The Wrap - Slippery Slides

 1. NSW Origin Team. A pretty impressive backline: Tedesco, Addo-Carr, Mitchell, Wighton, Tommy T, To'o, Luai, Cleary...but Queensland are always strong here no matter who is selected. Dane Gagai was in great form on the weekend and killed it with three tries. Alex Johnston would do well in Origin as well. I am a little worried about the NSW forwards...Frizzell? Jake T? Too slow. Cook must run fast or perish.

Love reading about disgruntled whinging players whose selfishness knows no bounds. V'landys is under fire according to a few journalists, but what a joke. He won't listen to that rubbish. As dramatic as it sounds, the future of the game is at stake, but referee and bunker consistency is now the issue. There are ridiculous numbers of crusher tackles. They need to be lined out.

What about the Panthers? 30 wins out of the last 32 games across two years. Legendary. That will help Ivan Cleary's coaching win success rate.

2. NRL Slippery Slide I - Parramatta. They have hit the inevitable mid-season wall. Their lack of speed is killing them. Their prize centre junior recruit - Penesini - is clever, but too slow. Pace wins. Addo Carr, Brimson, Tommy T... They also missed Campbell-Gillard and have not dominated as they need to up front. Between Ferguson, Opacic and Jacob Arthur, they may have set a world record with missed tackles. They are diabolical and the coach seems unable to see it. Having the son there makes it worse, but he did score a good heads up try. Waqar Blake is appalling in defence. Probably a lovely bloke and you'd be thrilled to have him collect the mail and feed the pets if you went on holidays, but defend your right edge? No thanks. Blake Ferguson should become a back rower. That is his future.

3. NRL Slippery Slide II - Canberra. A classic example of the small window that arises for a club to win a premiership. Sadly for them it has been missed. George Williams has an interesting view of self centredness. Looking for a seaside club, then mental health, then a release, then he gets upset that he was cut immediately. Too many English players.. Bateman did the same and the hooker, Josh Hodgson says he loves the club, but the question marks are rising. Ricky's style of coaching brings this his way. His frustration bubbles, simmers, bubbles and then explodes. When it is going well, he is passionate and brilliant. It looks like he may have lost the dressing room, but maybe they just need to regroup.

4. NRL Slippery Slide III - St George.. What a diabolical last month. Two losses to the Wests Tigers is awful. Enought to think of doing another merger, if anyone would have them. Maybe a different de Belin might lift them eventually. They looked really good against Parramatta, but they have fallen in a heap. Not re-signing Dufty is a mistake. He is one of the few pace merchants in the competition. Injuries and suspensions are killing them.

5. AFL. Melbourne are right in the frame to win the flag this year. They absolutely dusted the Western Bulldogs. Easier than anyone thought. The Swans scrap well. Tight games are their go and a big win v Carlton.

6. Super Rugby Trans-Tasman. What is wrong with the defence in rugby? Some really big numbers in the contests this weekend. 40-34 win by the Reds over the Chiefs (a rare feat!); a 52-38 win by the Crusaders over the Waratahs; a 38-10 win by the Blues v Brumbies and a 43-6 win against the Western Force by the Hurricanes. Getting worse or ever thus?

5. Champions League. A cracking win by Chelsea 1-0 over Man City. Everyone loves an underdog.

6. EPL. Promotion for Brentford, Watford and the canaries, Norwich City in the EPL. Great to see some new clubs feast on the 300 million dollars for their elevation. Hopefully they can do a 'Leeds 2020-2021' and survive. An exciting part of that competition.

The Wrap - Can You Believe It?

1. NRL - Rugby League. Not as many high shots with fewer high tackles and nonsense around the head already. Miracle! It is a brave and necessary start, but frustrating as the adjustments are made. It really shines a light on how many of these have been happening in the game previously. Consistency is the challenge.

2. Premiers. Is the NRL premiership already down to Panthers v Storm? There is no one else close really. Eight successive wins for the Storm. An amazing coaching record for Bellamy. Cleary has lost only one game in a year... against the Storm.

