1. Robert 'Alien' Allenby. What is it about this bloke? Cranky and hard work. Has had more caddies than breakfasts. The Hawaii abduction story and any sympathy wears thin when you see the way he goes on. They may have thought he was an alien. He is simply not normal. He rarely wins these days and should move on. Goose of the highest order. Up there with Tomic in the popularity stakes. Did you notice Tomic playing a small town tournament and is into the final. Cunning rat.
2. Swans. They are in a hole. There needs some serious recalibration or they will simply fade when the pressure really mounts. Tired legs? Longmire needs to reinvent them and fast. Not enough midfield pace for mine. Skills and over finessing are fine, but they lack pace at the break.
3. Cronulla. They are powering to the semis at present. A tough win at Belmore. 19,000 fans. There must be some fit dogs fans with the parking at that joint. They would have been walking for miles. Great tempo and atmosphere. Ennis is a competitor who while hated by the opposition is loved by his teammates. Like Javed Miandad.
4. Tour de France. Is it still as glamorous as it once was? Every time you watch it you feel like it is the Olympics...great performance, but is it legitimate? What new drug is taking hold and is presently undetectable??
5. Wallabies. Good solid performance, but it was Argentina. Still hard to watch. The All Blacks on the other hand are red hot. Great entertainment. However any thoughts we hold of beating them will evaporate soon enough. Cooper is a clear liability.
6. Fifitas. Real tough guys. Lucky no one belted them up too - or arrested them. Again, too much money and not enough brains.
7. Mitchell Marsh. Looks tidy. Good pace and hopefully injury free! Would like to see Rogers play. He offers such wisdom and experience, but may not play again. Shaun Marsh opening the batting in a Test will be a nightmare. Poor footwork. Moves laterally but not down the pitch. Anderson will get him every time. Interested to see Peter Nevill behind the stumps v Derbyshire in their tour match. Is Haddin gone?
8. Geoff Toovey: "There has to be an investigation into this...somebody has to be made accountable for this". Personally I cannot see Trent Barrett as a smart enough coach to carry the Manly club. Have you heard the rumour about Jamie Lyon returning to Parramatta? He is looking for a white ute and a blue cattle dog from a third party provider - and a casino. The Obeids deliver.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Sunday, July 19, 2015
The Wrap - Loud and Late, But Feeling Fresh
Every now and then there is a weekend with too much sport. It was this weekend! The remote is still recovering.
1. The Cricket. The featherbed of a deck at Lords will take some work to unlock as the Poms chase over 500. Love the style and poise of Smith. He has sent a bit of a message. Rogers looks strong too - wobbly overnight - but strong mentally. I like his style. Johnson better, but Starc is a bit soft. Just before lunch he bowls wide when the pressure is on. He gets injured waking up in the morning. Toughen up! Nevill looked sharp too...great footwork. That was very promising. I am also impressed with the work of Lyon. He is looking good after a terrible start to the tour before the Tests started.
2. NRL. Is it a "go to the ground" spectator sport anymore? I suspect the game has now almost made itself redundant to a live crowd.
The Dragsters. Six losses in a row is a bit worrying. Where has their great defence gone?
3. Tennis Disgrace II. Nick Kygrios. For him to lose a Davis Cup tie was appalling v Kazakhstan. Deservedly sacked for the return singles and that old fighter who is a tremendous strength in world sport - Lleyton Hewitt - steps up to rescue us. I hope Nick was watching closely. 40 Davis Cup appearances for Hewitt...amazing! Sam Groth did well too. A rare thing to win a Davis Cup tie after being down 0-2.
By the way, can Tomic act a bigger tool than at present? The thought of him getting his Dad's advice to change countries for tennis would now be less of a surprise than last week!
How many serious injuries have occurred from advertising hoardings, fences and rogue foreign objects... I can think of Marcus Bai, Luke Lewis...advertising
hoarding injuries...Ricky Ponting at the SCG...
8. Warnie Gold. I must say, no matter how crass, loud or overbearing, Warnie is a funny bloke. Talking to Tubby about the previous night's drinking and socialising activities, he said to a demure Taylor.. "I was loud and late, but feeling
fresh today!". Magnificent!
