Wrap - Ryan Morgan's Brother From Another Mother

1. Parachutist down at the Swans game at the SCG v West Coast! Reminds me of some of the great pre game or half time entertainment moments....The skydiver who hit the roof of the SFS, the famous Billy Idol schemozzle; the broken inflatable Optus TV, the steel pegs left over the field after John Williamson's controversial half time 'Rip, Rip Woodchip'....Slash's pathetic guitar solo like an annoying uncle at Christmas...Jimmy Barnes' black space pants and leggings last year....fantastic moments.

Nothing beats a marching brass band or a sprint race between four useless Jersey Flegg teams. Personally I enjoyed Old 55 on the top of a double decker bus at the 1975 Grand Final (U/23's won that day led by Eric Ferguson). Also the long Eel was a hit. Or the team coloured balloons released from a net at both ends of the ground! I remember a bloke holding one net got hit in the arse with an orange in front of the Hill before the 1984 GF and let them go early!

1A. Adelaide. What is going on in that joint? First their Sheffield Shield Team gets into the final (lost); then the Adelaide Strikers get into the semis of the T20 Big Cash (lost); their A League team is in the GF and hosting it; Adelaide AFL team is on fire...' Pink Test fever!

2. Swans. Good to see Grundy and Richards lift this week. Richards was very good. Wet weather nullified much attack. Some wasteful kicking. However, plenty of promising intensity and aggression. The Swans were clinical. Their finals strike rate is phenomenal.

3. Hawthorn. They are simply outstanding. Their win against Adelaide on Friday night was remarkable. The spirit and work of their players puts them right in the frame for a fourth straight premiership. Great to see the return of the melee in the Adelaide-Geelong game!

4. Cowboys. Fierce competitors. Could go back to back this year. The roll on they get from Granville and Thurston is exceptional. The heat in Townsville clearly stuns teams from out of town. It also keeps the Cowboys sharp at the hot September end of the season. Their last twenty minutes was red hot (against 12 tired blokes of course). 18 points in twenty minutes.

5. The Eels were strong but error prone (dropped balls galore: Mahu, Gutherson, Paulo, Terepo x 2!). Terepo needs to work on ball security. He near killed the team at key moments. How that ref could even think that there was a try when Norman was binned was ridiculous. Pure guesswork sending a 'TRY' decision upstairs. Talk about an over reaction. Their desire to give penalties to the home side in their own territory is unbelievable. "There has to be an investigation into this!"

Arthur's love affair with Clint Gutherson (the new Ryan Morgan) needs to end. He is a walking salary cap cure. Is there not a quicker, bigger bloke in the whole of that club? The whole of that feeder area? The whole of the country? A relative of Semi? Remember the St George defence at the start of last year? Near invincible that turned to turnstiles by season's end. Hope this is not Parramatta's fate.

6. Really looking forward to how Jason Taylor's demise at the Wigers will be arranged for this week. "Full support of the Board" on Monday; player concerns on Tuesday; gossip pieces on all major media - radio, TV and Foxtel shows - on Tuesday and Wednesday; amicable departure and "we wish him well for the future" by Thursday or Friday. Caretaker coach in place by Sunday...now was that Mick Potter, Tim Sheens or was it Robbie Farah? Robbie has been a common theme in all of these. He needs to be ended.

7. Semi Radrardra for the Australian team? Hard to believe a bloke can play for Australia but not Origin. Ridiculous. If Origin was played in the USA, you'd have two 'optional exotic picks' for each team, if required...A Sam Burgess or others....! It needs to evolve. It is much bigger than the old state rivalries...

8. Waratahs. Bounced back 49-13. About time. The Force are getting ready for a fire sale. The Japanese Sunwolves team are awful, despite their first win. The Argentinian team should be much, much better, but are not! Truly, how can a team called the 'Sunwolves' win anything? They sound like billionaire wolves on holidays. Only aggressive sounding angry, or wild mascots ever win - hawks, bears....storm....crusaders, broncos..... The Brumbies got whacked today v Crusaders.

Why the Sharks NRL team have never won a comp in 50 years is beyond me. They have the meanest mascot.

9. Thank goodness for Adam Scott. His decision to withdraw from the Rio Olympics underlines why golf should never have been admitted to the Olympics. Play the majors and move on. Tennis the same!

10. Western Sydney Wanderers (WSW). They won in remarkable circumstances 5-4. Terrible defending by both teams, but exciting and beat the Roar by scoring goals. ..something they have not done all year. That Popovic has a great record as a coach. Bridesmaids twice...maybe not three times?

The Western Sydney Wanderers have changed Australian sport stadiums and Australian sport. No risk.

