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!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment