The Wrap - "If You Can't Win It Now, You Never Will"

1. NRL. Souths v Manly. Souths really whacked them. Too slick and a different style to the Melbourne game, but Tom T was silenced! Dylan Walker (and Cody for that matter) was strong, but not on everyone's Christmas card list. If Latrell was there, they would have completely hosed them! Maybe Latrell needs to head overseas to do his ban (a la Steve Roach) or head to the International Court of Sport Arbitration.

Player on-field reaction upon getting into a Grand Final is huge measure of how they are mentally. Souths were very calm - as was Penrith, it must be said. This may reveal an interesting battle looms where composure will count most. It is amazing how in Grand Finals, adversity will appear in one shape or another. Accepting that there will be adversity and evening out the highs and lows within the game is how you win these things.

Jack Gibson's approach? Just before the 1981-1982-1983 Grand Finals with Parramatta when the teams were about to run out, he said the same thing every year: "if you can't win it now, you never will!".

2. NRL. Penrith v Storm. The defence of the Penrith team is immense. This really makes a huge difference. Melbourne were unlucky with Christian Welsh and Brandon Smith knocked out of action. Cameron Munster looked tired and slow. He may need to head to that new Brisbane franchise. Nicho Hynes may have just received his best ever Christmas gift from the Storm. I worry about his impact elsewhere. Dale Finucane is raved about as a professional and has played in two Grand Finals for the Bulldogs in 2021, 2014 which many forget too. He needs to iron out Toby Rudolf's behaviour off the field (he was with Reece Walsh on the Gold Coast and it is "all on" Walsh, including the pocket item?) when he arrives at the Sharks.

Souths' intensity and attack will hit the brick wall of Penrith. Whether Penrith can score enough points is the key one. They have two semi wins/ three games, scoring 28 points and giving up 28 points. Whether Souths can protect their goal line is the other one. Souths have played two semi final games in 2021 and scored 52 points, giving up 26 points.  

Ivan Cleary continues to improve his career win percentage... getting up there with some of the best NRL coaches ever. Bellamy has been bounced out in straight sets in a semi final series which is staggering given how dominant the Storm were all year. It would be interesting to hear his reflections in time. Their banana lounges may have become too comfortable.

3. A Penrith v Souths Grand Final is very unique. A Sydney based Grand Final will only be the sixth in 20 years, ironically played in QLD! (2003 - Roosters v Penrith; 2004 - Bulldogs v Roosters; 2010 - Saints v Roosters; 2013 - Roosters v Manly; 2014 - Souths v Bulldogs). 

Some of the players you might remember who have played for both clubs - Neil Baker, Paul Akkary, Mark Carroll, Peter Tunks, Ben Ross, Darren Brown, Graham Lyons, Rhys Wesser, Michael Oldfield, Garret Crossman, James Roberts, Joe Galuvao, Josh Mansour and the great Gus Gould too.

4. Parramatta Signings. Almost fell over seeing Parramatta enquiring about Nic Cotric. Unlikely to win you a comp. Zero pace and struggled this year. Next they may want Kyle Flanagan or Corey Allan. Sign who is good in the current group. Thank goodness Gus wants to keep Cotric.

5. The Broncos. Player biff, police, courts... the place has fallen apart. Despite his talent, perhaps Reece Walsh was moved on based on attitude. We know Milford needs to improve at Souths.

6. AFL Grand Final. Here's the thing about Grand Finals... do you need a team meeting an hour before the biggest game of your life? The Western Bulldogs were in the lecture theatre... the Melbourne team were laughing and passing the footy in the sheds. The management of emotion is critical pre-Grand Finals. Rest, relax, stay cool.

A crushing win by Melbourne 140-66 after a tight first half and being 19 points down early inthe third quarter was something else! A sensational first quarter by Melbourne was countered by a sensational second quarter by the Western Bulldogs. Treloar and Bontempelli stood up strongly. Amazing. 

Blown apart after half time. Christian Petracca's 40 disposals in a Grand Final (supposedly reduced to 39 post game) was the best ever, deservedly getting the Norm Smith medal and Bailey Fritsch hit 6 goals/ 2 behinds in a dominant display - the best since 1997. Ben Brown should be thrilled...axed by North Melbourne and back to win a premiership. Paul Roos did a lot of heavy lifting way back too. Melbourne seem to have recruited character as much as skill.

For Western Bulldogs, I saw some worrying signs under pressure. Perhaps fatigue, but the inability to rally under siege was interesting for a proud club. English needs to lift and become more consistent and their forwards need stickier hands and less flamboyance... Weightman and Naughton are similar types of players - a strength or a weakness?

