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!
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