1. NRL. Melbourne Storm are starting to shake. Roosters too. Is it just me, or why do the Roosters play semi finalists every week and other clubs get soft draws? Staggering. (Penrith, Parramatta, Cowboys, Storm, Manly...). I guess they can't win everything forever.
Parramatta keep up their 52% win-loss ratio. One week brilliant...one week terrible. Not so sure Brad Arthur has answers. They simply cannot win in wet weather as they have no speed in their play. Their recruitment is terrible. No surprise to see Alex Johnston, who has speed, blitz them. Brad Arthur could be in a bit of trouble. Almost ten years in charge...not a lot to show, but an Auckland Nines trophy in 2016 is cherished. Shame about that Amco/Tooths/National Panasonic midweek cup disappearing.
2. AFL. The Swans have hit rock bottom. They are a 'win one week, lose the next' team as well. Callam Mills was very quiet and the disruption to usual rhythms and positions is hurting them. Liking what we are seeing from Melbourne, Geelong, Collingwood, St Kilda, and Carlton. The Victorian teams are dominating the top eight.
Plenty of sensible ball movement from them is killing teams. Not sure if Freo are the dark horse. Brisbane have the hippy hippy shakes. The Western Bulldogs take on the Swans this week... a crunch game for both. The Western Bulldogs can still win the flag.
I noticed the AFL have announced Robbie Williams for the Grand Final entertainment. The NRL should be announcing Dexy's Midnight Runners any day now.
3. Jason Kubler. An Australian tennis player into the round of 16 (with Alex de Minaur it must be said) who used to be the world number one junior. No one has heard about him... six knee surgeries later and he is on fire at the age of 29! He could stun a few more yet, but what an amazing story of a guy who could have been anything, but is still making a dent on the big stage. Hopefully more great stories abound here. A few Australian quarter finalists would be a little unique!
4. Nick Kygrios. An amazing talent, but he can certainly attract some controversy. His behaviour is poor and churlish a lot of the time. We would like to think he is misunderstood, but he seems to get the media ruffled and angst-ridden - and his opponents. Lots of accusations of extreme bias against him at Wimbledon...outside courts, racism, bad BBC commentators and poor behaviour. Stefanos Tsitsipas was hitting balls deliberately at Kygrios which is sort of staggering. He has talent, but appears to be a perennial bridesmaid or flower holder of Grand Slams, not ever disciplined enough to win one. The Poo had a better record.
The most staggering thing of all though is none other than John McEnroe, who has been criticising him for his disrespect and behaviour! John, you were the worst and created a generation of brats... until Federer and Nadal restored sanity.
Meanwhile Nadal and Djokovic march on. No one notices them much until yet another semi final or final!
5. Wallabies. A real statement against a genuine opponent in England. Did their best to throw it away at the end, but it has been a while since we have savoured a sweeter victory. Make no mistake, NZ are still unstoppable. How good are the Crusaders? That team are one of the most dominant teams in world sport... six Super Rugby comps in a row since 2017. Incredible.
6. Test Cricket - Australia v Sri Lanka. Travis Head on fire turning the ball a mile. No wonder Murali got so many wickets... it sort of makes Nathan Lyon a more special case with so many unfriendly Australian wickets for spinners these days. Usman was solid, but typical poor running between the wickets. Greene, who is the new Shane Watson for LBW, can play too.
In taking 9 wickets Lyon (436) passes Kapil Dev (434) and sits in the top ten test wicket takers of all time, three wickets behind Dale Steyn (439) and six behind Ravi Ashwin (442) who comes in and out of the Indian test team with Ravi Jadeja so talented. Courtney Walsh at 519 test wickets gets Lyon into the top 5 ever to have played the game. An awesome achievement even if they are taken at 31 runs a piece.
7. Test Cricket - England v India. Pant brained them after yet another masterclass by Jimmy Anderson (5/60). Anderson is now on 656 wickets, still behind Shane Warne on 708, but third most ever. England are in trouble and their bubble has burst against tighter bowling from India. Bumrah is an awesome bowler. The dismal form of Kohli continues. He has not scored a ton for a long while.
8. Latrell Mitchell. Interesting words re State of Origin availability. It would be hard to drop players for him, but I can see Crichton being dropped for him. Anyhow, lots more media to come here. Yet another 1-1 series going into the final game decider.
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