7. Ryder Cup. USA v Europe. Rowdy crowds, but the same distraction for both teams when at home. The head to head record of USA 26 v Europe's 14 is pronounced The Whistling Straits course would make a mess of most of us, but to claw back from here would be a best ever finish by the Europeans! 

The USA have blown the European team away, but with nearly every single one of them in the top 10 of world golf, did we expect much different? (Cameron Smith is our best at #23). Bryson continues to hit big! Rory has collapsed. Beer skoals on the green by players? Niggle, no gimees and chirping on the course...sounds like a boys weekend away.

A few too many loud voices for mine. Most of them are the players on the tees and greens - the post match interviews too. Great theatre however. If only the President's Cup had the same spirit and tempo... 

8. IPL. There is a distinct lack of Aussies in this show now. It reflects two things: our poor international form in T20 games and the absence of our batting capability or versatility on decks in the sub continent. There are some dreadful team performances this week. Warner a duck and two (gone?), Smith off the bench to fill in and players like Richardson and Meredith not even brought back... We are T20 minnows these days.

At least in the Shield (early start in season 2021-2022), Cameron Green hit a ton and Travis Head. Shaun Marsh did too, so he should be back in the Australian team very soon with Langer under the pump.

9. Women's Cricket. Lucky Australian win in Game 2 and a loss after 26 straight in Game 3. There is definitely a place in world women's cricket for better fielding coaches. Clearly only the very elite practise this. In the last twenty overs of the Indian innings today, we had four missed run outs, bowlers not behind the stumps and a multitude of dropped catches...one wore a ball in the face too. Comedy capers.

10. Rugby Championships. Only rugby could schedule their big games against the most popular viewing sport in the nation - the AFL Grand Final. They win again which is pleasing, but would someone have thought a Sunday afternoon may have worked well to fill the place and maximise TV audience? Odd and typically out of touch. The Pumas are physical but not clever in their play.

11. EPL. How can ManU lose...ever? 1-0 to Aston Villa is a dreadful outcome. A big prediction...Leeds, Burnley and Norwich will all be relegated. Brentford sit on 9 points with 3 draws, but are mixing it with the best.

12. Nick Kygrios. Intimating retirement. He is the new Mark Phillipousis. A reality show contestant of the future.

The Wrap - Quaking In Their Banana Lounges

 1. NRL - Finals #1. Manly decimated the Roosters. Diced them really. The value of speed has never been articulated more clearly than the Sea Eagles in 2021. Saab, Trbojevic, Garrick, even Foran...all look sharp. Their speed will win them plenty of key moments, but finally they beat a top eight team. Manly have unearthed some great forwards and adding the likes of Luke Garner and Ethan Bullemor in season 2022 will make them near to premiership favourites. They will wrestle it out with Souths. This could be one of the better games in recent years. 

The Roosters are slowing down and need to inject speed...just like Parramatta. How Sam Walker is kept on the bench until 20-0 down is staggering. Injury perhaps - or just defensive concerns. Trent Robinson is following a few (Coach Cleary - Kikau; Coach Holbrook - Fifita; Coach Arthur - Nathan Brown) in keeping strong players on the bench too long... end of year or no end of year.

2. NRL - Finals #2. Parramatta v Penrith. Parramatta need wingers with size and steel for the future. They also need speed... especially in the centres. Penisini defends really well and has been immense with so few NRL games behind him. He may have played more final games than NRL competition games! He keeps Waqar Blake in check.

Blake and Ferguson need to move on. Gutherson has become really slow, but is always a great competitor. In order to beat Penrith, you need to offload the ball and need possession to flow - and Moses needed to run the ball more. They allowed too many Penrith players to land on their stomachs and play the ball quickly. They had too many 'dead marines' caught up in the ruck when play had moved on. Great defence by both teams. No expert dummy half was always a risk for Parramatta. Stone's knock on and muffed pass (knock back?) was pivotal at the 65th and 75th minute mark. Ashley Klein had a reasonable game, but he loves a tight finish and an even up.

Penrith's defence was excellent, but their attack is suddenly quite ordinary. They lack speed and Crichton is not making much of a difference, despite the pay check. Both teams have great defence and forwards... but they both lack speed. The Panthers whinging about referees and the stoppages (the trainer calling an injury?) all seemed to be at pivotal moments.

Parramatta now have not won a GF since 1986 - 35 year drought! Longer than it took them to win their first one from inception into the comp.