Broncos spring the upset of the season v the Roosters. Manly also aimed up really well v the Eels. Great intensity and top defence, just like St George when they whacked them at BankWest earlier this year. Parramatta simply lack pace and have no 'go to', unless in the opponent's 25 metre area on short balls and short carries. Parramatta are struggling with high pressure games. 28-6 is a whacking. Schuster and Tommy T killed them. A clever young player with a wily expert who is in devastating form. 

Waqar Blake made more mistakes than any other player in a long time... penalties, defensive misreads, missed tackles, drop balls and then finally and mercifully, a sin bin to erase the memory of his efforts. He surely cannot play again in First Grade. The crowd were screaming for a ten week suspension.

Liked the Manly v Parra ref's words at different times when the crowd of players was swarming around him at different times.."calm down!"..."settle down".

3. The Decline. The Rabbits are cooked. Ever since the Reynolds signing, they have leaked lots of points. Nathan Cleary is killing them. So dominant. He has the Dally M in his grasp to lose really. Canberra have massive issues and are only capable of keeping half a game in check. This has been a significant decline from where they were. The Cronulla v St George game on Friday night may just have been the worst game of the season to watch. Slow, error laden and so many key players out.

4. NRL - Anti-Social Media. Is it at all believable that a player (Papanheyzen) receives 100 death threats because he is knocked out by a Saints player and betting multis are ruined for some? Thankfully Latrell Mitchell took them on. There should be more of it. The Sewer of the Internet. Players at my club would not have social media profiles, however trendy that is. A complete distraction.

3. 2021 NRL Debut Club. Great debuts this year from Reece Walsh, Sam Walker, Josh Schuster and now Joseph Suaili. A rich reservoir of talent regardless of those who death wish the sport at the junior level. Young Curran from the Warriors is another one with plenty of talent and a broken arm at present.  The game rolls on...

4. US PGA. The great Phil Mickelson (-7) in the lead with Brooks Koepka (-6) and Louis Oosthuizen (-5) into the final round. A top effort. A walk down memory lane. If Koepka putts better, he walks it in. Koepka enjoys the US PGA! Four US major wins (2 x US Opens...2 x US PGA). This is in the top 20 of all time.

5. AFL. Richmond are struggling. Plenty of injured troops, but very flat. Their run home gets them to the MCG more often than not which will assist. GWS have lifted big time beating the West Coast. Another tiny margin for the Swans in a close game. This time a loss. Western Bulldogs are electric. They will take beating with Melbourne finally having their bubble burst.

6. Cameron Bancroft. Definitely and sadly has had his papers stamped. Very foolish to say what he did but then have no evidence. Inexperience with media. He has had a fair bit of practice, but no real advice given to him seemingly. Interesting we had four bowlers (Starc, Cummins, Hazelwood and Lyon) come out in a joint statement. Were they also all in the Alinta Energy bathtub as well? Of course Michael Clarke had to weigh in, but Stuart Broad mentioned an interesting thing...if there was a mark on the ball, Anderson would chip him. There is more to this, but unlikely to ever come out. Probably a good thing.

7. Daniel Ricciardo. The excuses keep rolling and now he is the party boy in the media. His F1 career is going to end soon if he can't rescue some form and podium finishes. 

8. Rip Bob Fulton - Immortal. Sad news for one of the greats. His signing at the Roosters was a heresy, but Bozo loved his cash! Great tribute in Manly winning this afternoon. His coaching record was awesome. There are five living Immortals: Andrew Johns (aged 47), Wally Lewis (61), Mal Meninga (60), Norm Provan (88) and John Raper (82). The Immortals:

The Wrap - Out Of The Box

1. Tom Trbojevic. He could well be the most dominant player in any team all year in a number of seasons and a favourite for the Dally M award (and Cleary), despite missing five weeks or so. Manly have suddenly burst to life since his return. Saab is well named, but five weeks ago no one could understand the hype. Since Tommy T has returned, his speed is awesome, his aerial work amazing and he is tough. Watching guys like him, Papenhuyzen and Tedesco thrill the crowds. Speed wins... unless you try it late at night in the Manly Corso. That was a heavy loss.

