1. Crazy Horse Stuff. Fancy having the All Blacks play the Kangaroos in a hybrid game. It sounds like a promoter with a desire for cash because there is no sense to that sort of game. A newspaper column filler. A time waster that will risk injury. Unless a desperate for cash NRL get behind it, it will fail. Coaches will run a mile.
2. The Warriors. Honestly, they are a basket case. Sure, they are away from home for a time, but the way they go on, it seems like they are in the USA or Africa. They are safe, they are professionals and they need to get on with it - not make excuses for really poor play. Some of their team are receiving big dollars and are simply not delivering.
3. Liverpool FC. Finally a premiership a mile out from the end of the season. Great news for the long suffering. It is a slashing team with a coach who looks like the professor in Money Heist. Could be as successful.
4. Rugby. Great to see the USA with a senior comp on their hands and lots of Aussies heading there for the cash. Could be a gold mine really - and a less intense standard. The USA would be a niche market if it ever got serious. They would love the heavy contact.
5. Bankwest Stadium. Hard to see the surface to blame for Radley and Verrells' injuries. Unlucky, but slippery in Winter. Amazing we don't build stadiums that have heating beneath the grass like in the EPL to keep the surface steady and firm and the grass cover immaculate.
6. Player Agents. Is anyone upset for deregistered player agents? Surely Jerry Maguire ended any sympathy in this area. Tim Mannah has not been cast well through this, but that is how it rolls. Does a player need an agent? Or a trusted friend...a bit sad really.
7. Peter Vlandys. His aim to speed up play has softened off a bit as some of the worst NRL referees - led by Ashley Clown - get in the way. Unfit and self centred, they need to keep the speed up or retire.
8. AFL. Carlton are sneaking through and Eddie Betts is delivering. The Crows are done and the Giants had a good win after some shockers. Swans still lack pace - especially in the moist/ wet conditions.
9. Cricket. The new sporting basket case in Australia. Greed and mismanagement. Bring on World Series Cricket again!
10. Curtis Scott (Raiders). Dud buy of the year. No risk.
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Wrap - Coach Has Lost The Carpark
1. NRL. The death of Steve Kearney's contract spells bad things for other coaches in the NRL. It is not inconceivable that Paul Green, Dean Pay, Paul McGregor and John Morris could all join him. On top of that Bennet is out and Seibold could be soon too. Maguire at the Tigers is no lock either. A merry go round! Once gone, there is no NRL future for you as the Head Coach. You are becoming an assistant coach at best... or you are in England.
2. Home Grounds. It will be good for teams to get back to their own home grounds. Playing at distant grounds in quick succession is not real smart. Some of the grounds are limited in their versatility and surfaces. Not sure what qualifies you for a certain ground to be used in COVID-19 times and what does not.
3. Roosters. Their ability to defend their goal line has been a strong trait for many years now. They did it again to Parramatta on Saturday night. Fierce and premiership winning. Some of Parramatta's players (Mahoney and Blake in particular) need to learn more about defensive reads and Blake Ferguson has poor hands under pressure. Sivo has amazing strengthy. His contact with Tedesco would be the photo of the decade. Awesome power. Tricolours for the trifecta I think. Then mass retirements beckon... Hardgreaves, Morris brothers, Cordner, Friend...
4. AFL. Swans a great win, but Eddie Betts at Carlton has ignited them to an upset. GWS have hit the floor hard, all with a zillion first draft picks. You get the feeling there is a perfect exit clause back to Victoria or South Australia for any whinger that wants it. Nice to see the Gold Coast not consider their first win for a while as a fluke!
5. EPL. Liverpool get their chance to make their fans believe once more... surely it is a non-event, but good they can come back to claim the title.
6. Bulldogs. Are they the powerhouse they once were? Will they be forced to merge? Their recruitment needs to straighten up real quickly. No love lost in the halves there.
7. Raiders. They could be suffering from too much Ricky. It looks like they are following the way of many other clubs who tired of the message...Brian Smith style.
8. Messy at Cricket Australia. Never take a smaller paycut than everyone else... it looks bad. Kevin Roberts was unfortunately a short lived presence. The poor financial management of the game is staggering really in light of what they have had. Unfortunately they needed a victim and nailed him. It appears they have lost their way around strategy.
9. Mike Tyson. A bit quiet on the comeback stories of late, but ready to rumble by the look of him.
10. Spanish Dream. Great to see Tony Macrae's horse get a stunning third place at Randwick on Saturday in Race 6 - the 1200 benchmark 78 run behind Stella Sea Sun. Bravo!
