1. Test Cricket - England v New Zealand. An unusual week last week. New Zealand win by one run after following on. The fourth time ever in Tests and the first time for New Zealand since they were called Old Zealand. A cracking game which shows England that living by the sword can also backfire.
2. Test Cricket - India v Australia. Uncanny that Australia has won all three times under Steve Smith as a fill in captain since the sand paper disgrace. Is Pat Cummins the man long term - or just coincidence? A top win on the back of Khawaja’s brilliant first innings and Lyon’s eight for. Travis Head has a lot of ability too. Lyon is onto 479 Test wickets. Courtney (Fish) Walsh is next on 519. McGrath sits on 563 Test wickets. He is one of the greats of the game already.
3. The Dolphins. Lots of hype and media all summer, but Bennett unexpectedly delivers in Week 1 v the Roosters. They were sharp and showed, dare we say it, a lot of bottle. A fair bit of inexperience, but tough forwards who know how to win. Bennett is a legend. Remember the Roosters lost to the Knights at home early in 2022. They will be back.
The Broncos were perhaps the most impressive. Beating the Panthers at home is great going. The ‘weak gutted dog’ controversy seems to have been reopened with Luai v Salmon into each other.
Parramatta were strong, but typically lack concentration in the clutch moments. Will they start the season 0-5? They face the Sharks, Eagles, Panthers, Roosters and then Tigers in the game they often lose late on a Monday afternoon. It could happen. The million dollar player rises at such moments. He could not slot the winning field goal under pressure... and then they lose. Moses needs to make a contract decision. What a boring saga. Some would fancy cutting him free at that price, but the reserve guy will struggle to win you a comp. This looms as the sticking point for the coach's exit one day.
Manly were also impressive, with no Trobjevics requiring ambulances or mercy dashes to Philadelphia witch doctors and fitness gurus. What about Souths? They could go close in season 2023. The Sharks are good, but were soundly beaten. Early days.
4. Scottish Premier League. Celtic are five matches away from glory, beating Rangers for the Scottish League Cup midweek. Their journey is a massive transformation from where they were two years ago. Ange will be hot property on the coaching merry go round soon.
5. Super Rugby. Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies all winning in the same weekend? Hard to recall that ever happening recently. I suspect having Eddie Jones on your hammer helps achieve that. It has been a while. The Rebels did OK, but they need to win. I noticed Eddie was at the ground himself old style.
7. LIV Golf TV. Why is no one watching it? New era and structure, but it has not really captured the imagination. Lots of promise early, but little since. Is it becoming like cricket on TV...people are busy and catch a glimpse and move on. WSC and Super Leagie faced the same dilemma on TV coverage in their early days.
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