Melbourne will not be concerned. They will be quaking in their banana lounges. A Saturday afternoon game at 3.00pm is unusual for a final, but may offer Penrith some hope in the sunlight and dry conditions. Penrith will need everything they can get (as Parramatta would have too!)!

3. AFL. Talk about a break. They have a two week entry into the Grand Final. Great that the NRL has moved its game time, so we can watch both live. Brownlow favourite...Ollie Wines or Clayton Oliver. Bontempelli is there too, but like always it is harder to win when there are other stars around you. Easier if you are the only decent player raking in the weekly points yourself.

4. Wallabies. A top win by the Wallabies v South Africa. Great pass by Tupou for the matchwinner. Lots of good signs, but we are still miles behind the All Blacks unfortunately. Hopefully we can capitalise on a few wins and beat the Argentinian team... and keep improving. The injection of greater pace could help, but the dominance of the TMO is a complete blight on the game. It is out of concern. It is a total stop-start game now. Players are celebrating penalties these days because they know how often they are awarded and how much a referee dominates a game. The advantage rule is a complete joke. Too many whistles and penalties... interruptions and no momentum. Let the game flow!

5. Djokovic-Federer-Nadal - all locked on 20 Grand Slams after the shock loss by Djokovic to Medvedev in the US Open Final. Maybe none of them will never win another one. This could be a fitting end. However, I suspect Djokovic will be back. A rare loss, but so costly. A possible Grand Slam and the 'best ever' title slips by...

6. Shayna Jack. Back in the pool after the drug fiasco. Don't take tablets Shayna... even if you never thought you did! Be alert. Elite athletes get many ASADA information sessions, warnings and drug tests. Hopefully she can recover, but once again, Australia don't look like the clean skins we announce ourselves as being. She'll be back around the same time as the Chinese swim sprinter, Sun, who our media have given a hard time to as well around the Mack Horton saga.

7. Jamie Kah. Party girl jockey and rubbed out for five months. Talk about over the top - despite not telling the whole truth, this seems excessive for a COVID breach. Racfing stewards are a lot harsher at times than the laws of the country. Go figure. She had a season with over 100 winners and it looks like they are keen to shuffle her back a peg or two. 

8. Tom Brady. Still the best. Tampa are on track. His mate Gronkowski ('Gronk') is also a complete gun. Both lost from the New England Patriots and both still carving it up.

9. Daniel Riccardo - GP Win. A first win in three years in the Italian GP last week. Such a huge sport through Europe and a 'shoey' to boot. Eight career wins now, but his true talents have not yet been fully seen.

10. Jordan Mailata - NFL. This guy is a supreme talent in that offensive tackle position with the Philadeliphia Eagles. Potentially a $100 million guy. A huge man and tough, who can sing like a bird. He would have scored some NRL tries as a junior! Have a look at the bloke in action as a junior in the NRL lower grades: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH233ZDm-BA  (you can see young Harry Grant drop him a couple of times!).

The Wrap - Into the Hyperbaric Chamber

1. Finals Time. Judiciaries, arrogant referees, whinging players, hyperbaric chambers and the International Court of Sport Arbitration. Which ones will we need? Melbourne in both codes have warmed as favorites and loom as winners of both codes!

2. AFL. Two blow outs in both preliminary games. Port a bad loss in front of their home crowd and Geelong just lose the impossible and are the perennial losers. How often do they fall in a heap in big games? Gary Rohan seems to be the master of them, yet he won a game after the siren earlier this year. They seem to lack steel at key moments and there are some old legs there. Tuohy, Duncan, Dangerfield, Selwood, Guthrie... great players, but they lack speed as a team and on the ground they are weaker. Max Gawn killed them with five unexpected goals. 19 disposals for the big horse.

For Melbourne, Oliver was dominant and warming up for his Brownlow. Steven May's injury is a concern, but at least he has a two week recovery time now. Viney and Petracca were awesome. Salem too. 

The Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs game. A cracking start by the Bulldogs and they broke free. Daniel, Dale, Liberatore, Smith...all tremendous. Adam Treloar bounced back in style too. Port were so disappointing. They simply ran out of ideas. Luke Beveridge is a huge success story as coach. He recruits speed, talls and mobility low to the ground and gets the blend right. Bontempelli showed no signs of injury and was a star yet again.

Melbourne v Western Bulldogs should be a great Grand Final in two weeks in a unique and somewhat crazy year. The extra week will give recovery time for key injuries, but will frustrate the fans.

Not many sports have a whole week off to celebrate a game's prime award (the Brownlow, named after a great administrator and player from down Geelong way) on its own -19 September. GF on the following week, clashing with the NRL again.

