Wrap - Ding Deng The Witch Is Dead

1. Tour de France. The Welshman Geraint Thomas to win the Tour de France. For a change it would be nice to know there are no drugs involved. Outside of world athletics, possibly the least trusted sport in the world.

2. Golf. Francesco Molinari’s win in the British Open golf last week was unexpected, but broke the traditional USA player frenzy on the home stretch. The surprises continually arise in British Open golf. A great tournament.

3. Super Rugby. Waratahs v Lions. Fought hard, but a lack of tough defence. Poor work around the chip and chase by lazy forwards at a key moment. Outgunned. Not a bad draw to get to the semi finals! Crusaders have won 14 in a row and will win the GF easily. Folau is a huge human...talented!
I must say that the game is alive and well in South Africa and New Zealand.

4. NRL. Storm on fire. How good are they? The Roosters are the only team that can beat them. Munster, Scott, the new halfback...they have so much talent. Tigers massively disappointing and Canberra simply do not tackle. Eels and Manly...pathetic defence. How inevitable that the Eels were run down! The Warriors are appalling too. So much talent and so poor at times. Lost 28-0 in the second half. Saints have hit the wall again too. Their defence which was so good is starting to fade. Widdop needs to stand up.

5. AFL. The Crows...terrible decline from 2017. The Swans have hit the wall and may not win again this year after dropping games to the Suns and Dons. Hopeless lack of concentration and an absence of speed. GWS have hit their straps and with injury returnees, they could surprise further. Geelong are a smokey. However it is Richmond to the end....a powerhouse at present. A great reward for the club that persisted with their coach, Hardwick and have profited from their investments in key players. 100,000 to a club game? The NRL would never in a million years see that.

6. F1. Is Lewis Hamilton the greatest ever? He is fast getting there and a win in Hungary will stretch his lead over Vettel. The wet conditions in qualifying sort the sheep from the billy goats.

7. Australian Athletics. How about the Kenyan/ Sudanese refugee Joseph Deng who beat the 800 metre Australian record from 1968? Quick by our standards and more to come! 1min 44.21. A 50 year record is something special, but our Sudanese athletes are starting to impress... Allir, Magak Daw, Maker in the NBL...

8. Women's Soccer. Our women’s soccer team the Matilda’s are awesome. They have crushed Brazil yet again 3-1. Play USA tonight which will be interesting.


9. India v England Test Cricket. The Poms will be hoping for some overcast weather this week to dismiss the top six before the sun starts shining. India's bowling will come under pressure I suspect, but so too will Broad and Anderson. They tend to excel at home however.

 

Wrap - Fibs and Bad Lies

1. Cricket. Great batting from the Pakistani opener, Fakhar Zaman. He now has an amazing record (on the back of playing Australia and Zimbabwe in ODIs) as the quickest ODI player EVER to 1,000 runs. The great IVA Richards took four more innings than him. Just quietly, Zimbabwe were lucky Viv did not play them! 

Keshav Maharaj picked up 9/129 for the South Africans v Sri Lanka in their second test, but they are staring down a big loss again - and a lame series loss if they can't bat well. Amla looks to be the key. Recent South African team innings scores of 126, 73, 124 don’t win many Test matches and South Africa have been found out. Not good news for any of them seeking an IPL contract either. Can't play on low slow turners? ... don't go to India.

2. Waratahs. A mighty win for the much maligned team. No idea how they make the semis of that competition based on the season they have had. Sounds dodgy, but a trip to South Africa to play will test them. The poor home crowd sums up their season. The public have given up. A win would be intriguing. The comp will be restructured yet again if this occurs. 

3. Crowd Sizes. It is always interesting when sports commentators and journalists whine about crowd sizes. Their air conditioned, free food and drink gets to their heads sometimes. The Tigers-Rabbits crowd was excellent for a cold Saturday night however.

4. British Open Golf. Speith and Tiger... Speith may be too far ahead. It will be interesting on the home stretch. The British Open and the US Masters always seem to be the most engaging of the golf majors. The US PGA and US Open just seem to come and go... like ODIs!

Tiger showed some vintage touch in his third round 66. How brown is the course at Carnoustie? Looks like Royal Rouse in its summer heyday. Bad lies on holes where drives are easily hitting 400 yards... (rare gold) and rolling ridiculously far.

5. AFL. Geelong v Demons saw a thrilling end. A great game and good to see Melbourne start to prosper after years of problems. How the Swans lose to the Gold Coast Suns is beyond everyone. What a costly loss in the longer scheme of things. Ordinary and odd to me. The stewards need to have a close look at that one.

