1. The Origin and Bye rounds are a disaster. Great to see some heavyweights fall aside (Brisbane especially), but they disrupt the season. The tempo of the season is broken, but I am not sure how much State of Origin compensates for this. QLD at home will be hard to toss.
2. Every now and then a coach pulls something out of the fire...Arsne Wegner did just that in the FA Cup with Arsenal. A 2-1 victory over Chelsea on a huge stage. It is not a bad life that of the EPL coach...you have about five bites of the cherry in different cups to claim some silverware. God help you if you miss out.
3. AFL. GWS keep winning tight games and surging onwards. Their performance v West Coast over there was amazing. A million injuries, but rock solid. Conversely, Brisbane almost look like folding. They are a misery of the highest order.
4. Paul Gallen annoys a lot of people, but his performance v the Bulldogs on Saturday night was ridiculous. He ran the ball in key moments and secured the win by getting so close to the sticks that even the most incompetent field goal exponent could not miss.
5. Champions Trophy Cricket. A one day comp that fills the IPL coffers. Hardly riveting stuff. England appear to be favourites (Ben Stokes has been in unbelievable form, but this David Miller from South Africa hit the ball better than Kluesner!). When will South Africa rise up to win one of these competitions? Talk about no silverware.
6. I had to laugh seeing Rocket Eade on the massuer's table pre game. Bad neck or stiff luck? One for 'The Backpage'.
7. Noticed Sam Stosur is winning again pre French Open. She is dynamite on clay and terrible on grass. Like a few weekend golfers.
8. Is it conceivable that the greatest clay court player of all time - Rafael Nadal - will win a 10th French Open. This will never be beaten. He is a legend in every sense of the word.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Monday, May 22, 2017
Wrap - IPL, AFL, NRL, EPL and ECL
1. IPL. I must confess to following the IPL closely this year from afar. The size of this competition and its reach - let alone its money - is something to behold. In the end, Steve Smith and MS Dohni's team, Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) lost by ONE run. Dan Christian and Adam Zampa played most games for RPS as well. Talk about a miracle...Mitchell Johnson led the Mumbai Indians to victory with his scintillating 3/23 and not giving up 11 runs in the last over.
The weather has turned the usual Indian pitches into low scoring grinds, taking some gloss off the usual higher scoring games. A Smith 51 was not good enough. It must be said that Bumrah is a superstar bowler of the future. With Johnson and Malinga, the Mumbai Indians had too much firepower.
2. State of Origin. Who would have thought - the annual Queensland whinging about a possible injury to Thurston (it is usually GI) and him "being in doubt". Away it goes again. Every year gets a bit boring. QLD should continue to pump NSW. Wallace's position in a NSW team as hooker was surely only paper talk. The cranky Nathan Peats hardly seems the ideal replacement. The St George hooker McInness is the best...maybe even young Brailey at Cronulla.
3. NSW Origin. This will be Daley's last show as NSW Origin coach if he picks Pearce and we lose. Pearce is not mentally strong enough to lead us to an Origin win. Coupled with ordinary forwards like Klemmer and Tamou...we need more go forward from the big blokes...Vaughan and Boyd...Hayne in the centres? He is a lazy whiner. We are in trouble.
4. Richmond Tigers. Their supporters are long suffering as they stutter and stammer their way to impossible defeats at the worst of times. The GWS team have learned a lot from their brutal 2016 semi final defeat by the Western Bulldogs and seem to have some newfound composure and steel when it gets tight. I note their injury toll has little effect on their power. They will be magnificent for some time. West Coast are the biggest pretenders in the show. Too weak away from home. Very weak. Adelaide seem to be the key squad at present, dominating in many facets. A 28 point season start is hard to peg back. The loser of Swans v Hawks this week can pack their bags. Troubled by the early season inconsistency of the Western Bulldogs. They should have powered on against Geelong from where they were...they choked.