2. Home Grounds. It will be good for teams to get back to their own home grounds. Playing at distant grounds in quick succession is not real smart. Some of the grounds are limited in their versatility and surfaces. Not sure what qualifies you for a certain ground to be used in COVID-19 times and what does not.
3. Roosters. Their ability to defend their goal line has been a strong trait for many years now. They did it again to Parramatta on Saturday night. Fierce and premiership winning. Some of Parramatta's players (Mahoney and Blake in particular) need to learn more about defensive reads and Blake Ferguson has poor hands under pressure. Sivo has amazing strengthy. His contact with Tedesco would be the photo of the decade. Awesome power. Tricolours for the trifecta I think. Then mass retirements beckon... Hardgreaves, Morris brothers, Cordner, Friend...
4. AFL. Swans a great win, but Eddie Betts at Carlton has ignited them to an upset. GWS have hit the floor hard, all with a zillion first draft picks. You get the feeling there is a perfect exit clause back to Victoria or South Australia for any whinger that wants it. Nice to see the Gold Coast not consider their first win for a while as a fluke!
5. EPL. Liverpool get their chance to make their fans believe once more... surely it is a non-event, but good they can come back to claim the title.
6. Bulldogs. Are they the powerhouse they once were? Will they be forced to merge? Their recruitment needs to straighten up real quickly. No love lost in the halves there.
7. Raiders. They could be suffering from too much Ricky. It looks like they are following the way of many other clubs who tired of the message...Brian Smith style.
8. Messy at Cricket Australia. Never take a smaller paycut than everyone else... it looks bad. Kevin Roberts was unfortunately a short lived presence. The poor financial management of the game is staggering really in light of what they have had. Unfortunately they needed a victim and nailed him. It appears they have lost their way around strategy.
9. Mike Tyson. A bit quiet on the comeback stories of late, but ready to rumble by the look of him.
10. Spanish Dream. Great to see Tony Macrae's horse get a stunning third place at Randwick on Saturday in Race 6 - the 1200 benchmark 78 run behind Stella Sea Sun. Bravo!
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Wrap - The Best Yet Is The Youngest 'C Sample' Brother
1. St George Saga. It didn't take long before the ridiculous St George recruitment started to unravel - Issac Luke's departure. Can anyone believe the Broncos took him? Paul McGregor is getting desperate and is on the ropes. Dufty has good pace. Their wingers have errors in them. Euan Aiken is the clearly the best defensive centre in the game. His attack is nowhere near it though. 'Mary' has lost the dressing room and car park, but still retains the full support of the Board, which is heartening.
2. NRL Referees. Much better footy standards with one ref. Henry Perenara has some mighty tats. Since Greg Hartley, who has played First Grade and being a centrefield ref (excluding bunker additions)? Jarred Maxwell is the great deep voice from the bunker ('I have a decision...')!
3. Matt Moylan. Matt has simply broken down. Top fellow, but he rarely plays two games in a row. Dud signing unfortunately and Bronson Xerri out too make Cronulla vulnerable. Nick Politis doesn't like blokes with too many tats and dye in the hair, pictures of them in the paper on a jetski...aaaagh nonsense.
'Charles' Bronson Xerri. Is the Xerri B sample ready yet? Could be in by Christmas.
4. Josh Reynolds. How mischievous was the work of Buzz Rothfield last Sunday re his so called 'arrest'? Defamatory and misleading. All a false negative. Amateur hour. Don't wait for the apology.
5. NRL Manly. They are doing pretty well too. Big forwards and sharp halves. The Trobjevic brothers are sensational. There is a hint of the Chappells about this family...the youngest of the third is supposedly the best... we'll see. Trevor never got near the others. Nor did Dean or Danny Waugh!
6. Swans. A familiar song losing a close one. Getting thumped early and an eventual comeback, but falling short. Rebuilding at present, lacking punch and pace (still).
7. Premiers. Roosters could make it another premiership yet. Not sure if they have the pace however. Storm are different with the rule changes. Halfback issues. Newcastle have a great roster and came back to earth with a thud. Their forwards are playing well. Klemmer is offloading at will.
He is up there with the greatest of Newcastle forwards ever: Tony Butterfield, Matt Parsons. Paul Harragon, Josh Perry, Mark Sargent, Glenn Grief, Adam Woolnough, Kade Snowden and John Schuster (an NZ centre, but loved him nonetheless).
8. Parramatta. Really enjoying Junior Paulo's hands and skills. He has Nathan Brown running powerfully to balance against. Prone to an injury with his playing style. Five wins in a row by Parramatta and you are almost in the semis!
