Wrap - Evaporating Smiles

1. Cricket v India. Shaun 'Marsh - mallow' is as inconsistent as the quality of your average toaster at a hotel breakfast buffet (or the arrival of the local newspaper). He played well last week to help rescue us, but his first innings dismissal was soft. His old man Geoff was tough, resilient and uncompromising. He and his brother are the opposite too often. We have also not missed Mitchell in any way.

At the base of those snow capped Himilayan mountains. Could be the best ground in the world? Kohli as twelfth man...please! He is a pest. Worse when he is not scoring runs.

But again how wasteful is our middle order? Are Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell two of the most unreliable cricketers ever to don the baggy green? When they work everyone loves them...when they don't everyone expects it. Like Sydney trains.

2. Does the Dali Lama breed lamas? Heard of a bloke who bred German shepherds till he worked out they could do it themselves.

3. Owen Wright. A tremendous surfing achievement last week. Won the Quiksilver Pro last week after a freak concussion head injury which turned bad. A pretty amazing comeback effort.

4. Brisbane Broncos. They look really impressive. Even though they have struggled for victories so far, their home ground is an amazing advantage. Matt Gillett is something else. A big and athletic team. Semi final bound.

5. Manly's defence is exceptional at present. Cowboys a bit up and down, but the Broncos, Raiders, Cronulla, Panthers, Storm and Roosters will be there! The rest won't be.

Parramatta? Incompetent halves and no leadership/ goalkicker. No surprise to see them now chasing Jack Bird and Kyle Feltd. A bit late for 2017 where 10-12th spot might be theirs if they are lucky. Time to call up a young five eight. They have not blooded a young Junior for years. Young Anthony Layoun is worth a shot at No. 6.

6. Socceroos. Is it any surprise that mediocre results have followed the current mediocre crop? We need to lift and Ange needs to smile.

7. Speaking of which....Jason Taylor. Is he now coaching poison? He and Ray Price hold the record for the longest period of time not smiling in the NRL. His coaching career is not up in flashing lights...more like malfunctioning neon lights which spit, splutter and fail.

8. Western Sydney Wanderers are bouncing along nicely all of a sudden. They will now play semis by the look of it! Amazing in football how three point wins can close gaps and open them up real quickly.

9. F1. Riccardo couldn't take a trick, but Vettel is a winner every day of the week. A great drive to beat the unbelievable Lewis Hamilton.

10. Like the cut of Boyd Cordner's improving attitude and maturing gib. A good skipper for the Blues this year.

11. Victoria v South Australia in the Shield Final in Alice Springs. Hot, muggy and just about as deserving a venue as possible for a competition not valued by any selectors in Australia. Pathetic.

12. Rugby League Rule Change. Argue with the ref used to be a 10 metres penalty. Where has this gone? Deliberately not give the ball over in a turn over situation - a 20 metre penalty. Parramatta would then just about set a world record of penalties.

Wrap - Getting That Bad Deal Eel Feel

1. Here we go again...Parramatta Eels. The same song and record...The halves are a huge issue with this club. There is ZERO leadership. Foran was the man and now he has gone to the pack. Norman is very talented, but when missing.. Robson (?). Please. He was done years ago. Is there not a young dasher from the whole of their junior nursery? Throw in the world's worst five eight - Clinton Gutherson - and you have a cross field crab with no willingness to take on the line and a kicking game from the John Donnelly coal miner's collective. Hopeless. He has too many duties too soon - including goal kicking. Good haircut though.

The ability of that squad of hopeless decision makers to make poor decisions under pressure and their ill discipline is a product of the chequered police and misbehaving past of 90% of that squad. Throw in no recognised goal kicker and you really have to question where this joint is heading. Down the tubes again in 2017? Likely.

They need leadership on the field and less fools, numb nuts and bone brains. That would clear their roster out big time. Does Arthur not see these things?

2. 'Not So Super' Rugby...easiest decision of the lot. can Melbourne and Perth and play the game where it counts - on the north shore of Sydney. You can expand it into North Sydney, a squad at Cremorne and Northbridge and another at Narremburn. Done.

I can hear a Gibson axe sharpening at the Waratahs...They are lucky they are not the franchise to be poleaxed. Terrible start and leaking so many points speaks of an entrenched bad attitude. The cold months will bring zero crowds.

3. Cricket. Pat Cummins is fast and exciting.... Our first innings bats were wasteful. Warner's brain is back at Waverley. Shaun Marshmallow is typically soft (by the way is that an arm injury I feel coming on?), Handscomb's technique has been found out and Matthew 'BrainFade' Wade continues to show why his average in tests in less than 20. He cannot show enough patience or discipline. On the other hand, Indian batsmen rarely waste an opportunity. They capitalise. Pujara has been a rock. We don't really look like getting him out. If we are behind by 100 - 150 we will lose by an innings.

Sad to see Kohli failing. Not since Miandad, Brearley, Boycott, Symcox, Harbajhan Singh has there been a more hated cricketer in Australia.