3. Melbourne Storm. A cracking team of dominance. They are not losing the Grand Final this year. They lose Brandon Smith in a head clash and no one even notices. Not a step missed. How good is Christian Welsh? He is the soul of the club. So consistent and a smart bloke too. They are so together and play so well for each other. Tommy Turbo lost five cylinders in a very quiet and ordinary game really. Another week away from yet another Grand Final for Melbourne. They have not missed Cronk, Smith and Slater. Incredible.

4. NRL. What was worse, the Ikavalu drop for the Roosters when up by six points on his own goal line? Or was it the Lumelume fumble for Melbourne that gifted the try to Saab? Terrible, but that's finals footy. Unbelievable things happen. The Titans v Roosters was tight.  

Sam Walker not playing a minute until the last ten was a mistake (unless injured). He made a match saving try, but only after his earlier miss. However, the Roosters have changed the winning formula which was silly by Robinson. Lam is not that flash. Morris is at a different level to the others. A star under pressure, even if retiring. A cracking game and finish. Patrick Herbert was re-signed recently, but he just needed to pass the ball...

Can we ban the penalty goal? A blight on the game. Souths' defence was more enthusiastic than most weeks. Wayne Bennett is a gun and he lined up Cleary in the post match interview. He always seem to lift his teams when it matters. Origin..club... a winner. A champion team. The boot of Reynolds will be highly valuable for Brisbane. 

Surprising to see Souths panicking at the end of the game. Cody Walker was the worst offender - dribble kicks to no one, penalty given away at a key time. Composure and poise are critical at this time of the year. Walker needs to focus on this. Arrow played his best game for the club too.

The Eels were fair only. Why you would bench Matterson and play the peroxided forward escapes me. Matterson would be filthy. That is a straight change. Paulo has nothing to worry about, but Niokore does. Interesting to see Moses run the ball. The Knights were as shocked as the fans. The Eels lost their shape and attack as the game went on. They looked tired and troubled - not a pass or off load in sight. Waqa Blake played better than most other weeks, but still needs a good cut out pass for the ball to reach a winger. He never passes. Haze Dunster is far too small and not that quick. Hardly a team that had rested its stars the week prior. They may have saved Brad Arthur's career however. The Panthers will be rested and trouble free.

Manly v Roosters. Panthers v Eels. Storm and Rabbits have the week off. Storm play the the winner of Panthers v Eels. Souths play the winner of Manly/ Roosters. 

Souths have a significant advantage all of a sudden.

5. NRL Ill Discipline. Amazing how a few of those players not keeping the reputation of the game clean have been cut this past week or so - Elliott, Dugan, Packer, Joey Leilua, Curtis Scott for starters. Sponsors don't like them and the game and clubs worry. A player type of the past.

6. India v England Test Cricket. No final Test due to COVID and India win the series 2-1. Incredible. We would have had the same if the series was not locked up into the final SCG Test last summer. Convenient with the IPL about to restart? Can you believe the whinging from the Poms about vaccinations and coming into Australia. Stay away, Australians are out on their cricket team. It stinks to high heaven.

7. NFL 2021. Tampa Bay Buccs and Dallas Cowboys. Tom Brady is the biggest show in town - with Gronkowski and the controversial Antonio Brown. They have a 2021-2022 Superbowl winners tag hovering over their heads again. Superb start to the season.

8. US Open Tennis. Some sort of player this Djokovic character. A sensational effort v Zverev in the semi final and another win seems inevitable for the most Grand Slams ever. We are watching greatness here. He is not losing this final either. 

In the women's draw, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez were the first teenage finalists at the US Open since Hingis v Serena Williams in 1999! England had not won a major tennis Grand Slam event since the 1970s - but have one now! 18 years old and wonderfully talented - even allowing for the Wimbledon pressure moment. For a qualifier to win the lot is awesome. Think Boris Becker in the mid 1980s, but he was unseeded, not a qualifier!  

9. EPL. Ronaldo two more goals, as if he has never been away. This bloke could just about be the best we've ever seen. Pele, Maradona, Messi...the lot. Both goals were a little soft, but he is always there! He has lifted the ManU crowd to great heights already. Some of the Ferguson spark has returned! 

10. Wallabies v Springbox. Is Quayde Cooper the Shaun Marsh of Australian rugby? Every time I see Michael Hooper getting beaten up as skipper, I am sympathetic. There are some players there who were not the financiers, lawyers and accountants of yesteryear. A lot seem not to have the footy smarts that once existed in rugby.