9. Gold Coast Suns and Titans. Two victories in two weeks (v West Coast and Tigers) by the minnows. Incredible.
10. Vale the great hard man Noel Kelly. Former Controversy Corner member with the Rex days. (Col Pearce, Rex Mossop, Ferris Ashton, all goooone...). Clarko is the only one left... can anyone recall the seating pattern on the original show?
11. Field of Dreams. Good to see Eddie Jones prepared to give up 1 million pounds a year to park out the front of Endeavour/ Ronson/ Caltex/ Toyota/ Remondis/ Southern Cross Group/ PointsBet Stadium?...please.
12. Statuesque. I am a bit worried about the Ray Price statue at Parramatta's Wankfest Stadium. 24 hour security hopefully.
2. NRL Referees. Much better footy standards with one ref. Henry Perenara has some mighty tats. Since Greg Hartley, who has played First Grade and being a centrefield ref (excluding bunker additions)? Jarred Maxwell is the great deep voice from the bunker ('I have a decision...')!
3. Matt Moylan. Matt has simply broken down. Top fellow, but he rarely plays two games in a row. Dud signing unfortunately and Bronson Xerri out too make Cronulla vulnerable. Nick Politis doesn't like blokes with too many tats and dye in the hair, pictures of them in the paper on a jetski...aaaagh nonsense.
'Charles' Bronson Xerri. Is the Xerri B sample ready yet? Could be in by Christmas.
4. Josh Reynolds. How mischievous was the work of Buzz Rothfield last Sunday re his so called 'arrest'? Defamatory and misleading. All a false negative. Amateur hour. Don't wait for the apology.
5. NRL Manly. They are doing pretty well too. Big forwards and sharp halves. The Trobjevic brothers are sensational. There is a hint of the Chappells about this family...the youngest of the third is supposedly the best... we'll see. Trevor never got near the others. Nor did Dean or Danny Waugh!
6. Swans. A familiar song losing a close one. Getting thumped early and an eventual comeback, but falling short. Rebuilding at present, lacking punch and pace (still).
7. Premiers. Roosters could make it another premiership yet. Not sure if they have the pace however. Storm are different with the rule changes. Halfback issues. Newcastle have a great roster and came back to earth with a thud. Their forwards are playing well. Klemmer is offloading at will.
He is up there with the greatest of Newcastle forwards ever: Tony Butterfield, Matt Parsons. Paul Harragon, Josh Perry, Mark Sargent, Glenn Grief, Adam Woolnough, Kade Snowden and John Schuster (an NZ centre, but loved him nonetheless).
8. Parramatta. Really enjoying Junior Paulo's hands and skills. He has Nathan Brown running powerfully to balance against. Prone to an injury with his playing style. Five wins in a row by Parramatta and you are almost in the semis!
9. Gold Coast Suns and Titans. Two victories in two weeks (v West Coast and Tigers) by the minnows. Incredible.
10. Vale the great hard man Noel Kelly. Former Controversy Corner member with the Rex days. (Col Pearce, Rex Mossop, Ferris Ashton, all goooone...). Clarko is the only one left... can anyone recall the seating pattern on the original show?
11. Field of Dreams. Good to see Eddie Jones prepared to give up 1 million pounds a year to park out the front of Endeavour/ Ronson/ Caltex/ Toyota/ Remondis/ Southern Cross Group/ PointsBet Stadium?...please.
12. Statuesque. I am a bit worried about the Ray Price statue at Parramatta's Wankfest Stadium. 24 hour security hopefully.
Monday, June 8, 2020
Wrap - A Tough Week for the McGregors
1. NRL. Isn't it great to see a touch judge fiasco back on the table. Manly v Parramatta too. I was starting to worry that touch judges were completely irrelevant. Hard to believe the FOX commentators who instantly believe themselves to be correct, but the NRL very quickly admit errors nowadays and nothing changes. The one ref system is working well, but clearly fewer 'six again' calls are being made and they are not consistent. One game varies a lot to the next. If you are unfit as a ref, you call fewer of them.
2. Josh Reynolds. Obviously struggling the poor bloke and has been dudded a recall at Canterbury too. Not a lot of good happens after 1.00am however, so hard to believe. Police have been known to get a bit of celebrityitis on occasion. Fancy the media publishing that when they knew his test was not positive. Rothfield should hang his head and apologise.
The way the Tigers gave in to the Gold Coast may have the fans thinking they should all turn to drugs to ease their pain. Maguire is on borrowed time too. Too cranky and not a clear strategist at tough times.
