Geelong legend Sam Newman was a shadow of his usual self on the latest episode of The Footy Show on Thursday night, and now it seems as though there could be a reason behind his actions.
In fact, there could be multiple reasons, with both Triple M and the Herald Sun reporting different stories.
Newman was visibly disinterested on set and was not very talkative throughout the show, and even failed to do his popular segment 'Sam's Mailbag'.
Triple M Hobart entertainment reporter Peter Ford believes he knows the reason why Newman acted how he did, and reported on Friday morning he believes Newman was told he was no longer required by the show prior to Thursday night.
"I know people will think this is just another contrived drama from The Footy Show to try and get attention - but Sam has been made aware that they plan to drop him from the show this year," Ford reported on Triple M Hobart.
"Theyโre axing him.
"The belief has always been with The Footy Show, you get a bunch of people saying โI wonโt watch the show because of Sam Newmanโ.
"Then you get a whole lot of other people saying โI only watch the show because of Sam Newmanโ.
"So last night we had something sort of in the middle - where he was there but he wasnโt there.
"I think he wanted to give the network a taste of what the show is like without him."
However, the Herald Sun believe Newman's actions relate to a disagreement after producers axed a segment of his.
Newman was reportedly set to walk out in a dress and pretend to be one of the women involved in the recent AFL affairs scandal, but the producers shot down the idea.
โHe wanted to come out in a dress and to do the AFL stuff,โโ one source on set told the Herald Sun.
โIt was the right call as it wasnโt even funny.โ
If Newman was to leave The Footy Show before his contract ends at the end of next season, then he would reportedly take home a very sizeable pay-out.
It has been reported that Newman's contract is the most lucrative one at the Nine Network, even ahead of Today Show host Karl Stefanovic and some of the network's biggest talents.
Newman has been an inaugural member of The Footy Show since it first aired in 1994 on Channel Nine.