1. The Cricket. The featherbed of a deck at Lords will take some work to unlock as the Poms chase over 500. Love the style and poise of Smith. He has sent a bit of a message. Rogers looks strong too - wobbly overnight - but strong mentally. I like his style. Johnson better, but Starc is a bit soft. Just before lunch he bowls wide when the pressure is on. He gets injured waking up in the morning. Toughen up! Nevill looked sharp too...great footwork. That was very promising. I am also impressed with the work of Lyon. He is looking good after a terrible start to the tour before the Tests started.
2. NRL. Is it a "go to the ground" spectator sport anymore? I suspect the game has now almost made itself redundant to a live crowd.
The Dragsters. Six losses in a row is a bit worrying. Where has their great defence gone?
4. Lucky escape for the Wallabies. Why you would persist with Cooper is beyond me. Toomua or even Foley not kicking in such a big event... ridiculous. Is Giteau big enough?
I must say that the
Rugby advantage rule was no doubt well intended. Meant to get the referee out of the way and let play continue. The stupidity of rugby however has now meant that the advantage stretches far too long...stupidly long...and the ref brings it back and continues to dominate and ruin games. Nice to see the Irish failure of a ref - Paddy O'Dud - not there this week. The refs should also focus on all the drinks/ huddles and nonsense time wasting between set
plays...too slow to ever become prime TV viewing. The refs are to blame and the players/ coaches exploit it.
5. Footballroos. Someone is making some huge cash out of these Juventus- Liverpool- ManU - Chelsea visits....they are everywhere.
6. British
Open Golf. Has anyone asked the question about why there is not a wind farm at St Andrews? They are something else. Aussies well placed.
7. Hawthorn.
Give them the flag. Roughead too good. Swans appalling. No running and defence
not there. Tippett terrible. Forward line ineffective including Buddy.
Permanent scars! The only scars for Hawthorn were from the rogue dynabolts. Did anyone see the stupid groundsman put the mat over them. Amateur hour and rudeness to Lingy who was explaining it all. The folk at 'The Back Page' will have a lot of fun with that this week.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Wrap - Let's Banish Watson (LBW)
1. If Shane 'LBW' Watson is not dropped - finally - we are all surely to boycott watching the team at Lords. How Mitchell Marsh could be omitted is beyond me. Firstly Watson's inability to change his technique is because he has NEVER been dropped. He has NEVER had to dig deep and feel the pain and embarrassment to make himself better. The selectors need to take responsibility for that one. His bowling is also not that great. He only bowled 13 overs in over 700 runs scored.
This is where Clarke is dangerous. He surrounds himself with his captain picks - Haddin, Rogers, Watson, Johnson...His own form has been horrible. The form of Haddin has been woeful too. Both need to look closely at themselves or they too will be sacked. Rod Marsh and Mark Waugh will need to have a careful look at whether they like staying employed.
Theoretically, these four Haddin, Rogers, Watson, Johnson - and Clarke himself could all be retired in the coming year.
As for the bowling, Starc was a major disappointment. Sure, got five wickets in the first innings, but so reckless and wayward. He did not build pressure. Then he falls down injured. Too precious for mine. How can this poor performance happen if you are truly concentrating? Wasteful rock star cricketers. Johnson was as terrible. He must be terrible to bowl along side at times. No pressure and worse, no dismissals this time, when they were needed.
There is a valid theory that you cannot have Johnson and Starc in the one team.
Trevor Bayliss has been masterful again.
2. Is it fair to say that going to an Ashes series in England is similar now in psychology to our teams of the 80's travelling to India. We had food, accommodation, umpires complaints then...now it's the pitch, the curators, the swing, the DRS, the weather, the ball...damn that Duke ball...everything except close preparation and professionalism.
I was so disappointed in Voges. He fights hard through a whole Shield season, he plays well in the lead up games, gets a plumb opportunity and plays two very bad, extremely poor, shots. He needs to stand up or perish in Lords.
3. Hawkeye. Is there an instruction manual? It seems as though no one understands it - or owns the decision. There is a ridiculous level of scrutiny now...suffice to say the West Indies would have been dismissed a lot more cheaply - and no team would have gotten half the runs they did against them.
4. When will hotspot be introduced into rugby league for those contested bombs? It shouldn't be too far away, but surprising it is not there already for Origin.
