1. Cowboys. Outstanding. Their never-say-die attitude that prevailed all year (think v Manly and Parramatta for starters and their ability to fight till the end) won out in the end. Superb, but about the fifth time this year. Michael Morgan's class under pressure was built on his QLD Origin initiation this year. Remember the name Kyle Feldt for trivia into the future! The negative Bronco tactics backfired. Why they kicked it out so often and did not pressure for a try is beyond me. Not as though Lachlan Coote was carving them up. Thought Taumoulou was the Churchill Medallist.
The Neville Glover baton has been handed onto Kane Linnett who has given it quickly to Ben Hunt.
2. Wallabies. Defence was surging and they played energetically and hard. This was a scintillating effort under the Twickenham blowtorch. Pocock, Hooper and Douglas were tremendous. Foley was exceptional too. Calm and composed. Why Quayde Cooper is even considered is beyond me. Errors from England killed them. Not impressed with Genia. Two kicks smothered, ran out down a silly short side, some hospital passes and looked slow. Have a look at a replay. Phipps' pass was ambitious, but he brought spark to the game.
3. The main question was who was the dill who devised the draw? How that was ever going to work in Pool A is beyond me. It was foreseeable and should have been changed in advance. To have some of those other nations still alive - and not England - is dumb.
4. AFL. As predicted weeks back, the Hawks were sublime. Absolutely powerful under pressure. A three-peat in the modern era underlines the loyalty and teamwork that the modern club lacks. Players want to be part of their greatness and will sign for less and stay for less. It was telling post game when Luke Hodge eyeballed two players about to give him a Gatorade shower - and they stopped instantly. That shows respect in the playing ranks. Hard to find these days.
5. Why can the AFL have an afternoon Grand Final that rates its socks off and the NRL cannot? The entertainment at the AFL was pretty good too. Halftime is a gross disappointment however. Would not have hurt either code for an encore of some of the overpaid stars to re-appear!
6. Junior Paulo. Joins the ranks of geese who inhabit the Parramatta Eels scrum. Add some more court papers to the bonfire. Fair dinkum. Until these blokes are weeded out, that club will struggle. They need to set some standards - like they did with Jacob Loko - and recruit smart blokes who make good decisions under pressure. Get rid of the jailbirds, the DUI duds and the hard luck cases. Send them somewhere else. Look at Kenny-Dowall in that final and join the dots.
7. EPL. Just two types of coaches: some coaches are sacked and some who will be.
8. Hayne Plane. Plenty of hype, but that team is terrible. Coach under pressure.
9. About to wade through the annual petrol fumes and see a brand new number of Aussie cricketers come to the fore. Bring it on! I did note however that the cricketers Aus XI who were rolled for 60 chasing 300 are coached by one of the great dud cricket coaches...Greg Chappell (aka 'Bug Snappell' on his signed broad brimmed hats).
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