3. St George-Illawarra. A few questions to ask them:
(i) Who recruited Ben Hunt?
(ii) Why play Hunt at hooker, displace your captain Cameron McIness and then bring in Isaac Luke into the team too?
(iii) Who recruited Isaac Luke? Great in his day, but fading sadly.
(iv) Who recruited Corey Norman from Parramatta when they already had Gareth Widdup?
(iv) Do they need James Graham - or Tyson Frizell (gone to the Knights) more?
(v) In a team with no pace, can Ben Dufty be left on the sidelines?
(vi) For a club who have always had great centres, is Lomax ahead of his time? Jack Bird was a junior that they never held onto too.
(vii) Will the Sims lads who left Newcastle be returning there?
It sounds like there needs to be a clean out in a few places...but this is very expensive - not just at the coaching level. The shadow of Flanagan lurks closer.
3. Connor McGregor. A tough week for the McGregors. How many retirements can someone have? Greg Inglis has made a comeback... the big boxer and sandwich maker George Foreman had a few...John Farnham has had most.
4. Erin Molan. Is Erin's bubble bursting? She has been a target to many for a while given her high profile, but disrespecting Pacific Islanders is not a good survival tactic when they dominate the NRL. The spellings and proliferation of vowels is unusual to us and difficult to pronounce. John Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele is a tough one, but this has been around since the 12th Man made cassettes. Different era now. Hopefully a quick apology results. Can't imagine Rabs would be happy being dragged into this nonsense.
5. Newcastle Knights. A top performance v the Panthers the week previous missing injured stars Pearce and Connor Watson. Then to turn it on to the Raiders was exceptional too. Ponga is one the Cowboys should never have let escape them. He is a superstar. The new coach at the Knights has started well. Bradman Best has been a revelation too. A shame Nathan Brown didn't get to see this eventuate.
6. Super Rugby. NZ are back with crowds and all. Virus defeated. Well played! Great PM too.
7. Premier League. Back on June 17 and much anticipated to see if Liverpool win... surely, even if their women's team has been shunned and now relegated.
2. Josh Reynolds. Obviously struggling the poor bloke and has been dudded a recall at Canterbury too. Not a lot of good happens after 1.00am however, so hard to believe. Police have been known to get a bit of celebrityitis on occasion. Fancy the media publishing that when they knew his test was not positive. Rothfield should hang his head and apologise.
The way the Tigers gave in to the Gold Coast may have the fans thinking they should all turn to drugs to ease their pain. Maguire is on borrowed time too. Too cranky and not a clear strategist at tough times.
3. St George-Illawarra. A few questions to ask them:
(i) Who recruited Ben Hunt?
(ii) Why play Hunt at hooker, displace your captain Cameron McIness and then bring in Isaac Luke into the team too?
(iii) Who recruited Isaac Luke? Great in his day, but fading sadly.
(iv) Who recruited Corey Norman from Parramatta when they already had Gareth Widdup?
(iv) Do they need James Graham - or Tyson Frizell (gone to the Knights) more?
(v) In a team with no pace, can Ben Dufty be left on the sidelines?
(vi) For a club who have always had great centres, is Lomax ahead of his time? Jack Bird was a junior that they never held onto too.
(vii) Will the Sims lads who left Newcastle be returning there?
It sounds like there needs to be a clean out in a few places...but this is very expensive - not just at the coaching level. The shadow of Flanagan lurks closer.
3. Connor McGregor. A tough week for the McGregors. How many retirements can someone have? Greg Inglis has made a comeback... the big boxer and sandwich maker George Foreman had a few...John Farnham has had most.
4. Erin Molan. Is Erin's bubble bursting? She has been a target to many for a while given her high profile, but disrespecting Pacific Islanders is not a good survival tactic when they dominate the NRL. The spellings and proliferation of vowels is unusual to us and difficult to pronounce. John Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele is a tough one, but this has been around since the 12th Man made cassettes. Different era now. Hopefully a quick apology results. Can't imagine Rabs would be happy being dragged into this nonsense.
5. Newcastle Knights. A top performance v the Panthers the week previous missing injured stars Pearce and Connor Watson. Then to turn it on to the Raiders was exceptional too. Ponga is one the Cowboys should never have let escape them. He is a superstar. The new coach at the Knights has started well. Bradman Best has been a revelation too. A shame Nathan Brown didn't get to see this eventuate.
6. Super Rugby. NZ are back with crowds and all. Virus defeated. Well played! Great PM too.
7. Premier League. Back on June 17 and much anticipated to see if Liverpool win... surely, even if their women's team has been shunned and now relegated.
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