1. NRL. A huge statement by the Warriors who are always stronger at home than in Australia. The Knights have done really well, but couldn't produce when it mattered.
Is it just me or do the New Zealanders need a few more lights on that home ground? It looks like a Craven Mild Cup pre-season games from the mid 1970s... dark spots, shadows. Like Crestwood Oval under lights.
The Storm keep winning, even with injuries and with the weakest team they have on the park for a few years now. A shattering way for the Roosters to lose, but it is an 80 minute game and it was an almost perfect kick from Munster who might have had his tail kicked if they had not scored... no field goal. The Roosters were pretty strong...with so many outside backs missing again in 2023 (same as late in 2022).
Referee Ashley Klein surely cannot be in control of the Grand Final or next week's games. He is becoming a lottery and seems to complicate things too often. That missed knock-on was awful. Surely it could have been called back? Touch judges? I suspect the egos of the top refs prevents their colleagues from weighing in to advise. Hippopotamus referees - big mouths and small ears. He certainly didn't miss the tackles downfield that let in that soft try however.
How ordinary is it not having the rugby league wall to wall on TV? The Warriors make it even worse with a late afternoon game. No Sunday league? There has to be a PM XIII game or something surely. The scheduling is woeful. Viewers are a demanding lot these days!
The Broncos play yet another game at home... what a draw in 2023.
2. AFL. Melbourne are getting a bit of a habit of losing tough and important games. They had chances late to Gawn, Pickett and Oliver, but surrendered the lead at the end. Carlton have had a cracking year. They almost sacked Coach Voss, but he survives and with it, Carlton goes to Brisbane to try and make a Grand Final.
On the other side of the draw, the strength of GWS is rising fast. Their ball movement and speed in their mid field is awesome. Toby Green is hated, but gee he is an impressive player under pressure. The burst of goals in the second quarter v Port Adelaide was outrageous. They now play Collingwood.
The AFL Review voice is slick - and quick. Possibly one of the best review mechanisms in world sport really. Very few errors.
3. Vale AFL Legend - Ronald Dale Barassi Junior. 17 Grand Finals for 10 premierships as a player/ coach in AFL is up there with the great Norm Smith. Surely a memento needs to be struck in perpetuity for his memory. A famous moustache! A hard arse and a success. Some cracking half time sprays are emerging on video now.
4. AFL Draft. The Swans getting Brodie Grundy in the draft would be a huge positive. He has a lot of upside in the ruck situation and would transform back into one of the best in the AFL under Longmire. When will the NRL have a combine or draft? It makes the game an outstanding all year circus!
3. ODI Cricket. Adam Zampa has equalled Mighty Mick Lewis with the worst ODI figures by an Australian. 0/113! Awful for the Wisden ODI Bowler of The Year last year. South Africa have stormed back to 2-2 with the decider upcoming. We always fear the reality of Australian batting collapses. 99 to Carey was welcomed.
Two great ODI innings this week just gone: England's Ben Stokes 182 (124 balls and the highest ODI score ever by an English player) and South Africa's Heindrich Klassen 174 (83 balls)! Klaasen's bat sounded sweeter than most. You can't buy that quality at Mick Simmonds!
Surely after years of sending people to the moon, we can design a batting glove that prevents a broken hand. Can the women and men at NASA help? Surely there can be improvements. Travis Head now has a broken hand and will be a huge loss.
4. Wallabies. Beating Georgia was encouraging and then hopefully a victory tonight v Fiji soon. Extraordinary that there is no absolute confidence exists that the Wallabies will win that game. James Slipper playing in his fourth World Cup - some sort of effort!
Can we have a mid-week game? Fifteen games on a weekend! Awful scheduling for us as viewers.
5. EPL - Ange Mania. Voted the EPL Manager of the Month. This reminds us all that EPL premierships are not won in September. May usually! Their game v Sheffield United is a precursor to the real deal in the coming weeks. They were lucky to escape, but good teams find a way. The next two weeks will really test them.
6. Relevance Deprivation Syndrome - Tim Paine and Willie Mason. Can someone advise the former Australian captain that his views on world cricket are not that important? He seems to get a lot of air play for someone seeking a lower profile. We have all read the book, but he seeks relevance and controversy seemingly. It used to be poor Neil Harvey - or Willie Mason.
Poor Willie bagging out Tyson Gamble. He is on the Bulldogs coaching staff who lost 108-6 to the Knights this year in two games, including 66-0. Not sure that was a sensible opinion of Gamble, who played finals and won one too, no matter what his demeanour on field is like. Forwards coach at the Bulldogs in 2023 is not one to keep on the resume.
7. Mr Brightside. What a horse it has become. The Makybe Diva Stakes performance was awesome. A major player in the spring now. Others to impress: Amelia's Jewel, Think It Over and Private Eye.
9. End of Season Blues. Not a lot on TV for the fans now... a bleak dearth of sport to be frank on our screens. NRLW (how bad is Parramatta - losing by the biggest NRLW margin on record?) and AFLW (improving skills and kicking) is the main fare now...or the Singapore GP.
10. NRL - Other Grand Finals. Extraordinary result in the NSW Women's Grand Final. A 1-0 (yes) win to Mounties over the Bulldogs. In the men's NSW Cup Grand Final, the North Sydney Bears are back in a Grand Final v Souths! Some nostalgia there! Coach? Jason Taylor. He can certainly coach, but has struggled at times in the top flight. Rumours are that a few people saw him smile post game. He last smiled with Ray Price in 1986.
11. Davis Cup Tennis. A sabotaged wreck of a model these days when compared to its traditional format from earlier days, but Lleyton Hewitt is a marvel. Australia through to the final eight when misery and third tier tennis looked our only option! Not a Kgyrios or a Tomic in sight.
12. Ludvig Aberg. A name to watch in world golf. From Sweden in that Bjorn Borg likeness of mental toughness. A PGA dominator of the future.
13. Novak Dokjovic. The world's best. The best ever, but how can you still be so unpopular?
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