5. The Storm. They win 50:50 games like no other team we have seen. Their ferocity and strength in the tussle...their grind in all sorts of conditions is like no other team - perhaps ever. It won't last forever, but gee it will be remembered. Counter them with the pathetic efforts of the Tigers and Warriors this weekend. Both clubs need serious improvement in attitudes. Foran is also to blame here in how he has managed his move. A mercenary who moves from club to club in the most selfish ways...no wonder he has had so many challenges in recent times on so many fronts...all about him.
6. Waratahs. A big win over the dreadful Rebels. Let's see if they can beat a NZ team now.
7. EPL - Chelsea finally get there. Liverpool nab the last European Champions League position...and goodbye to the rung below to Middlesborough, Hull and Sunderland. The 7-1 loss by Hull and a 5-1 loss by Sunderland shows the pathetic side to English football - capitulation and dummy spitting from a long distance! With Liverpool in and Arsenal out of the top four, Wegner is surely gone!
The weather has turned the usual Indian pitches into low scoring grinds, taking some gloss off the usual higher scoring games. A Smith 51 was not good enough. It must be said that Bumrah is a superstar bowler of the future. With Johnson and Malinga, the Mumbai Indians had too much firepower.
2. State of Origin. Who would have thought - the annual Queensland whinging about a possible injury to Thurston (it is usually GI) and him "being in doubt". Away it goes again. Every year gets a bit boring. QLD should continue to pump NSW. Wallace's position in a NSW team as hooker was surely only paper talk. The cranky Nathan Peats hardly seems the ideal replacement. The St George hooker McInness is the best...maybe even young Brailey at Cronulla.
3. NSW Origin. This will be Daley's last show as NSW Origin coach if he picks Pearce and we lose. Pearce is not mentally strong enough to lead us to an Origin win. Coupled with ordinary forwards like Klemmer and Tamou...we need more go forward from the big blokes...Vaughan and Boyd...Hayne in the centres? He is a lazy whiner. We are in trouble.
4. Richmond Tigers. Their supporters are long suffering as they stutter and stammer their way to impossible defeats at the worst of times. The GWS team have learned a lot from their brutal 2016 semi final defeat by the Western Bulldogs and seem to have some newfound composure and steel when it gets tight. I note their injury toll has little effect on their power. They will be magnificent for some time. West Coast are the biggest pretenders in the show. Too weak away from home. Very weak. Adelaide seem to be the key squad at present, dominating in many facets. A 28 point season start is hard to peg back. The loser of Swans v Hawks this week can pack their bags. Troubled by the early season inconsistency of the Western Bulldogs. They should have powered on against Geelong from where they were...they choked.
5. The Storm. They win 50:50 games like no other team we have seen. Their ferocity and strength in the tussle...their grind in all sorts of conditions is like no other team - perhaps ever. It won't last forever, but gee it will be remembered. Counter them with the pathetic efforts of the Tigers and Warriors this weekend. Both clubs need serious improvement in attitudes. Foran is also to blame here in how he has managed his move. A mercenary who moves from club to club in the most selfish ways...no wonder he has had so many challenges in recent times on so many fronts...all about him.
6. Waratahs. A big win over the dreadful Rebels. Let's see if they can beat a NZ team now.
7. EPL - Chelsea finally get there. Liverpool nab the last European Champions League position...and goodbye to the rung below to Middlesborough, Hull and Sunderland. The 7-1 loss by Hull and a 5-1 loss by Sunderland shows the pathetic side to English football - capitulation and dummy spitting from a long distance! With Liverpool in and Arsenal out of the top four, Wegner is surely gone!
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Wrap - Get Good at Moneyball
1. Footy Upsets. Newcastle have shaken Canberra who at times teeter under the weight of Ricky Stuart's furrowed brow. Good for them. Gold Coast beating Storm was something else too. St george hit three losses in a row...Only matched by the AFL where Essendon beat Geelong and Melbourne down Adelaide. Both competitions may in fact be "competitions" this year.
2. Disappointments of the round...St George and Canberra - not to mention the Warriors who had to try hard to lose. Even Parramatta... Their so called tough guys might do well to toughen up their defence...toughen up their attitude and not lose by 50. I still have massive doubts over whether Brad Arthur can get a team 'up' for a game. They had won three in a row and then just give up. Pathetic.
