johnathan Thurston becoming league's first $1 million man into perspective. The people who should be really excited are the owners of the other nine A-League clubs. I'm told that the extra fans ADP attracts whenever Sydney FC come to town is worth $100,000 per game in additional box office and hospitality sales. RELIABLE sources at Channel Nine have revealed there has been lots of off-camera friction between two of the stars of the Celebrity Apprentice during the production of the show. Swimming legend Dawn Fraser and current Olympian Stephanie Rice appear to not get on at all. IT could be the sports luncheon of the year when Sir Alex Ferguson is guest speaker at a swish event in Sydney a few days before the A-League All Stars v Manchester United game in July. I'm hearing that FFA executives are finding lots of new "friends" who want a ticket to the game or a seat at the VIP lunch. The guest list will show who's "in" with the new Gallop regime. Count on sports-loving premier Barry O'Farrell being at the top table. Without him, the game wouldn't be happening. THE Knights have signed up another celebrity fan for 2013 - The Hoff. The Baywatch star was recently in Newcastle performing at Lizotte's, where some Knights' cheerleaders took part in the show. The great man was happy to pose up in the jersey. The very next day, he was snapped alongside Manly cheerleaders in a Sea Eagles jumper.