There are also some very slow wingers in the game now...Don, Sivo, Ferguson, Mamalo, Oates, Cotric, Feldt.

2. Adam Reynolds. Signed by Brisbane, but surely Souths know something they are not revealing about his health. A three year deal is exceptionally generous at his age. Souths need to trim players to retain their other talent and I think he is slowing down, yet runs a good game. He may be the best goalkicker we have ever seen in the game. Townsend will need to buy himself a goal kicking coach and a sprint coach.

3. Head Contact Crackdown Blitz. Rugby league head contact crackdown. Can anyone explain why this did not happen at the start of the season? This is the mystery. Have lawyers come knocking?

It is certainly a worry long term for the game as multi-million dollar legal suits loom. The game will be crippled. However, if Tedesco continues to slide and dip low at the point of contact, his concussion woes will continue. Where is the line between accidental and deliberate?

There were some other worrying signs in the rugby league this weekend... stupid "advantage" rules and returning sixty metres back up field for a delayed decision... rugby union style, two minutes later. The rugby league bunker is full of fear too, taking ridiculous amounts of time to make a decision. There were a couple of tries where they were looking for the cast of CSI to help them, worried they may get sacked. There are delays and looping back two plays for a penalty. We were meant to be speeding the game up I thought, but the interruptions...

That said, when they announced punching was banned, lifting tackles, crusher tackles...we had the same reaction. Impossible? Yet they have been stamped out pretty much.

However that ridiculous rule that you can hammer a bloke the instant he catches a bomb needs changing too. A 20 metre bonus quick tap for the bomb catching team could change coaching tactics. Fewer bombs, more contested high balls.

Interesting to see referee Ben Cummins hit the Bill Harrigan record number of games. 390+. Good achievement and one to help erase Bill's memory perhaps. I like the new line from refs when the inevitable dispute at a breakdown arises.."well, review it then...". Great response to the whingers. This actually needs more microscope in the game. If you are not the captain...have a break. 

It may be time to implement a "penalty box" concept (like the NHL - US ice hockey) where a player stays a short time behind the goal posts of the end their team are running from...before returning to play).

4. Cronulla. Former coach, John Morris apparently told Andrew Fifita to retire. I think he was right. If fit, he is awesome. He has immense talent but does very silly things sometimes. Like the Tigers centre, old mate Joey Leilua.

Unfortunately too, Fifita has a target on him from the NRL referees too. Joining him in retirement will be Dugan, Woods, Moylan, Chambers, Tolman..maybe Wade Graham too. They may need a retirement home adjoining their home ground of Endeavour Field/ Ronson/ Toyota/ Caltex/ Remondis/ Southern Cross stadium.

4a Predictions - We've Been Saying It For Weeks. It is eight weeks too late, but sad to see the Kyle Flanagan press conference. He is simply not up to it yet. He needs to learn more - and not from Dad. Sprint work and run to the line, draw defence and use a smart quicker pass on both sides. He is too slow sadly for the modern games. More Jason Taylor than Jason Nightingale. Straighter running and tougher to the line. Eliminate silly kicks.

Adam Doueihi was the other one. Stifling opportunity in the team by handling the ball too often at five eight. Finally moved wider with better impact. You still need a court order to get the ball off him.

Sam Walker is the smarter option, but needs to work on his defence. He is being targeted big time now by opponents. Trent Robinson is much smarter than Trent Barrett. Both went to St Greg's Campbelltown, but one seems to have opened more books.

5. AFL. Still liking Geelong and their strength across the park. Gary Rohan looks great in patches, but can go quiet in a GF. Amazed to see Melbourne still carving up the competition. Swans are bright, but fading a bit, despite crushing Collingwood. Buddy has been very subdued this year. North Melbourne winning is rare, but they are on the board. 

The Tigers v GWS contest was sensational. Dustin Martin moves so smoothly. Taking out the umpire was a little comical... he tumbled, did the shoulder and then got a standing ovation because his judgement of a critical goal helped the Tigers win! GWS look tougher now and the camp look to have eliminated the earlier angst. The journeyman Jesse Hogan went well too, compensating for the loss of Jeremy Cameron. Western Bulldogs are still the benchmark. Crisp, united, slick across the park and tough. They will be hard to toss for the 2021 flag.