11. Justin Langer. How long does this charade continue? Poor old Justin is a dead man walking... Steve Waugh or Rick Ponting just would not allow the self centred player nonsense. Every era is slacker and different to the previous, who they judge harsher than their own.

12. Adam Scott. Two off the pace in the BMW Championship, but barely a star in sight. Now or never.

13. Riccardo. How long between F1 wins? Not confident of it being broken any time soon.

The Wrap - Goodbye and Good Riddance

1. NRL. Rest all the key players? What an annoying nonsense for the fans and the TV rights owners from Souths, Melbourne and Parramatta amongst others. The Sunday games were horrific - Titans v Warriors and Bulldogs v Tigers. Both whackings to nil! Does it get any worse? The end of the season for all of these teams could not come soon enough. The Mad Monday nonsense will no doubt follow the Bulldogs again. Ban that immature, unprofessional crap. 

It is actually refreshing to see the back of a few of these teams that have been so poor this year, especially the Broncos and Bulldogs. The Tigers were horrible as usual and Madge should start getting some cardboard boxes from Miller's Self Storage. Hopefully with all the players coming back after a week on the banana lounge, things will be stronger next week.

The Gold Coast sneak in and Josh Hannay, the relieving Sharks coach, should also go overseas to coach. His record is terrible. John Morris would have had the team neatly inside the eight.

Only Manly, Panthers and Storm can win it. Latrell will give the Toby Greene apology speech, but it can't save Souths.

2. Ban the Moron. A few players need to be sacked from the NRL - Will Chambers, Kane Evans, Matt Lodge (sticking the finger up at the crowd never looks good when you have a bad history), Josh Dugan and Josh Maguire. They should all be rubbed out for a long time. Foul play, poor examples to others. Does the game need them?

I am also looking for an instant sin bin if you interfere with a player pushed over the sideline or after a try is scored. No contact, jersey pulls or head rubs. Nonsense and it should be stamped out.

Spoon winners should also have to front up on Grand Final Day to receive them on the (roy) dias.

3. AFL. Melbourne v Geelong and Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs to determine the 2021 Grand Finalists. What a cracking Saturday night game with Brisbane at home v Western Bulldogs 79-78. The performances of Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli were awesome. Bailey Smith was awesome when it counts, but he really needs a haircut. Ice blocks in the veins indeed! The Western Bulldogs were hectic on ball and the ball movement from both sides was incredible. Adam Treloar however needs to smarten up big time for the Dogs to progress further. Ten touches for the game is woeful. He is a star...maybe just an off night.  

4. England v India Test Cricket. Liked the fightback in Ollie Pope and the lower order of England in their first innings. However, India just love to bat and they are very good at it. They will put the screws on England and win this test yet. England simply cannot chase and win. Pant has not delivered yet and is due. 

5. EPL. Ronaldo #7 is a huge signing stamping ManU as a European powerhouse again. They will dominate again, but still have some formidable opponents. Arsenal have a chance at redemption this week coming. The other Manu has a broken jaw c/- Latrell.

6. Tom Trbojevic. What a player and how dominant? He is an awesome talent and easily the best in the game. He should displace Tedesco in Origin as well. The Dally M is safe with him. How about Garrick getting the record number of points in a season? He should thank Tom T for all those tries under the posts!

7. Wallabies v All Blacks. Apparently there was a game on? This sport is really skilled at keeping their biggest money spinner silent. The game is almost impossible to follow. They need a complete re-think. For the record, we got smacked and simply have no leadership or character. It is a rag tag team of blokes. Stunning how the game has fallen so far.

8. US Open Tennis. Naomi Osaka is a troubled soul at present, but she is not a gracious loser either. A great tournament in New York as always. Most of the biggest names are still alive into the second week of the tournament, but a few rising stars emerging. The cookie cutter tennis player is at home on hardcourts.

How would you feel if you were Kai Nishikori? He lost again to Djokovic and has not beaten him in seven years. Seven! That is some time without success. Djokovic picks up the most Grand Slam titles and a Grand Slam (four in the year) with victory here at Flushing Meadow too. Djokovic has won six of the past eleven Grand Slam events (Wimbledon cancelled last year). Dominant, whatever you think of him!

9. Ash Barty. A shock loss. Inexcusable as World Number 1 in some respects, but these things can happen. Hardcourts have not been kind to her.

10.  Dylan Alcott. Paralympics tennis player. This bloke is highly successful. Olympic Gold medallist and 14 time Grand Slam winner. He has won 7 straight Australian Open titles.

11. Anthony Seibold to English Rugby. This is a great signing. Seibiold knows the game and the patterns required for domination. Eddie Jones is very astute. A shame Australian rugby is not similar.