The former Australian Test opening batsman stunned listeners when he revealed it would be his final appearance after a decade of informative, robust and often whacky gibber alongside Terry Kennedy. Both of them shed tears on-air, God love 'em.

By the end of the day, the managers of various retired sports stars were lighting up the switchboard like there was a trucker hat giveaway, getting in contact about their clients possibly coming on board.

Names that have already been linked to the job include former Wallaby and Ten sports reader Matt Burke, former NSW Origin coach Laurie Daley, Penrith legend Greg Alexander and the great Gorden Tallis, the former Broncos firebrand who has the potential to cut through with the show's expanding Queensland base.

"Dan Rather's not available, and while Bruce McAvaney is a good friend, he doesn't know enough about rugby league," Kennedy joked. "I can't add to any of the speculation but I can say to whoever takes it on that a double flat white will quickly become your best friend."

Burke has been a regular fill-in host this year for Slater when he hasn't been available. Another option for Sky Sports Radio execs is Jimmy Smith, the show's long-time Sunday host.

Kennedy is on holidays and will be back on-air on January 22 but a decision on Slater's replacement won't be rushed. Indeed, producers are waiting for the silly season to end before they talk to as many candidates as possible.

There has been much speculation in the last week that Slater is about to join Mark Geyer on Triple M's Rush Hour with MG, which will start in the new year.

Tired of the 3am starts so he can host breakfast alongside Matty Johns and Gus Worland on The Grill Team, Geyer moves to the afternoon drive show with Dan Ginnane to concentrate on rugby league commentary in 2018.

"News to me, brother," MG chuckled when contacted about the Slats speculation. Turns out there was nothing in it, although Slater was apparently approached last year about joining Triple M but he was under contract to the Big Sports Breakfast. As it stands, Slater has no options next year except for his commitments with Channel Nine.

"My time at the Big Sports Breakfast, much like my cricket career, was very fulfilling and satisfying," Slater said. "I had a very special relationship with TK, which made the decision to leave very difficult. But it was time for a change."

We wish Slats - a good man and operator - all the best.

Hayne Plane lands

Jarryd Hayne flew into Sydney from Tel Aviv early on Thursday morning and then snuck out a side exit so he could avoid awaiting media.

The Hayne Plane won't be back at training with Parramatta until early in the new year and he won't be quizzed by the NRL's integrity unit until midway through January about the civil lawsuit that has been filed against him concerning an alleged rape from December 2015 when he was playing for the San Francisco 49ers.

Jarryd Hayne is preparing to front the NRL integrity unit.

The integrity unit is on holidays until then. But when it gets back you can bet investigators will be asking Hayne to explain why the NRL and indeed his club at the time was not told of the San Jose police investigation into the alleged incident.

The woman who is bringing the lawsuit, 'Ms V', went to police in May 2016 but the investigation didn't conclude until October, a month after Hayne had signed and played with the Titans. No charges were laid, and Hayne "vehemently" denies he has done anything wrong, but the timeline of events troubles the NRL.

In that period, he was also warned by the NRL about rubbing shoulders with underworld figures after it emerged on social media he was joy-riding around the Gold Coast with bikie and former Titans under-20 player Chris Bloomfield.

That's when Hayne uttered the famous line: "Cash money fam, cash money. Give me a f---ing cigarette."

Like most people, I still have no idea what that first part means.

Correct weight

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'landys is all but assured a place on the new-look Australian Rugby League Commission - but who else will join him as the club's representative?

Under a reworked constitution forced through because outgoing chairman John Grant has presided over such an ineffective ship for the past five years, the NSWRL and QRL will each have nominations. They are expected to be filled respectively by George Peponis and Bruce Hatcher.

All 16 NRL clubs get to appoint two commissioners. We've been told V'landys has just enough support to be one of them.

The second was going to be longstanding News Corp executive Dennis Watt, who oversaw the media giant's rugby league interests for many years. But the highly respected Watt has been named as the Titans' executive chairman following the sale of the club to Rebecca Frizelle and Darryl Kelly.

The name that keeps coming up is Mark Coyne, the former Australian, Queensland and St George centre/winger.

Coyne would be a wise appointment given his experience in the game and the business world. He was thrown up as an inaugural commissioner when it was being pieced together in 2010.

Barf time for Tommy

I've told this story before in this space but it's worth another run following colleague Roy Masters' sad, but also beautiful, piece on his mate Tom Raudonikis, the iconic halfback from the 1970s and '80s who has been given a one-in-three chance of survival after last week undergoing surgery for cancer in his neck. During his three seasons at Newtown, from 1980 to 1982, Raudonikis would often train on a Saturday morning with the legendary boxing trainer Johnny Lewis.

The way Lewis tells it, Raudonikis fronted one morning in no shape whatsoever to train after a night of heavy drinking. For the next hour, he pounded away at Lewis' focus pads, not even stopping for the vomit uncontrollably coming out of his mouth and down the front of his shirt. Did any of the puke get on Lewis? "No, son," he once told me. "I was pretty quick with the pads back then."

Magic in the madness

This column has been lucky to see some great sporting moments over the years, and being out on the harbour for the start of the Sydney to Hobart was right up there. Simply, it's organised chaos; a hot mess of expensive yachts and less-salubrious water craft all giving chase as the fleet makes its way out through the heads and then south towards Tasmania.

A warning for those who are considering it: don't eat your body weight in ham the day before. Not pretty.

All that excitement clearly knocked a screw loose because I later wrote in a story that Wild Oats XI's tactician Iain Murray was one of the heroes of Australia II's victory in the America's Cup.

He was not. He was on Syd Fischer's Advance. Apologies. It's an embarrassing gaffe.

Murray correctly predicted this year's Sydney to Hobart race record would tumble, before Comanche defeated Wild Oats XI on protest.

Quote of the year

"No, no, no. That was genuine." - AOC president John Coates when asked by the Good Weekend's Jane Cadzow if he regretted calling Australian Sports Commission head John Wylie a "liar" and a "c---."

Thumbs up

Champion racehorses don't grab hold of the public's imagination as they once did. Like Black Caviar, Winx is the exception in modern times as silly people dismiss the sport as nothing more than a means to drink and punt. Winx won her third consecutive Cox Plate this year, equalling the record of Kingston Town. A fourth beckons.

Thumbs down

The collapse of rugby union, from the ugly assassination of the Western Force, to the stumbling Wallabies, to the general mood of dissatisfaction or just downright apathy about the game, has been this year's tragedy of Australian sport. I'm not sure Raelene Castle knows what she's got herself into.

It's been a big year ???

Cameron Smith, who won the NRL premiership with the Storm, the Origin series with Queensland, the World Cup with Australia, the Dally M Medal and the meat tray raffle at the Coogee Legion Club.

It's been an even bigger year ???

Steve Smith, who in 2017 established himself as the world's best batsman, secured the Ashes with a double ton in Perth, has an average so healthy he's being compared to Bradman and won the meat tray raffle at the Coogee Legion Club.