4. Manly's effort v North Queensland was something else. Their defence for a team seemingly sliding out backwards was very strong. To win in North QLD on a Saturday night as an away team is very rare. A good sign for their supporters. Penrith and Roosters will both be in the mix come September.

5. Leicester look safe now. New coach and a few lazy players' careers on the line? Voila! an insulting way to treat the winning coach and they should be hanging their heads in shame, despite the recent good form.

6. England rugby. A lame way to end the Nations tournament with a loss to Ireland, but the Irish are always spirited. Eddie Jones must not be able to remember what winning felt like. he presided over that many losses for Australia.

7. South African cricket. Dominant in all forms of the game. Number one nation by a mile at present.

8. Winx. What an amazing run...and to do it by so far on a Heavy 10 track...tremendous stuff. As Bruce McIvaney would say "special".

Wrap - Marshes and Swamps

1. Kohli. He behaved like a spoilt rich kid whose shit does not stink. His behaviour on the field was appalling. His run of outs has been exhilarating. Can't believe Starc is injured yet again. Pleased he played in the useless NZ ODI series....Cummins coming in could be useful, but he is hittable! Has an injury been better timed than Mitchell Marsh's latest one? The Marsh brothers have a high injury prone: resilience ratio. Often when form fades. 

However what has not been analysed is how soft our batting was - Wade has not done enough. If he's in the team for his "spirit" we are in trouble.

2. Cronulla looked sharp. They are definitely going to shake the comp. Gus Gould made a goose of himself suggesting they Segeyaro will be a great addition although their young hooker looked tremendous. The Storm is still dominant.

3. Parramatta win again and Semi is the main man. Unfortunately his efforts are going to be undermined by the absence of a decent goal kicker. Surely Brad Arthur thought about this. His love affair with Gutherson has reached fever pitch. He offers very little in defence and his left to right pass is awful. Good haircut however.

4. Tim Simona is looking for a start at Lottoland. The stupidity of the bets are staggering. However I am not buying the confession articles in the Sunday Telegraph this weekend. He is trying to pave the way for a return, but ripping off a charity? Please. That alone should see him barred. He needs a lot of time to make amends. The spots of a leopard are hard to remove. The sadness of a gambling addict is immense.

5. Another rugby union fiasco in the last few moments of the game will continue to consign the game to the last choice of sport fans. Refs look for penalties too closely and the closer the game, the loser the look. Too much power. Too much control. Reds dudded. Crusaders swamp them again.

6. Little Lincolntown got smashed 5-0 to see Arsenal and Man City into the FA Cup. Wenger still seems to get some results. Unfortunately he seems to win the wrong cups.

7. AFL. Get into the comp please...the longest pre season in the history of sport. None of it matters.

8. Tahs will just fall in a heap in 2017. Awful. This coach worries me.

Wrap - Indian Stir

1. NRL. Saints looked very fit and aggressive. I really liked their hooker McInnes who got them moving forward quickly. They looked fit and sharp. Parramatta will want to lift to beat them next week. 'Parra 1947' were steady, but not overly impressive. I still have major concerns over Gutherson at five eight. His shoulders are going to be sore in a couple of weeks. He may be the greatest turnstile since Jason Taylor was before him. He is fit and has some ability but he is simply not strong enough. Full stop.

2. Souths are in a deep pit now Inglis is done. Throw the Knights, Warriors and Sea Eagles in there too. The Roosters looked good. The Tigers were exciting too and the Storm are just phenomenal. Their record is so good and the last ten years of NRL have been totally dominated by them. The losers? Raiders and Sharks will feature in the semis.

3. Cricket. This Renshaw is a cool cat. He can be hard to crack and has shown amazing steel in his short career. The conditions in India are tough - and in fact - some would say deliberately manipulative for their own purposes. Facing an opposing team that has focus and talent can trouble this tactic. However as we all know, it can all fall apart in a single session.

The problem we faced was slow scoring in pursuit of a total because it slowly got India back into the game. The Australian tenacity was exceptional however.

4. How do Indians learn to appeal for everything? B9s in India must be some sort of sight.

It is the only country where a single is cheered like a six.

The need to practice their DRS calls...they came kicking and screaming into the 21st Century and now have been levelled by the DRS - and their incompetent judgement. Kohli's temperament is being found out. His on field demeanour at times is terrible.

5. Shaun Marsh has stood up under immense pressure. A fifty on this pitch is like a ton. First innings runs are even better. Mitchell Marsh has again struggled with a terrible mully grubber underlining how cruel the game can be. He seems to find it.

Wade has been handy as keeper, but needs runs. A solid 30 or 40 would put critics to sleep...for the time being.

6. A-League. Looking a lot like the "B League" when it gets wet.

7. Leicester. Interesting that when a coach is dumped, players' poor performance is exposed - and voila...their performance improves. They are on the line and have been really poor in their collective treatment of old man Ranieri.

8. Waratahs and Rebels. Exposing our defensive problems big time. Huge losses really.

9. Phil Gould's comments about the Sharks and their "soft" premiership win are out of line. Gus must be ready to retire. He can join Warren Ryan.