EPL. Man City have been really disappointing this year with so much talent. They will be kicking themselves as the title is more open this year than most. Tottenham look the goods as Leicester get the hippy, hippies....

11. Fabulous to see the great Anthony Mundine keen on making a comeback for the Moree Boomerangs - or St George Illawarra. Is he in fantasy land? Too many right hooks to the head. Maybe it will end like Jeff Fenech's footy career for Parramatta. Quickly.

Wrap - Full Support of The Board

1. It must be remembered that Jason Taylor - and Nathan Brown - enjoy the full support of the Board. As does McFadden at the Warriors. Ivan Cleary's GPS will get a work out soon!

2. The Knights. They are almost about to shut the door on the joint. Nathan Tinkler must be proud. 53-0 is one of the biggest NRL thumpings this century.

3. Cowboys and Broncos look a step ahead of the rest. Parramatta's line speed and scrambling defence is working tremendously with the leadership of Foran. Amazing what leadership does to make a difference. Would like to see Brad Arthur crack it for a smile. He might be walking too close to Pricey's statue.

 

4. Parramatta's Kenny Edwards is playing superbly. He is big, mobile and fit. His sense of humour is helping the team too. They may need it. Once again Ian Schubert's superb work has buggered up a number of people, clubs and dreams. You have to feel for those at the Parramatta club who have had to work through this mess. A "name and shame" consequence here for some current officials could really be unfair when you have inherited such a debacle. The architects of it all sure, but for the rest, the NRL might need deep pockets if they discredit the honest and earnest at the same time. 

5. A thrilling game between Swans and Adelaide in the AFL. Semi final standard. A horrendously early call but semi finalists both. Heath Grundy terrible and unfit. Swans defence was awful at times and competed with some over zealous local crowd affected umpiring for their stupidity. Richards losing a bit too. Buddy Franklin superb. Heeney was absolutely outstanding. Tippett continues to crack in key moments. He has a great knack of stuffing things up and lacking toughness at critical moments. The AFL has been quite even thus far. Collingwood, Freo and Richmond the stand out duds to date.

 

6. Waratahs. Ho hum. The most staggering thing about the Tahs is that anyone turns up to watch them at all. They lack fight and spirit. I can't see their coach Dashing Daryl lasting.

7. A League. How Berisha got off his suspension I'll never know. His goal was excellent, but not enough. The Roar will really trouble the Wanderers, despite a full house at Pirtek. You have to love the ruthless transfers and brutal sackings in the A League! In the other semi, Melbourne City v Adelaide...Adelaide have too many goals in them I suspect. Not a bad semi final structure of eliminations in Week 1, then semis then the GF. Clear and simple.

8. The EPL relegation needs to come to NRL. This would smarten up a few clubs. Salary cap breach? Back to second division! The canaries of Norwich are close to being gone! Leicester are three wins away...against Andy Carroll and West Ham tonight they will be tested.

9. Is there a more boring time of the cricket calendar than when the IPL is on? No coverage. No interest. The ongoing unabated wastefulness of Glenn Maxwell is only bettered by the owners' wastefulness in employing him! Aaron Finch in good form. Great to hear after the T20 World Cup is over!

10. Have you noticed that the skipper of an NRL team is typically the bloke with the fewest tats? Why is that?

Wrap - Stickability Joke

1. The Masters. This is more hyped than your garden variety New Year's Eve Celebration. More entertaining however. Day back in the (Neil, Rex, Karmichael) hunt. A great event, but it often looks so fake, so rehearsed, so controlled, so programmed. No shots of the local area or from a helicopter, etc. It is a cactus in the desert. The golf...great as usual. Can Day do it? It will take some still weather. The wind has been St Andrews like in its impact on scoring! Lucky Els has won a couple or he would never come back after his six putt!

2. NRL. Two areas that could be tightened...The quick tap after a penalty. This needs to happen more quickly with penalties...it eliminates boring captains whinging. The quick 20 metre restart is a great addition to the game.

The other is that ref's should be announcing decisions like in the NFL on the ground PA. Get the same PA system at grounds! The bunker are needing to be more accountable.

3. Salary cap dramas at Parramatta. Can this be believed? We need the NRL to run and model the running of that club. Too many dumb blokes with axes to grind. Losing points after cheating and winning wooden spoons - can it get any dumber? Not an ounce of explanation by the club. Shockingly managed as fans hopes get set to be extinguished. Hopefully points do not get taken. The diehard fans will burn the leagues club down.

4. A good win by the Swans. They lack some composure without McVeigh at the back. GWS have fast feet and will win a lot more. Their youth and speed is awesome. Swans' aggression was excellent.

5. "If we were getting beaten by 40 it would hurt more". Great quote by Anthony Griffin, Penrith coach.

