Wrap - High Performance

1. How good are the Melbourne Storm? 2-0 tight under pressure..8-0 at half time. 30-0 at full time! The Broncos were smashed. It is so hard to score tries against Melbourne. They have been unbelievable over the last ten years. A golden era that may never be repeated. The Cowboys only hope? If Smith, Cronk and Slater are injured in the first ten minutes, they may have a chance. Really, put their name on the trophy mid week.

However, the Cowboys have been massive. Their forwards are immense - Bolton, Hess, Cooper, Ethan Lowe, Taumolola and even ex-Raider, Shaun Fensom. Their hooker, Jake Granville is outstanding. Another Queenslander hooker of quality. Like Jake Friend....and NSW have Peats (!). Pleeease! Michael Morgan has become a sensation. His hands and pass remind me of Lockyer. The hard, fast pass is one of the most potent weapons in the game. The Linnett try was outstanding. The Ethan Lowe goalkicking is pretty special too at present.

Again, woeful NRL crowds. Has anyone asked the AFL how they do it? Why would you bother going to the NRL live? Most blokes I know have not been to a game outside of State of Origin/ GF for years.

The Roosters/ Rorters, well...Pearce seems to get stage fright and retreat into that loser's psyche. We expect a lot from him, but maybe he is simply not that great at all. The Roosters will need to cut him soon if they are to win another comp. Like NSW, they need a change.

2. The quick tap must be allowed in the NRL. Too often refs inexplicably stop this, pause this or try and stop it. Why? This unsettles defences and we need it to sustain the entertainment value. The refs in the Roosters v Cowboys were at least able to minimise penalities and keep a cracking pace...this opens the game up too. The Cowboys need that pace. If the Cowboys can offload the footy and have extremely quick play the balls they are half a chance.

3. Adelaide awesome and will need to fight the usual umpire bias in Melbourne at the MCG against visiting teams. It is Richmond's to lose...They are the absolute favourites because of the home town crowd. A great Grand Final atmosphere ahead.

GWS are in need of greater steel when it matters. They have folded in two preliminary finals in two years. A young club of course, plenty of bright stars of the future, but these opportunities do not repeat too often in a player's career. What with the whole Riverina as their drawing area, GWS surely must get there one day. That Haynes at the back is incredible.

3. What about this Australian cricket set up? They are a joke. High Performance seems to be working really well. 12 straight ODI losses and a plummeting Test cricket ranking. Get rid of that Pat Howard. Fascination with Hilton Cartwright seems to be dominating thinking and two straight failures as opener has been bizarre. Anyone remember Sam Heazlett? They are completely out of touch.

Finch comes back in a punches out a well made hundred.

How many times can Maxwell get stumped before we call off his career? An unbelievable frequency of stumpings before he has reached 20 in total.

4. Australian XIII v Papau New Guinea. Great novelty value but talk of teams playing New Guinea as a member of the NRL are way off yet. Even if they are the only country on earth whose national sport is rugby league! I reckon a second Brisbane team surely has to be first. There always seems to be some serious injuries after playing the Kumuls. They are tough. Ask Dylan Walker who has picked up a nasty leg injury.

The PNG team - 'The Hunters' - won on full time to take out the 2017 Intrust SuperCup QLD premiership. They play Penrith (NSW winners) for the title on Grand Final day.

5. Laver Cup. Europe v Rest of the World concept seems good. The tennis Ryder Cup. Bjorn Borg coaching the Europeans and McEnroe the Rest of the World. Playing doubles against Nadal and Federer would be daunting!

6. Man City are carving up teams this season. They look the team to beat, but Chelsea and ManU are not far away. The Matildas are surely the women's football team to beat worldwide now. They are an attacking powerhouse! Hope the men can trouble Syria to qualify for the World Cup...fancy losing there (!).