1. Matildas Bandwagon. We were all on it, admit it. Great to see the team excel and what an injection for the womens' game in Australia. They looked like they were on tired legs. Can anyone explain why we play once a week and you get to the finals and they play two games in a week? Most peculiar mama! Sam Kerr's goal against England was superb and she was unlucky not to double it close to the goalmouth soon after. The errors that even out the womens' game proved to be fatal as well.
England v Spain. Not many people care for the final result, but England do with a drought at World Cups stretching back to 1966.
2. NRL. Well there it was... semi-final football out the window for both the Parramatta and Manly sides. At least Manly have fought well these past weeks. Parramatta have given up. No pace and no mongrel. The lack of desire in that team is astounding. Coach Arthur needs to make some big changes... or he will be changed. Trent Barrett on the coaching staff has taken them to the space he knows well - no semi finals.
You have to laugh when a team has a "mathematical" chance of making the semi-finals. Usually a team that does not deserve to be involved in semi-final football.
Conversely, Cronulla have knuckled down and so have the Storm. Newcastle have also risen in recent weeks. Seven wins in a row! They can certainly draw a crowd when they are winning!
They deserve a position in the eight while the Bunnies have fallen in a complete heap! Their spare bye will be a great help. No one is near Penrith however... not even the Broncos. Cleary is rotating rested players too. They are toying with the opposition and will absolutely smash Parramatta this Thursday night.
Canberra have to be the most boring team in the top eight. Effective, but boring. Their biggest win this year has been by 12 points.
The spoon is safely with the Wests Tigers now. Their for/ against is woeful.
3. AFL. A Swans miracle in Adelaide, but with a bit of goal umpire help. How they have tried to lose games in the fourth quarter...! I suspect their pre-season torture sessions need to be greater. They run out of steam right when you can't afford to do so. They are again into the semi-finals after some great wins in recent weeks. Surely the Western Bulldogs needed to smash West Coast. They were panicking all day. Terrible. Geelong punted as well as Richmond who farewelled two champions in Reiwoldt and Cotchin.
The eight is pretty much finalised, but not the order. GWS and Western Bulldogs results will finalise it next week. Essendon have a remote mathematical chance if they win by 1,000 points.
Spoon to North Melbourne now too! West Coast showed plenty of ticker.
4. EPL. Tottenham beat ManU 2-0 which is a strong statement from Ange Postocoglou. A draw and a win against quality opposition is outstanding.
5. PGA Golf. How good is Lucas 'Neville' Glover going at the moment? Wins the Wyndham ($1.3 million) and then the St Jude ($3.6 million) in successive weeks. Tied 15th in the current BMW Championship. A big month with the bank manager! He was only the third player aged in his 40s to win back to back on the PGA Tour in the last 25 years. The other two? Kenny Perry (2003) and Vijay Singh (three times...the last of which was 2008).
6. Marlon Samuels. Guilty of cricket corruption. Not a great tag on any sportsperson.
7. Wests Tigers. Coaches turning over like the Bosnjaks depot at Northmead. Benji is next. They need an overhaul and some smarts in play too. Luke Brooks won't miss this lot. Jake Arthur will be doing well to play ahead of Brooks and Cherry-Evans at Manly.
8. Basketball (FIBA) World Cup. Starts this week on 25 August 2023 in the Philippines/ Indonesia/ Japan...an intriguing combination. The Boomers have plenty of talent. It will be interesting to see if they can replicate the success of our women in netball, football and cricket in their respective world cup journeys.
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