Wrap - Lebanon Island

1. NSW Origin Win. A much better performance. Kicks that hit the green grass. Quick defensive speed and spreading the ball. Interesting that they went away from Cook running the ball too much. Maloney has the Origin mongrel and was great. Sadly Cleary was not missed and is under the microscope. Tedesco superb as usual. Cordner tough, but Finucane was a big difference. Even Saifiti went well. Ado-Carr made plenty of metres and was more aggressive too. Both Tobjevics are the best two players in the comp at present. Amazing...and another brother yet to arrive on the scene who is a gun.


The selections of Fittler last week proved to be good at this stage. Jack Wighton played pretty well but never passes the ball to unmarked players.


Interesting that one Sims brother plays for Fiji (skipper) and one plays for NSW... go figure.


2. Lebanon in the Pacific. Does anyone remember when Lebanon moved into the Pacific? They were small and unfortunately a bit dreadful. One good winger only. The great Tim Mannah even offloaded more for Lebanon and played pretty well. Admittedly they were missing a fair few of their best players. Robbie Farah's kicking game back at Leichhardt almost had him heading to the scoreboard ledge for a fire side retirement chat. He tried hard, but was found out. Liked the young centre. Incredible talent.


The pacific teams have talent...Tonga, Samoa, NZ, PNG... great contests, even if the crowds were a little thin.




3. Barty. Destined to be world number one after the Birmingham Classic on grass against Goerges. A tremendous effort and it shows what determination can bring. A loss brings her two points short of being world number one. Hopefully not.


4. AFL. Port Adelaide trounced Geelong really and are on track for the semis. Good win by Sydney again and they are not far away. A few tight losses will prove costly. West Coast and the mighty Brisbane looking better.


5. Super Rugby. Apart from the Crusaders, the Brumbies have the next best and quite an amazing record. What a franchise record they hold? Again winning a final and progressing. Their steel under pressure has been immense for a long time. Mercifully, the end of Daryl Gibson came after our mention last week. The Waratahs need surgery. Combinations and youth might be a great start.


6. World Cup Cricket. A big week ahead for Australia v NZ and England. How good would it be to knock England out? They have been disappointing, but we have beaten those we needed to beat. India still look too good for mine. Great matches this weekend with the Afghans and the power of Carlos Brathwaite. NZ are also tough in ODI cricket. They have more all rounders than most.


7. Israel Folau. It is starting to become a circus now... Clyde Rathbone has had a complete shocker however with his comments. Silliness seems to be repeatedly duplicated in this sorry mess.