6. Jake Granville is an awesome player for the Cowboys. Tremendous defence, possibly the best hands in the game. Great hair. Good pace from dummy half and scrambles exceptionally. Unbelievable motor. Conversely, Josh Mansour, the winger from Penrith is a prize tool on the field. Niggle and nonsense. He channels Tom Mooney and Michael Hancock combined.

Cowboys are the best finishing team in the comp! Their last 10 minutes each week with Scott, Tamou, Granville, Morgan and Thurston - intense and incredible. Not to be missed.

7. Really enjoyed the crowd's bagging of Ricky Stuart at Parra Stadium. Ricky's lack of stickability at Parramatta was laughable. He still struggles to crack a smile. Parramatta were crisp. I noticed the Penalty Santa Claus - Pritchard - was back in some variation on the NSW-Jim Bean-Toyota Cup. Defence was tight again - and the best in the comp. Nice to see running tries. I must say Jason Croker scores a lot of points but outside of Ryan Morgan he has the worst defence of a centre in the NRL. Great step from Foran.

8. The Reds. They tried to lose it after a big start. The box kick? Can someone explain its relevance in the modern game? An absolute joke when utilised in the last two minutes. It is a straight surrender of possession 9/10 times.

9. Andy Carroll (West Ham) had a memorable hatrick v Arsenal. A 'big body' who dominated. The dream of the greatest upset of all time - Leicester winning the EPL - is still alive. The foxes need to win tonight!

10. Adelaide United have won the A League premiership when they made a terrible, terrible start. An excellent recovery. Wanderers come second. They are good at that. Melbourne Victory look dangerous for mine. The top two get a major leap into the GF. One win from here and they are in! An Asian Champions ticket as well for both next year when the squad will look totally different. Surely Liam Reddy is finished. He keeps being re-signed and keeps doing silly things that see him sacked. Finally Sydney FC cracked a win!

Wrap - Remove the Penalty Santa Claus

1. Parramatta. A terrible end today v Penrith to a team whose defence has been exceptional this season. Bryce Cartwright is the next NSW Origin sensation. (By the way, Joey sounds like he is back on the gear with his anticipated Origin team...the Canberra halves...Blake Austin...please! Never pick a bloke with a stupid haircut. He makes dumb decisions in life).

Pritchard needs to be sacked. He gives away penalties and strikes me as a dumb player. An absolute "Penalty Santa Claus" for oppositions. De Gois should be an 80 minute player in that team. This bloke on the wing. Ryan Morgan's step brother - Clint Gutherson. Absolutely terrible. Too small for first grade and not smart. His defensive effort to let in the try for Mansour and get off the hook when Soward missed the goal was bad enough. Then he did the Eric Grother Junior thing (how is that Molotov cocktail and music career going?) and rushed up again and charged the ball down for a restart with less than a minute remaining. He lacked poise under pressure. No composure and needs a stint in reserve grade to get his crap together. (I did like his Kyle Feldt 'hang time' kick-off's however). Has Semi been coached about defusing bombs with less than 10 seconds remaining? AFL punch over the sideline perhaps? A jump to the ball?

Thanks to Pez for his sideline eye work for The Wrap this afternoon at Pirtek Stadium. His work on the world surfing tour is also very well known as well. Plenty of thanks from this particular gentleman for his historical introductory work at Bells Beach. He is batting well above...Trent Voges.

2. Roosters are shot. Thanks Mitchell Pearce for your ill discipline. The fans believe that you should continue sitting on the lounge all year. Dreadful impact on his mates and the club. It hurts to see RTS score a match winner against you. The pace of their winger Tuimoala Lolohea was something else!

3. English Cricket. Coach Trevor Bayliss is an absolute legend. He is poised to get a 20-20 world crown for England tonight. Quiet, understated and effective. He won a lot of Shield finals in NSW as a player.

3. Great news Victoria won the Sheffield Shield. Peter Handscombe. Note his name. He is next in line if Nevill falls over. A great pressure player. Very rare in someone with so little experience.

4. Waratahs. I am sensing with the departure of Michael Chieka, the spirit and spark of the team has gone south too. Not getting a good vibe at all. There could be messy times ahead.

5. Swans. Highly impressive v Carlton. As were GWS. I am sensing that Victoria are losing their grip on the game quickly. The fresh young legs in the Swans roster are doing the business. They were looking tired and slow last year. Still have 'Red' Rohan and McVeigh to return to strengthen the show further.

6. Sydney FC are playing really poorly now. They need a broom and a new ethos. Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne City are neck and neck with the Western Sydney Wanderers. An incredibly tight end to the year and to Asian Cup positions for next year.

7. Leicester need a victory v Southampton tonight because they are about to find out how hard EPL really is in the remaining weeks. Three points tonight could set them up powerfully.