Melbourne 9-0 record is their best season start since 1956!

6. Cameron Bancroft. This guy has always worried me. Arriving a bit too early and before his time. Ever since the silly laughing post match interview in 2017 re the Jonny Bairstow headbutt incident...then the sandpaper gate..then the ridiculous singlet sympathy interview. Now he is resurrecting the ball tampering issue to uncover a conspiracy involving the bowlers in that game. He might need to concentrate on his forward defence. His form has dipped and he may just have had his papers stamped.

7. QLD Rugby. Well that didn't last long? Thumped 41-9. IN fact a typical "sweep" by the NZ teams. The Crusaders almost got pipped by the Brumbies (why are they always so competitive?) but they are still break dancing! The Waratahs score 40+ points and still get hammered? What is going on with that joint?

8. Man City confirmed as EPL champions. Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United all relegated. Leicester coming third...a great effort. West Ham fifth is also impressive.

9. FA Cup. Always remember staying up to watch the FA Cup as a youngster. A top event in front of a reduced crowd this year. Leicester are firing! 1-0 win v the fancied Chelsea. The VAR can be cruel, but rarely inaccurate. There are so many blokes with sheer speed playing that game. Is it the footage, the crowd, the hype or is there no one within a bull's roar of this in the A-League?

The Wrap - Prison Bars and Kidnappings

1. NRL. The Sharks have been completely screwed over by the administration decision to punt John Morris mid season, but surely they need a clean out of players whose attitudes appear to be problematic. They lose their coach and then lose the plot. As a sponsor you would be filthy. Your season is done. Fifita, Dugan, Moylan, Woods...do any of these blokes need to be retained? At least Townsend won the lottery and has a new home to reinvent his game. They'll need Fitzgibbon to clean the joint out. Amazing how small a premiership window is for a club. At least they picked up one at that time.

Ricky Stuart and Madge Maguire. Both "old fashioned" coaches who rant and rave and show emotion and 'loyalty' to their players. Both close to the edge now. It wears on the 'modern' player who wants to dictate and tell others what to do with no personal responsibility.

Compare this to Trent Robinson...Todd Payton. A new coach who made an impact at the Warriors and is starting to get the Cowboys on track too. Lots of good young forwards and sensible use of the bench. These close QLD Derby's are a popular and familiar result.

The hogging of the ball by Doueihi and lack of vision by the halfback, Luke Brooks, is hurting the West Tigers. Doueihi is playing OK, but not for the team. Why has David Nofoaluma only scored a handful of tries in 2021 and over 20 last year? He finally passed the ball to him on the weekend, eight rounds in.

Poor Kyle Flanagan. He is under a lot of pressure with a bench player named to shadow him. Not since Ross Conlon have we picked players on goalkicking ability only. Not sure how self aware he is on the football field. Barrett has been very patient.

The Bunnies were pumped and can't win the title. 50-0 is an embarrassment in anyone's book. Wayne Bennet should be explaining how this can happen with any team that prepares well during the week. The Sharks were worse.

Interesting to see 27/70 tries this weekend were scored by wingers. A big strike rate with the defensive trends mentioned last week.

2. Xavier Coates. A great signing by Melbourne to replace the six try wizard in Addo-Carr. A supreme athlete who is tough. Greg Inglis like. They know how to run a footy club. Melbourne can turn George Jennings or Remis Smith into a legend. As a player, this club can make you a lot of money when other clubs then sign you. There are plenty of ex-Storm players living in nice houses now.

3. Parramatta. Almost choked hearing that Brad Arthur may select his own son in the NRL team. Too slow. Talk about a rails run. That club has huge issues if that is as strong as it gets. They are winning comp games which is encouraging, but really their attack is pedestrian. You cannot win a comp with Tom Opacic and Niukore in the centres. Sivo is strong, but slow. Fergo has slippery hands. As good as Mahoney is, he too lacks pace. The only bloke with pace - Dylan Brown - has been suspended. He needs to feel the blow torch of the NRL. Whoever the player was in the toilet having intimacy recently, they avoided a bullet and will be feeling quite entitled I suppose. Clipping a few heels early is important as we have seen with many spoiled young guns in the game.