5. Speaking of which...NSW were absolutely pumped. QLD just have that stamp of class and intensity that is undefeatable. We may not see the like of it again. (We live in amazing sporting times really...we have seen many of the best ever in ALL sports like the Windies pace bowlers, Tendulkar, Warne, Tiger Woods, Kelly Slater, Federer/ Nadal/ Djokovic, Ronaldo, Messi, Serena, Phelps....) and throw in Thurston and Inglis.
Unfortunately, those referees were again far too whistle happy and far too influenced by the QLD crowd - as Ennis indicated. But the dropped balls and ill discipline by NSW was the real source of their demise. Mitchell Pearce, Will Hopoate, Ryan Hoffman, Michael Ennis, Trent Hodkinson...have all had their papers stamped 'never to play again'.
6. Serena Williams was awesome. She will retire as the best ever. The 'Serena Slam' has now occurred twice. All four Grand Slams in a row - but not in a calendar year.
7. Such a shame that Warnie lost in the world poker tournament. Imagine him in Vegas post tournament.
This is where Clarke is dangerous. He surrounds himself with his captain picks - Haddin, Rogers, Watson, Johnson...His own form has been horrible. The form of Haddin has been woeful too. Both need to look closely at themselves or they too will be sacked. Rod Marsh and Mark Waugh will need to have a careful look at whether they like staying employed.
Theoretically, these four Haddin, Rogers, Watson, Johnson - and Clarke himself could all be retired in the coming year.
As for the bowling, Starc was a major disappointment. Sure, got five wickets in the first innings, but so reckless and wayward. He did not build pressure. Then he falls down injured. Too precious for mine. How can this poor performance happen if you are truly concentrating? Wasteful rock star cricketers. Johnson was as terrible. He must be terrible to bowl along side at times. No pressure and worse, no dismissals this time, when they were needed.
There is a valid theory that you cannot have Johnson and Starc in the one team.
Trevor Bayliss has been masterful again.
2. Is it fair to say that going to an Ashes series in England is similar now in psychology to our teams of the 80's travelling to India. We had food, accommodation, umpires complaints then...now it's the pitch, the curators, the swing, the DRS, the weather, the ball...damn that Duke ball...everything except close preparation and professionalism.
I was so disappointed in Voges. He fights hard through a whole Shield season, he plays well in the lead up games, gets a plumb opportunity and plays two very bad, extremely poor, shots. He needs to stand up or perish in Lords.
3. Hawkeye. Is there an instruction manual? It seems as though no one understands it - or owns the decision. There is a ridiculous level of scrutiny now...suffice to say the West Indies would have been dismissed a lot more cheaply - and no team would have gotten half the runs they did against them.
4. When will hotspot be introduced into rugby league for those contested bombs? It shouldn't be too far away, but surprising it is not there already for Origin.
5. Speaking of which...NSW were absolutely pumped. QLD just have that stamp of class and intensity that is undefeatable. We may not see the like of it again. (We live in amazing sporting times really...we have seen many of the best ever in ALL sports like the Windies pace bowlers, Tendulkar, Warne, Tiger Woods, Kelly Slater, Federer/ Nadal/ Djokovic, Ronaldo, Messi, Serena, Phelps....) and throw in Thurston and Inglis.
Unfortunately, those referees were again far too whistle happy and far too influenced by the QLD crowd - as Ennis indicated. But the dropped balls and ill discipline by NSW was the real source of their demise. Mitchell Pearce, Will Hopoate, Ryan Hoffman, Michael Ennis, Trent Hodkinson...have all had their papers stamped 'never to play again'.
6. Serena Williams was awesome. She will retire as the best ever. The 'Serena Slam' has now occurred twice. All four Grand Slams in a row - but not in a calendar year.
7. Such a shame that Warnie lost in the world poker tournament. Imagine him in Vegas post tournament.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Wrap - The Haircut of Truth
1. With the start of the Ashes this week coming we will no doubt be thrown up the biggest furphy of them all...the Duke ball. This will detract from the seaming decks and any wastefulness of Warner and Watson in particular. If Mitchell Marsh misses out on selection, that will be one of the greatest travesties...especially after two tons. Couldn't help but note how he ran out Adam Voges (nearest rival), so he will fit in perfectly in place of the selfish Watson. A shame we will not see Ryan Harris in action over there. Pat Cummins is a handy replacement. He might just strike fear into their hearts. Surely Siddle is finished. A good net bowler however on a long tour.