The AFL refs are an interesting beast. Zero accountability and lopsided free kick counts never seem to be picked up by media. The Swans have a few of these. GWS are on the charge now. They have too many good players not to make an impression. Great win in Adelaide v Port.

6. NRL. A rare weekend when Saints hit near to the top of the ladder and the Eels, Newcastle and Tigers win. The Tigers win over the 300 gamer, John Sutton, from Souths, was most surprising. Robbie Farah needs to retire soon before he has no memory of any games at all. He is getting bashed up badly at present. Sam Burgess sails close to the wind and is a risk. Jim Comans would have loved Sam.

I cannot believe how many tackles Jonathan Thurston is missing each week. His shoulders must be gone. How good are the Storm? On top of the comp with a heap of blokes out, new combinations, etc. The Bellamy, Smith and Slater combo may be the best there has ever been.

Ricky Stuart is right. The Cronulla v Canberra debacle of the bunker and refs are a blight on the game. Over governed and too much obsession. How does the NFL get it so right? I suspect Stuart's points about rugby league losing fans after a blitz on penalties and the weekly focus on certain rules over others, are absolutely right. They breed an absolute contempt of the system.


Back in the day, the one ref and two touchies did not get it so wrong...even the in-goal ref wasn't so bad... even if we had the odd seven tackle furore and angry decision that was completely wrong. The crowd loved to boo!

7. Basketball. The aptly names "FIB - A" are a joke... telling more lies than the actual footage revealed. The behaviour of the Phillipino basketball team, coaches and crowd was a complete disgrace. Then they do the old 'blame the visiting team' thing to protect themselves. A joke. Who would have thought they have the next FIBA World Cup of Basketball there in the coming years... would never have picked it.

Wrap - Testing Times

1. Test Cricket Wickets. The wicket takers are in the news at present. How good is this Rabada from South Africa? Quickest ever to 150 Test wickets. The legend of Sri Lanka, Rangana Herath, is 40 years of age and has hit 418 Test wickets. He is an unlikely star with a record better than most Test bowlers. South Africa all out for 126 and 73! Awful.

MS Dohni is looking like the grey ghost these days. He can still keep up to the stumps like no other man however. He is the finisher!

Great to see Fakhar win the Man of the Series for Pakistan v Australia. He is from a long line of Fakhars.

2. Canberra. How cold is it playing in Canberra in anything at this time of year? It is officially the coldest place on earth. North Queensland are not well placed travelling there for NRL. You don’t need ice when there is an injury, just stand over there.

3. NRL. Cameron Smith’s playing record of games in the NRL will never be beaten. Regardless of whose wife does not like him, he is superb. Fit and resilient. Has barely shown an injury in fifteen years! How strong do Souths look? Nine in a row is impressive.

How Slater got that Man of the Series award for Origin was staggering. Why does Laurie Daley make so many poor calls - or get surrounded by poor calls? Think of his Origin selection policies last year... this one now... He complicates the uncomplicated. A woeful hometown decision. Who puts two Queenslanders on the panel? Bias is an awful flaw.

4. Wimbledon. Nadal and Djokovic staged a belting semi final at Wimbledon. The comeback from Djokovic has been incredible. His record in Grand Slams is incredible too. The fitness of he and Serena (who had a baby ten months ago) is amazing. These are some of the greatest athletes ever.

Kevin Anderson has no chance. Djokovic has 12 Grand Slams and won three in 2011 and three in 2015. He will have 13 by tomorrow for mine. He has a rich and successful pedigree. His victory v Nadal was simply outstanding. Nadal has faced some exceptional players when losing in Grand Slams. John Isner is a sleeper with a huge serve for future tournaments. He could surprise at the US Open.

What about Channel 7 and showing Alice in Wonderland rather than Nadal v Djokovic...? Hopeless inflexible programming from a network who should never be trusted. Their involvement in cricket is a worry. Their Olympics efforts have been woeful too.

5. Soccer World Cup. Croatia v France. Not the glamour countries, but who cares? The tournament has been very strong. Belgium take third spot, but England were not disgraced. They should have got the better of Croatia but couldn't do the job. Qatar getting the next one. Corruption is always hard to justify... especially if you are FIFA.

6. Waratahs. A 21-3 deficit after twenty minutes. How bad are they some weeks? A terrible start. Binning blokes for giving ‘cynical’ penalties away is yet another curious referee stance/ decision in that code.

