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She loves number six but Nahia El-Hage, or Tayta to her 25,000 followers on Facebook, could be Canterbury's No.1 fan.
What began as a ploy to lift her spirits during a battle with cancer has now become a social media phenomenon.
Tayta, who could be described as the Michael Ennis of grandmothers because of her sharp tongue, is the face of the Bulldogs fan base and has turned George Roumanous into a household name in the Canterbury area.
"Her favourite player is Josh Reynolds but she can't pronounce his name, so she calls him George Roumanous," her grandson Nassim Bitar said.
During Origin, Reynolds' NSW teammates were all calling him George, his Bulldogs teammates then called him George, and now people on the street call him George.
El-Hage cannot even walk down the streets of Campsie without dozens of people stopping her to say, 'Hello, Tayta.' That's all thanks to Tayta Tube.
She only speaks a few words of English, and many of those cannot be repeated in this newspaper, but her trash-talking video clips have gone viral. She takes aim at Queenslanders "Friday" (Sam Thaiday), "Barbara" (Ben Barba) and "Spider" (Billy Slater), while also confessing her love for "George Roumanous" (Reynolds), "John Wayne" (Jarryd Hayne), Trent Hodkinson and Robbie Farah. She shows off her best version of the Hayne Plane while re-enacting Johnathan Thurston's antics in Origin aimed at Josh Reynolds.
It is the funny side to a story that began in heartache for this Bulldogs tragic, who had a breast removed this year after she was diagnosed with cancer. "After it they told her she had to do chemotherapy and she cried because she didn't want to lose her hair," Bitar said. "I visited every day and I told her relax, I'm not going to let you do chemo, just light your candles and pray. I started making a couple of videos and it was getting her mind off things and she was getting happy and loving the fame so I came up with Tayta Tube."
Despite following the Bulldogs for 35 years and living a couple of streets away from Belmore Sportsground during her early years in Australia, El-Hage has never been to a game, nor does she plan to go to one.
"She likes to sit on her own and swear at the television," Bitar said. "[She] takes her anger out at home when no one's around. If the Bulldogs lose, she always blames the referee for the loss."
Reynolds, who got into trouble from Tayta for not following the Lebanese tradition and giving two kisses on the cheek in greeting the first time he met her, is like her adopted son. He has been friends with her grandchildren for several years and described her as a second mother, before El-Hage chimed in to say "second Tayta".
"Tayta is very famous around the area and a lot of people in the community have just started calling me George Roumanous," Reynolds said. "A few of the boys didn't know what it meant so I told them to have a look and now everyone knows Tayta. We love our weekly updates. If anyone's ever putting me down, she's on to them. She's a bit of a second mum, helping me out."
Tayta also featured in Beau Ryan's video clip for his debut song Where You From, and has been offered several corporate opportunities to attend Bulldogs games, which she has politely declined. But if the Bulldogs can win the premiership, there might be a party in the streets of Belmore in her honour.
Source
What began as a ploy to lift her spirits during a battle with cancer has now become a social media phenomenon.
Tayta, who could be described as the Michael Ennis of grandmothers because of her sharp tongue, is the face of the Bulldogs fan base and has turned George Roumanous into a household name in the Canterbury area.
"Her favourite player is Josh Reynolds but she can't pronounce his name, so she calls him George Roumanous," her grandson Nassim Bitar said.
During Origin, Reynolds' NSW teammates were all calling him George, his Bulldogs teammates then called him George, and now people on the street call him George.
El-Hage cannot even walk down the streets of Campsie without dozens of people stopping her to say, 'Hello, Tayta.' That's all thanks to Tayta Tube.
She only speaks a few words of English, and many of those cannot be repeated in this newspaper, but her trash-talking video clips have gone viral. She takes aim at Queenslanders "Friday" (Sam Thaiday), "Barbara" (Ben Barba) and "Spider" (Billy Slater), while also confessing her love for "George Roumanous" (Reynolds), "John Wayne" (Jarryd Hayne), Trent Hodkinson and Robbie Farah. She shows off her best version of the Hayne Plane while re-enacting Johnathan Thurston's antics in Origin aimed at Josh Reynolds.
It is the funny side to a story that began in heartache for this Bulldogs tragic, who had a breast removed this year after she was diagnosed with cancer. "After it they told her she had to do chemotherapy and she cried because she didn't want to lose her hair," Bitar said. "I visited every day and I told her relax, I'm not going to let you do chemo, just light your candles and pray. I started making a couple of videos and it was getting her mind off things and she was getting happy and loving the fame so I came up with Tayta Tube."
Despite following the Bulldogs for 35 years and living a couple of streets away from Belmore Sportsground during her early years in Australia, El-Hage has never been to a game, nor does she plan to go to one.
"She likes to sit on her own and swear at the television," Bitar said. "[She] takes her anger out at home when no one's around. If the Bulldogs lose, she always blames the referee for the loss."
Reynolds, who got into trouble from Tayta for not following the Lebanese tradition and giving two kisses on the cheek in greeting the first time he met her, is like her adopted son. He has been friends with her grandchildren for several years and described her as a second mother, before El-Hage chimed in to say "second Tayta".
"Tayta is very famous around the area and a lot of people in the community have just started calling me George Roumanous," Reynolds said. "A few of the boys didn't know what it meant so I told them to have a look and now everyone knows Tayta. We love our weekly updates. If anyone's ever putting me down, she's on to them. She's a bit of a second mum, helping me out."
Tayta also featured in Beau Ryan's video clip for his debut song Where You From, and has been offered several corporate opportunities to attend Bulldogs games, which she has politely declined. But if the Bulldogs can win the premiership, there might be a party in the streets of Belmore in her honour.
Source