2. NRL Player Health. This is one of the annual nonsense stories, especially looking at the demand on EPL and European footballers, NBL players, MLB players...these NRL blokes are handsomely paid and the most "hard done by individuals" play once a week for 80 minutes (less about 15 minutes for stoppages and deduct the interchange interruptions too). Maybe player health should focus on the vile high shots and nonsense to player's through wrestling moves...not to mention the riding of mechanical bulls at QLD Origin camp.
3. This week will be important for Klemmer. He has suffered acute over exposure in the press and stands to be a massive hit or a great dud by Thursday morning.
3. Sam Stosur. Like Shane Watson you will always hear these words from Sam: "I feel like I am hitting the ball well at the moment". She has become terrible. Weak really. She wins the first two games of her most recent loss this weekend - and wins not a game more! She is frail mentally, sadly.
4. Kgyrios. Why is a haircut the best and most accurate judgement of a bloke's personality? This was raised as a major looming issue on The Wrap over 18 months back.
5. Tomic. I am tipping we might see a change of country very soon...like Jelena Dokic before him. Croatia...Serbia? He is as valuable to us as the Greek drachma. I also note that the mighty and famous Poo is making a senior men's tour comeback. He was woeful when at his prime most weeks. He will fade.
5. Death of Adelaide AFL coach, Phil Walsh. A sad and terrible situation, but the game v Geelong should have been postponed by the AFL. As it was both will share points which might just cost one or other a valuable semi spot or rank order position. Phil Walsh would not have stood for this.
6. Highlanders v Hurricanes. 35,000 in the crowd to the GF? Is this good enough? Good to see the Penrith Emus are back v Warringah. Lost 209 - 27 this week across the different grades above colts..
7. Western Sydney Wanderers - world wide offcuts are the best you get in the A League. The absence of any loyalty makes soccer hard to warm to...no one has any loyalty..players, clubs, fans...no one.
8. As honest as Karmichael Hunt. A new saying. A very honest Hunt.
2. NRL Player Health. This is one of the annual nonsense stories, especially looking at the demand on EPL and European footballers, NBL players, MLB players...these NRL blokes are handsomely paid and the most "hard done by individuals" play once a week for 80 minutes (less about 15 minutes for stoppages and deduct the interchange interruptions too). Maybe player health should focus on the vile high shots and nonsense to player's through wrestling moves...not to mention the riding of mechanical bulls at QLD Origin camp.
3. This week will be important for Klemmer. He has suffered acute over exposure in the press and stands to be a massive hit or a great dud by Thursday morning.
3. Sam Stosur. Like Shane Watson you will always hear these words from Sam: "I feel like I am hitting the ball well at the moment". She has become terrible. Weak really. She wins the first two games of her most recent loss this weekend - and wins not a game more! She is frail mentally, sadly.
4. Kgyrios. Why is a haircut the best and most accurate judgement of a bloke's personality? This was raised as a major looming issue on The Wrap over 18 months back.
5. Tomic. I am tipping we might see a change of country very soon...like Jelena Dokic before him. Croatia...Serbia? He is as valuable to us as the Greek drachma. I also note that the mighty and famous Poo is making a senior men's tour comeback. He was woeful when at his prime most weeks. He will fade.
5. Death of Adelaide AFL coach, Phil Walsh. A sad and terrible situation, but the game v Geelong should have been postponed by the AFL. As it was both will share points which might just cost one or other a valuable semi spot or rank order position. Phil Walsh would not have stood for this.
6. Highlanders v Hurricanes. 35,000 in the crowd to the GF? Is this good enough? Good to see the Penrith Emus are back v Warringah. Lost 209 - 27 this week across the different grades above colts..
7. Western Sydney Wanderers - world wide offcuts are the best you get in the A League. The absence of any loyalty makes soccer hard to warm to...no one has any loyalty..players, clubs, fans...no one.
8. As honest as Karmichael Hunt. A new saying. A very honest Hunt.
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