4. Swans. A tough game v Melbourne. They have had some tight games in 2021. Beat Essendon by 3 points, beat Geelong by two points and lost to GWS by three. Now a loss by nine points to Melbourne. The work of Callum Mills has improved so much since last year and earlier this year. He is in fine form. 

Is Ben Brown kidding? His run up to kick a goal is longer than Michael Holding's from the SCG fence. He is a great signing however...tall timber. Two or three marks a game in his own 50 will do the trick if he can kick straight. Love the showdown with Port v Adelaide, but Port were dominant. The debate about using the original prison bar uniform continues to stir up Eddie Maguire! 

Geelong still have the goods to win if they can keep their nerve, but a top win v Richmond. How GWS ever let Cameron go is staggering. Even Collingwood had a win.

Western Bulldogs did it tough over Carlton, but hit the accelerator late. Calls for Marcus Bontempelli to win the B&F Brownlow Medal in 2021 are rising!

5. The Crusaders. Five NZ Rugby titles in a row. Enough to make you break dance and dance on your head.

5a. Rugby is a great game for those who care about it and can ignore self centred referees and officials who see themselves as more important that the game. Big crowd in QLD, esp. given how bad the Broncos are going. The lower the game goes through the rugby feeder ranks, seemingly the better the quality and tribalism. Nice to see Brad Thorn win a title (a highly successful sporting record), but in the fair dinkum stakes, who have they beaten? The Waratahs were woeful, the Melbourne Rebels and Western Force are hardly dominant forces. The brumbies are always competitive. Great entertainment for those that are left watching Channel 9 these days too. It would be good to see how they would compete v the Crusaders.

6. Stuart MacGill. A seemingly complex man who has now become a complete conundrum. Sounds like he was lucky to escape. How does this happen? Perhaps there is a new club in world sport - the Kidnapees... Robert Allenby and the USA swimmer, Ryan Lochte would be there too. Not a club to join.

7. Michael Slater. You go to a country to work for a lucrative competition and broadcaster in a competition that should probably not have progressed without strict limits where there is COVID-19 - and get upset that you can't come home? There have been plenty before you Michael and most understand why we don't want another country to endure the same pain and grief. (My oldest son is in quarantine at present and has had eight COVID tests from his time in Florida. No surprise. The price of current international travel).

Is India the same country who had whinging cricket officials about COVID bubbles in Australia and how ridiculous they were, threatening to cut tours short and flouting the laws, dining at restaurants? Maybe they now understand how fortunate they were to actually play a sport they love.

8. Jarryd Hayne. How the once glamorous have fallen. Dally M Medals, massive posters on the side of Parra Leagues Club, State of Origin victories standing on fences arms raised, NFL trials, #38, big contracts, tantrums, blow ups, contracts ended and sought... now nothing except misery for the victim, two families and the sport itself. The yellowboots of 2010 are now permanently broken and stained. They will have bars on them in five years time.

9. Football Debacle. So despite the debacle of Super League Football, three clubs - Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are still not getting the message. Most have been fined and signed that they will not engage with a rogue competition again, except these three. Greed.

Western Wanderers are starting to roll forward...there may be hope for their long suffering Bloc. The A-League seems to just keep going and going as a comp!

Interesting to see Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga for the ninth straight year! Almost as famous as the St George Dragsters!

10. F1. Lewis Hamilton was spot on when he told Daniel Riccardo that there is nothing wrong with his car. He is on a precipice of  'drive better or drive away'. 100 pole positions now for Lewis Hamilton. Extraordinary. (32 more than Schumacher who is next best at 68).

11. Ash Barty. Loses the Madrid Open, but not respect for her work or her dignity. A class act as she moves into the French Open. Nadal is struggling however. He will need to lift!