7. AFL upsets. Brisbane have picked up in recent weeks...a victory v Hawthorn when all seemed lost is impressive. Great win by GWS v Richmond. GWS tried very hard to lose under pressure once again. They get nervous! Richmond are a mile in front on a good day.

The Swans bounced back with a great win v North Melbourne. Buddy's 900th goal was pretty special. He may just beat quite a few yet and get over 1000. Worth every cent.

Wrap - World Cup of Biff

1. Wimbledon - Nick Kgyrios. Will this guy ever win anything? He is at the back end of a golden era of greats (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Warinka, Murray) and still can’t make a ding! Poor temperament. Bad attitude and making too much money as a second rung player. Nadal is on track for a Wimbledon show down with Federer. Backing him in. Isner with the big serve is the dark horse.

2. England World Cup Soccer. Well they have certainly defied the critics (like me) to make the semis. A great effort. Sweden were a schemozzle. Croatia look strong, however France or Belgium will win it for mine.

3. Canterbury Bulldogs. They have been appalling in 2018 (but better than the Eels). Dean Pay has an ageing roster and a diminishing one, but blokes like Josh Jackson, Hopoate, Foran...terrible. James Graham is missed. Pay has made no real difference unfortunately and the lazers and tasers will be out for him soon.

4. Waratahs. They thumped the Sunbeds, to make the semis, but they leak too many points still. Beauden Barrett’s intercept and flick pass was pretty impressive. If any NRL club had brains they would throw big, big money at him!

5. AFL. Swans two losses in a row and the Brissy Lions two wins back to back! Carlton terrible, but Collingwood and Geelong are the two Victorian teams capable of winning on the MCG against the rampant Richmond Tigers. The Tigers will take it again for mine. Too quick.

6. Biff in the basketball. The Philippines were throwing more haymakers than Smartrse Puyakaroon all those years ago.


7. Origin III. Hard to believe that NSW won’t win three in a row, but playing up at Suncorp often brings out our worst. The Storm did well this Origin series. Amazing the difference Cameron Smith makes even without Cronk and even when blueing with half the world too. James Roberts is lucky to hold his spot after last game and his sin binning with ten to go. He needs to produce or perish in this game. Has done close to nothing.

8. Parramatta have signed Shaun Lane from Manly. Can’t imagine why...he has no criminal record or tattoo obsession. Blake Ferguson has arrived just in time to add to the toxic culture that Kenny Edwards et al left behind. Junior Paulo will help there too. I’m told they are in the market for Blake Austin. Please... Todd Carney? Willie Mason?

9. Cricket. Great to see the Aussies finally beat someone...just...Zimbabwe in their 20/20 series. Pakistan will be hard to toss in the final. Watch for Fakhar Zaman. Interesting name, better bat.

Wrap - Dog gawn doghouse

1. Robbie Farah. Leichhardt Oval return. Hard to believe he is back there at that club. Cleary's recruitment is bizarre...look at the Warriors five eight nowhere...Marshall, Farah? I hope Robbie didn't have to scale the scoreboard again. All that cash in his pockets can be bad for his balance.


2. QLD State of Origin team. Cherry-Evans in for Ben Hunt. Doesn't pay to leave the Broncos huh? Kevin Walters is on the skids for mine. The Smith withdrawal late in the piece didn't help, but they would not have done that to Mal.


3. Aaron Woods. Balmain - Bulldogs - Sharks. I suspect the Kieran Foran signing is at the heart of the problem. He has a 'club malcontent' sticker on him after doing a number on the Eels, Warriors and now Bulldogs. Sack him and move on. Mbye is no great loss either. An average performer really.


4. Tim Paine. Can we end this feel good captaincy reign soon please? Lovely bloke, but more suited to carrying a guitar to nursing homes than winning Tests for Australia. He could well be the luckiest Test cricket captain in Australian history. The latest 5-0 ODI fiasco is a disgrace. Some big losses in that number too.


5. Wimbledon. Hard not to like Federer again...and again on this surface. A win by Rafa would get the world excited about 'best ever' tags.


6. World Cup Soccer. Portugal and Argentina gone, but Spain are surely the favourites now. I will be interested in England and whether they can lift and win through. A fabulous tournament with some sensational goals. This sport has a stunning depth of talent world wide.


7. Australia's World Cup. Predictably pedestrian. No strike power up front. Nothing dangerous sadly. We were lucky - like Brad Fittler becoming State of Origin coach in this year - that we were not embarrassed. Great game v France.


8. Brumbies over the Hurricanes? That is something of a miracle...