1. NRL Disasters. How bad were some of these team this year?
i. The Bulldogs were horrible and then full of controversy at the end. Lots of hype and hope, but what a disaster. Ciraldo now has one of the worst defensive records in NRL history. Reed Mahoney missed more tackles than any other NRL player this year.
A season review? An over used term!
ii. The Cowboys (11th). An awful last round effort with a very talented roster... including giving up enough points to finish 11th behind Parramatta. Missed Val Holmes.
iii. The Rabbits (9th). They are a shambles. The whole Churchill media thing and leaking it to the newspaper with the exit of Sam Burgess, now places Jason Demetriou on the rack. April premiers.
iv. The Eels (10th). Full of excuses and no leadership. Ill disciplined too. They need new backs or they don't improve. Their recruitment seems totally around forwards - like Canberra.
vi. Every team who sacked their coach missed out on the semi-finals: Dragons (17th), Titans (15th) and Tigers (last) - reminding us that in-house dissent is the recipe for misery.
In addition, the generosity of the NRL is staggering. $200K for the minor premiership. Please...what is that in a massively well financed game? It seems the same nonsense with the RLPA is at work.
Coach of the Year? Ivan Cleary again...or Andrew Webster or even Adam O'Brien!
2. NRL Semi-finals. Panthers v Warriors and Broncos v Melbourne look two great games. The Storm record in Brisbane is incredible. The other elimination finals are less predictable: Newcastle v Raiders and Roosters v Cronulla. The two teams you don't want to play are the Knights and the Roosters at the moment. Especially if Ponga is ready!
And the Panthers! They have their third minor premiership in four years. Incredible as a three-peat of premierships beckons.
Canberra may not be that sad to lose today, but Sebastian Kris pile driving Ramien into the ground with 20 minutes to go - then sent off - and eight points behind was dumb play at the wrong time. He will miss a semi-final now and cost his team. Canberra are a boring team, but are in the final eight!
3. AFL Semi-finals. Collingwood v Melbourne on Thursday night will be a cracker. Then Carlton v Swans, St Kilda v GWS and Brisbane v Port Adelaide. No Sunday games. Collingwood look favourites. Swans and GWS might just struggle, but both did well to get to the semis at all!
Great to see Errol Gulden (Swans) named in the All Australian AFL team. He has been an awesome player since U/9s (yes!) playing for Maroubra. 'Errol the ferral' was his nickname then because he was so good and niggled and scrapped. He has made the senior transition in awesome style.
Christian Pettracca surely wins the Brownlow this year.
4. EPL - Tottenham. The Ange Postocoglou roadshow has continued unabated. He really knows how to get a team to work together. Awesome spirit and results. Undefeated (with a kind draw it must be said...outside of ManU) so far.
What about Erling Haaland...another hat trick too for Man City! Here we go again.
5. The Boomers. Thrown out on their ear after surprise losses. Lots of hype and media but a resounding and crushing loss. Coach Goorjian is on thin ice. Giddey and the former Castle Hill lad, Josh Green, did some good business. Beating Georgia is hardly resume building.
6. Rugby Union World Cup. We might beat Georgia first up which will be something after 0-5 under Eddie Jones. However, hard to think we will do much more. Sad. New Zealand surely wins.
7. T20 Cricket. Mitchell Marsh winning consecutive games with the bat is unheard of in recent years, but good on him. As skipper too. Nice to see a few new faces in Australian cricket. South Africa have hit rock bottom in cricket. Some dreadful play from them too.
It is official...the BBL auction is very unexciting.
8. US Open Tennis. Australians, Alex de Minaur and qualifier, Ricky Hijikata are into the fourth round. Incredible effort. Aussies have often performed well in the US Tennis Open (think Rafter, Hewitt, Stosur). Djokovic and Alcarez are destined for the final.
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