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.