3. MoneyBall. Is the game of NRL going to pot (so to speak)? A club that is prepared to go back to basics and play "Money Ball" (recruiting on percentages and positive player attitudes even if less talented) will be a huge success story in this game. Newcastle might be heading there. When will a club stand up and say it loud and proud..."we have a no dickhead policy...officials, player managers, players...if you fit that category there is no place for you at our club!" Crowds are appalling too....
4. The NRL Scheduling. That early Friday night game is the way of fools. Look at Super 15 Rugby for the disintegration of the code. Monday night was fine - just that coaches don't like the short turn around. Taking games to the bush are great, if they match the dollars clubs get from playing at a near empty ANZ stadium. Has anyone thought of reintroducing a 3.00pm Saturday game? Seemed to work OK. What a shock not having to watch the Broncos on a Friday night. They run the game.
5. Pat Howard. Re-signed for another two years as "High Performance Manager" at Cricket Australia. Clubs in all sports need to strip out the administrative extravagance. Pat's contribution is clearly making a great difference...Greg Chappell will ensure we tread water and lose the Ashes yet again. James Sutherland and Howard are showing signs of being absolutely stupid...fancy trying to get blokes to sign that they will not play IPL. No way. That is a cash cow of the most sacred kind. Ask Shane Watson who has hardly got a wicket or a run to his name for the whole season....yet has $2 mil in the account.
5. Shanghai. A great experiment going to China with Port v Gold Coast. Was John Ribot there to see his "vision"?
6. EPL...hotting up for the axe...Hull City are on the precipice. No sympathy. If you're not good - get good!
2. Disappointments of the round...St George and Canberra - not to mention the Warriors who had to try hard to lose. Even Parramatta... Their so called tough guys might do well to toughen up their defence...toughen up their attitude and not lose by 50. I still have massive doubts over whether Brad Arthur can get a team 'up' for a game. They had won three in a row and then just give up. Pathetic.
3. MoneyBall. Is the game of NRL going to pot (so to speak)? A club that is prepared to go back to basics and play "Money Ball" (recruiting on percentages and positive player attitudes even if less talented) will be a huge success story in this game. Newcastle might be heading there. When will a club stand up and say it loud and proud..."we have a no dickhead policy...officials, player managers, players...if you fit that category there is no place for you at our club!" Crowds are appalling too....
4. The NRL Scheduling. That early Friday night game is the way of fools. Look at Super 15 Rugby for the disintegration of the code. Monday night was fine - just that coaches don't like the short turn around. Taking games to the bush are great, if they match the dollars clubs get from playing at a near empty ANZ stadium. Has anyone thought of reintroducing a 3.00pm Saturday game? Seemed to work OK. What a shock not having to watch the Broncos on a Friday night. They run the game.
5. Pat Howard. Re-signed for another two years as "High Performance Manager" at Cricket Australia. Clubs in all sports need to strip out the administrative extravagance. Pat's contribution is clearly making a great difference...Greg Chappell will ensure we tread water and lose the Ashes yet again. James Sutherland and Howard are showing signs of being absolutely stupid...fancy trying to get blokes to sign that they will not play IPL. No way. That is a cash cow of the most sacred kind. Ask Shane Watson who has hardly got a wicket or a run to his name for the whole season....yet has $2 mil in the account.
5. Shanghai. A great experiment going to China with Port v Gold Coast. Was John Ribot there to see his "vision"?
6. EPL...hotting up for the axe...Hull City are on the precipice. No sympathy. If you're not good - get good!
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Wrap - Left The Iron On
1. What a week if your name is Cameron Smith! A great golf result - $1.3m and two year exemption dodging alligators. The other Cameron Smith hit 50 rugby league tests. That is incredible. Smith has been superb for a long time. Not getting Milford at the Storm is a challenge now, but Bellamy will convert someone quickly.
Lockyer and Meninga are probably the next Immortals. Ron Coote - esp for his post career efforts with retired players? Peter Sterling would go close now he is involved in media, coaching/ mentoring, commentary...four GFs, etc. Mal Meninga wins everything. He is amazing in the standards he sets and insists upon and should be grabbed by a NRL club with cash. He is the biggest fish.
2. AFL. Big wins by Gold Coast and North Melbourne (up by 64-0 towards the end of the second quarter). The Giants losing was a shock too, although heaps of injuries are not helping. This year's comp may be the most open for a number of seasons. Geelong have fallen over. Swans have limped to one win.
3. The exit of crowds from games late in the piece where they are well behind on the scoreboard has been happening for ages. Protest vote. The line by Andrew Voss was a ripper on Saturday night..."They've left so quickly you'd think they may have left the iron on". Vossy is not everyone's cup of tea but he is the best of a bad lot at present. Poor old Rabs may be losing the plot, but has still nabbed a new five year deal...
4. I cannot believe a player swap between Parramatta and the Tigers with Gutherson was not done immediately. Gutherson is a good winger - nothing else. Poor defence and not a pivot. Goalkicking is a new gig, but he is not big enough and defence is poor. A very fit bloke who would has a 1970's outside back's body. Nice haircut too. He won't win you a comp.
5. Cocaine. A busy week for sales in the NRL, but rest assured none of us believe this will affect consumption - or the supply chain. Johnny Tobin's Hawkesbury River importation bust has probably hurt it all, but not significantly. Damien Keogh has really hurt his club who have recently won a comp and overcome a peptides scandal. This will help Parramatta's recruitment - Bromwich and Proctor...They have apparently delayed signing Shaun Kenny-Dowell until he is before the courts or in jail.
Was Keogh yet another former Olympian who has struggled with the drugs...? And yet we are told they are all "clean" sports. I liked the recent EU proposal that NO world record be verified without ten years of drug tests either leading up to it or either side of a world record. Then blood stored for a further ten years. Thankfully Jana Pittman has not taken anything...but a foreign prince offered her artificial insemination by email after a recent relationship breakdown.
6. Waratahs. No commitment and defence is so poor it is ridiculous. Thumped again. Clean the joint out. That coach Gibson has got to go and with him a number of the players - some senior ones too. Do we have anyone who would crack a NZ provincial team? Probably not. The best news in rugby for NSW viewers is that it is now 7 NSW wins in a row v QLD - our answer to the NRL State of Origin domination of QLD...we are truly struggling.
7. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. That field surface at Allianz is ordinary and has been for many years. However, Sydney FC (and every other FC) have mesmerised the opposition in 2017. I have long said that Graham Arnold is the best coach in Australia behind Meninga. 'The Albanian', Berisha is a huge competitor.
8. IPL. Really enjoy seeing Warner, Smith and Tye excel online, but the TV rights must be up for renewal soon. They cannot be making money based on their current international business model. Fox need to get hold of it. Pat Cummins has struggled. Kohli has been terrible. The funny thing about that comp is that the pitches change massively across the month of cricket as the weather tightens. Low scores become normal. We should be signing up Indian bowlers for the BBL.
9. City v Country has become like a boys night out to The Rocks - pull outs...excuses...mums who won't let blokes play...Some of the selections are embarrassing. It needs to go. If it stays it should be a genuine Country team or local 'best of' Toyota/ Amco/ Panasonic/ Jim Bean/ Ron Massey/ Tooth Cup playing a City team as a curtain raiser at a State of Origin.
Gone are the days that City selection gets you more cash at contract time. I suspect this is behind the coaches not supporting the concept.
It should also signal a new style of NRL competition - one game against everyone, then a 're-grading' after this for the remaining six weeks. The best teams after 16 rounds get advantaged as they should.
10. Spurs. What a terrible performance v West Ham. A loss when a win was critical. A shame for them, but Chelsea now need to fall over to lose. A great effort really with their new and understated coach. Relegation fights are tremendous value. No 'tanking' for draft picks there.