The Wrap - The Toilet of The Internet

1. Tennis Spat. Gotta shake your head at Nick Kygrios. He gets upset being compared to Bernand Tomic, but in the minds of many, the petulant behaviours merge into one. Hopefully when they both grow older they will realise that if they were simply more pleasant and let their talent speak, no one would care.

Meanwhile Ash Barty rolls on through the Madrid Open, quietly steaming forward. Nick should note her style. 

2. AFL. A shocking loss by the much fancied Western Bulldogs. Surprisingly not on song after a dazzling start to the season, even with Dustin Martin in New Zealand for the Tigers. Collingwood are lurching from disaster to disaster (worst start since 2005), but the Suns look sharper than usual, even winning at the MCG! Their season (like the NRL, Cronulla Sharks) seems done on the back of off field nonsense. The axe is sharpening for a few coaches too of course, including Nathan Buckley. He seems flat and almost disinterested.

GWS seem to have perked up a bit, Port are Powering and there is a lot of umpire praising to occur from the Swans who really should have lost in the last seconds. Papley is a great competitor. An exciting brand of footy, but something needs to be done with North Melbourne. They are not helping TV ratings and the Melbourne Demons dusted them up badly after some promise. West Coast looked better, but up and down!

3. Social Media Sewer. Interesting to see a shutdown of social media by many of the European sporting organisations (ManU, Lewis Hamilton, International Tennis federation, etc) against the racist trolls online. A few worked out long ago that as Lady Ga Ga once said..."social media is the toilet of the Internet".

4. Mitchell Moses. Much maligned and he wafts in and out of games against tougher opponents, but $900,000 should have him at church on Sundays thanking the heavens. He has a great pass, kick, goalkicking and the defence has improved when he concentrates. In the row in front at church will be Chadd Townsend. Goal kicking ability helps, but that is absurd money that can kill a club long term. It can also kill a coach and their future. Ben Hunt is Exhibit A.

Jarome Hughes is going better than them all, but is not getting that sort of money. I noticed Cherry-Evans fears getting the tap on the shoulder too. It cruels a team because it is too much and squeezes the cap on everyone else. Blind club executives. Parramatta's inability to unearth local talent in the halves over many, many years is very troubling. Brad Arthur's son has ability, but I am not sure that it is NRL standard. he is no Nathan Cleary yet.

The signing of Kyle Flanagan who after eight rounds, still cannot go to the line at pace, run straight, straighten the attack and then fire a right to left pass or either dummy and accelerate is a serious concern for player and coach. He must have the hippopotamus ears on - not elephant ears... that or the coach continues not to realise. They need this changed immediately or they need a new option.

Awful news for the Roosters - Morris and Collins...added to Tedesco, Cordner, Friend ...Keary, Lam... There will be some significant salary cap there for them moving ahead. Suaalii may graduate from the 18th man ranks soon!

5. Rugby. Not that anyone sees the game anymore, but we understand a team called the Western Force were beaten and the Reds will now play the Brumbies for the title...whatever title that is. Good luck to the code.

I noticed the Penrith Emus hit rock bottom again after a win last week's win and lost 50-0 to Sydney Uni. The excitement was short lived.

6. Cricket. The IPL is evenly poised now. Dave Warner has been sacked, but will excel not being captain. Losses does that to skippers. He needs to relax and just play the game well. Kane Williamson has been the Sunrisers captain previously and they are going badly, so an interesting change (how was this overlooked at the start of the season?).

7. EPL. If it was ever in doubt, Man City are now basically confirmed as EPL winners again. Their record over the past ten years is amazing. Adding this year's title, it is 5 wins, 3 Runners Up and One third placing...only missing the top three once in ten years. Sounds like the Melbourne Storm.

8. A-League. Western Sydney Wanderers finally grab Scott McDonald and with it, a win over Sydney FC. Their run has been lean for the past two weeks, so a welcome return of the flares, hysteria, security fluro jackets and smoke at BankWest Stadium, Good crowd numbers.

9. Daniel Riccardo. His season is a disaster so far. He could be back at Bathurst before he knows it. No shortage of media however. We live in hope he can excel and not blame the track, the car, the weather, the equipment, the tyres. Dry shoes thus far.