Wrap - Right Cricket

1. Cricket TV Rights. News at Channel 7 as the new home for cricket commentary. The arrogance of Channel 9 has finally taken its toll. A lazy commentary, old fashioned and not in tune with social media that focused too much on blokes who the fans could not stand....Healy, Slater and Clarke are done. How Channel 9 think the tennis will be any better is beyond me. Maybe fewer egos. Free to air TV is cooked. It is on its last legs and they know it. Fire sale. Foxtel will clean up too.

2. NRL. Dragons and Panthers are the stand outs. Tigers have been superb too. Superb strength, youthful forwards and better pace than most. The misery of Parramatta rests with a team who have too many dumb footballers who make poor decisions. They need a ‘no dickhead’ policy. Sadly, Arthur has recruited a lot of them and either cleans out the lot or goes with them. What a terrible underachieving club at present. How do you fall so dramatically after a decent 2017? Unwatchable.

They have scored 44 points this year. Awful. Radradra’s loss was going to be massive....and it is. They need pace and size. A lot of their roster has been retained too long - Beau Scott, Michael Jennings, Tim Mannah, Jarryd Hayne, Brad Takairangi. The lack of a speedy hooker costs them too. 

There’s not one better local kid than some of these time wasters? Surely. The local kid is needed to save them. They need to go local and rediscover their soul. Moses’ defence is horrible. The number of wooden spoons being exchanged in the Hills area at present is outrageous. Tim Mannah is a lovely bloke and would make an excellent next door neighbour. Not so sure about his leadership in a crisis. He has not off loaded the ball in eight seasons.

Parramatta's consistency however cannot be doubted.

3. AFL. Brisbane Lions’ effort v Richmond was pathetic. 17 points in a game is awful. Carlton have also proven to be hopeless again. The Suns should hibernate too. The Crows not much better. Western Bulldogs were much tougher v the Swans. The Swans are bright. Back in the mix. The close games matter.

4. Waratahs...four in a row after the win v QLD at the SCG. Bonus point win, but the big NSW winger - Taqele Naiyaravoro - what a prospect! However, NZ teams will unpick a whole heap of problems with this team. Execution was pretty poor at key times. The Reds lacked attacking flair. 

5. A-League. What about the A League...Jets 8 v Central Coast 2. The Central Coast may need to close the doors with that effort. Terrible. Sydney FC completely dominant. Just a little unsure why they get so excited about being minor premiers when a final series looms. It is not Europe. The Western Sydney Wanderers have also been put out of their misery. No finals for them.

6. The Commonwealth Games has been and done. Highly competitive in certain sports eg. Netball. However when is men’s netball going to make its appearance at the games? An inconsistency and travesty. Great to see Kurt Fearnley wave the flag at the end. He is a true champion. A heap of medals across his challenging, yet glittering career.

7. EPL. The race to disgrace hots up as they try and beat the relegation stigma. Champions League semi for Liverpool. Tremendous stuff for the Kloppster who is an absolute fan favourite with his energetic antics.

8. The Masters Back Wash. Not a fan of how the media has tried to sour Patrick Reed’s win at the Masters this week just gone. Popular or not, he won with style and good grace. A phenomenal effort under immense pressure. The performance of our Cameron Smith was pretty special. 

9. MLB. How about the Boston Red Sox and their start to the MLB Baseball season? 12-2. Their best start since 1918! Not bad.

10. Winx. Awesome at 25 wins. Another framed memento to bid for at a trivia fundraising night! Interesting to hear Hugh Bowman say post race that he had ten or twelve lengths on all the other horses was amazing. Belief.

The run of an absolute old favourite - Who Shot The Barman - in the 3200m Sydney Cup was awesome too. Get on that thing at big distances. Best run of the weekend: Alizee in the Coolmore. Extreme pace when it mattered. One to watch.

11. Chinese Grand Prix. How outstanding was Daniel Riccardo? Possibly the nicest Australian sporting talent we have world wide - and possibly the most talented.