Lockyer and Meninga are probably the next Immortals. Ron Coote - esp for his post career efforts with retired players? Peter Sterling would go close now he is involved in media, coaching/ mentoring, commentary...four GFs, etc. Mal Meninga wins everything. He is amazing in the standards he sets and insists upon and should be grabbed by a NRL club with cash. He is the biggest fish.
2. AFL. Big wins by Gold Coast and North Melbourne (up by 64-0 towards the end of the second quarter). The Giants losing was a shock too, although heaps of injuries are not helping. This year's comp may be the most open for a number of seasons. Geelong have fallen over. Swans have limped to one win.
3. The exit of crowds from games late in the piece where they are well behind on the scoreboard has been happening for ages. Protest vote. The line by Andrew Voss was a ripper on Saturday night..."They've left so quickly you'd think they may have left the iron on". Vossy is not everyone's cup of tea but he is the best of a bad lot at present. Poor old Rabs may be losing the plot, but has still nabbed a new five year deal...
4. I cannot believe a player swap between Parramatta and the Tigers with Gutherson was not done immediately. Gutherson is a good winger - nothing else. Poor defence and not a pivot. Goalkicking is a new gig, but he is not big enough and defence is poor. A very fit bloke who would has a 1970's outside back's body. Nice haircut too. He won't win you a comp.
5. Cocaine. A busy week for sales in the NRL, but rest assured none of us believe this will affect consumption - or the supply chain. Johnny Tobin's Hawkesbury River importation bust has probably hurt it all, but not significantly. Damien Keogh has really hurt his club who have recently won a comp and overcome a peptides scandal. This will help Parramatta's recruitment - Bromwich and Proctor...They have apparently delayed signing Shaun Kenny-Dowell until he is before the courts or in jail.
Was Keogh yet another former Olympian who has struggled with the drugs...? And yet we are told they are all "clean" sports. I liked the recent EU proposal that NO world record be verified without ten years of drug tests either leading up to it or either side of a world record. Then blood stored for a further ten years. Thankfully Jana Pittman has not taken anything...but a foreign prince offered her artificial insemination by email after a recent relationship breakdown.
6. Waratahs. No commitment and defence is so poor it is ridiculous. Thumped again. Clean the joint out. That coach Gibson has got to go and with him a number of the players - some senior ones too. Do we have anyone who would crack a NZ provincial team? Probably not. The best news in rugby for NSW viewers is that it is now 7 NSW wins in a row v QLD - our answer to the NRL State of Origin domination of QLD...we are truly struggling.
7. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. That field surface at Allianz is ordinary and has been for many years. However, Sydney FC (and every other FC) have mesmerised the opposition in 2017. I have long said that Graham Arnold is the best coach in Australia behind Meninga. 'The Albanian', Berisha is a huge competitor.
8. IPL. Really enjoy seeing Warner, Smith and Tye excel online, but the TV rights must be up for renewal soon. They cannot be making money based on their current international business model. Fox need to get hold of it. Pat Cummins has struggled. Kohli has been terrible. The funny thing about that comp is that the pitches change massively across the month of cricket as the weather tightens. Low scores become normal. We should be signing up Indian bowlers for the BBL.
9. City v Country has become like a boys night out to The Rocks - pull outs...excuses...mums who won't let blokes play...Some of the selections are embarrassing. It needs to go. If it stays it should be a genuine Country team or local 'best of' Toyota/ Amco/ Panasonic/ Jim Bean/ Ron Massey/ Tooth Cup playing a City team as a curtain raiser at a State of Origin.
Gone are the days that City selection gets you more cash at contract time. I suspect this is behind the coaches not supporting the concept.
It should also signal a new style of NRL competition - one game against everyone, then a 're-grading' after this for the remaining six weeks. The best teams after 16 rounds get advantaged as they should.
10. Spurs. What a terrible performance v West Ham. A loss when a win was critical. A shame for them, but Chelsea now need to fall over to lose. A great effort really with their new and understated coach. Relegation fights are tremendous value. No 'tanking' for draft picks there.
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