1. NRL Dragsters. It reminds me of wild 16-18 year old parties - jumping over fences, hiding from Police, doing the COVID bolt. Paul Vaughan did yet another dumb thing and will struggle to get a decent pay day again. Ironically, he could have been on the cusp of Origin selection if he had been smart.
The interesting thing too was those blokes not invited - or who chose not to attend - Ramsay, Rawalara, Hunt, McCulloch, Sims. Maybe Origin save a few, but the chasm in team culture brought about by assembling too many 'offcuts' from other clubs is laid bare.
As mentioned last week, the St George retirement home for lost broncos... Beale, Alvaro, Maguire... All looking for a new start and finding trouble. No guessing why they may have been trimmed from other clubs. As for de Belin, you'd cut him in an instant. After all that wasted salary cap money over the past few years and club loyalty and this is where his brain is at? Jack needs to steer clear of bedrooms. Simple. The story is not over yet, because you get the sense that the lies may come back to bite them with a stat dec. I suspect there may have been plenty of other people there, which will come out in time of course.
Nonetheless, it will be memorable for all the wrong reasons. The NRL fines did not miss. Now, maybe if they did the same for the Corey Norman street fight and his other nonsense earlier this would have been cured. Corey and Matt Dufty (nice five kilometre run home!) are disappointments. No wonder the coach has axed them.
Coach Griffin too is suddenly under the electron microscope. Hook may be hooked soon too. Why would this have not happened with Bellamy at the Storm?
2. Ash Barty. A great effort to get to the final and win Wimbledon. The third ever Australian. This is a player who left the sport and played at the Brisbane Heat! (HS 39). She is so humble, courageous and talented. She plays with such grace and humility and is clearly well regarded by her peers. A few Grand Slam wins need to occur while she is at the peak of her game. It is a small and ever closing window. She has two now.
Dylan Alcott. Great effort in the wheelchair Wimbledon championships (14th Grand Slam win). Can we get an update on the trophy there? It looks like a 'Student of The Week' trophy at present.
So pleased to see Tom Cruise there. What a show pony. Not sure if he understands the game.
3. Nick Kygrios. Casts himself as a modern day Robin Hood these days. Stealing the limelight from others and giving away free advice and Instagram wisdom - and "entertainment" - until he seems to get bored. He's even advertising cars that no one knows the name of at all. The decision not to attend the Olympics underlined why it should not be there as a sport. He sees it as a tournament. Most Olympic athletes see it as a lifetime pinnacle achievement in their sport.
4. Novak Djokovic. He will probably end up with the most majors ever. He is a ruthless machine. Often criticised (with some good reason), but he has an awesome record. He rarely loses a Grand Slam Final. Keep your house on him! He will equal Federer and Nadal on 20 Grand Slam wins. Maybe this will ignite the fire in Nadal a little more. Federer at 40 now looks cooked.
5. Euro Final. Hard to believe England figures in something so momentus...and in their own backyard. Italy have that X-Factor however. It could all come crashing down. Hopefully not for the fans who won't know what to burn if they lose. Any price on a dodgy refereeing decision?
5A. Copa America. Argentina not crying, but laughing. Messi and crew get it done over Brazil!
6. NRL. No one can ever explain why we need split rounds of the game for a dead rubber Origin. Please... we have Mitchell Moses who will win it for us now. The league becomes very boring and scant, giving the AFL a perfect leg up! How ordinary were the games this weekend?
The ill discipline in camp by Arrow was very hard to comprehend. All good things mind you, but timing? The NRL entitlement culture is staggering. Lots of money and lots of delusion.
The only club that has no problems is the Storm. Their biggest problem is where to put the bigger trophy cabinet.
7. AFL. The Swans are looking sharp. A top win v Western Bulldogs. Lots of tackling pressure can break a team. If only the Dogs had English up front from the get go, they would have prospered more. Crazy coaching really. Richmond are done with Collingwood smashing them in the final quarter but the GWS effort v Gold Coast was appalling.
Still my two AFL rule changes need to occur:
(i). Kick it out of bounds = free kick to the other team from where it was kicked.
(ii). Following a mark, a maximum of five seconds to make a choice. It is far too long at present. Get on with it!
Essendon are hanging on and chalked up a comfortable win v Adelaide. Stringer was on fire and his role as a mid fielder is quite unique and effective for someone so strong. Melbourne bounced back. Love big Max Gawn the Melbourne skipper. Great hands in the air and lots of composure under heat.
8. Connor McGregor. He is a hype machine and good on him. I'd like to see him win a little more. He is a money machine with all the high jinks, so good on him. Surely it ends now. A bad leg break for no real reason. A worry.
9. F1. Speaking of which...Daniel Riccardo. He seems to have more excuses than the St George NRL party goers. As Kerry Packer used to say: "don't complain and don't explain".
10. Golf. A big week for Australia last week. Cam Davis in a PGA play off win taking his world ranking from the high 100s/ 200s to 67! Great effort. All the while Lucas Herbert won the Irish Open. Herbert has been the classic PGA journeyman and has hovered in the 70-80 world rankings for a while now. A career high 55th in the world is nothing to sneeze at! Steph Kyriacou also won in Holland at the best named golf tournament going: The Big Green Egg Open at Rosendaelsche Golf Club. Her father carries her bag as caddy! Great teamwork.
11. Australian Cricket. What a horrible, pathetic effort. Weak and brainless really. Spoiled players who critique the coach long before they critique themselves. The coach, Justin Langer is now at the mercy of the over paid players. Unfortunately, he is on a short leash. It is hard to like anything about Australian cricket at present.
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