The Wrap - Three Peats

1. Three Peats. The Penrith Panthers crushed it and deservedly take their place as one of the greatest ever NRL teams. Resolute defence, blistering speed and strong feared forwards. However, three peats are pretty common worldwide more recently and at present:

• Penrith Panthers (Rugby League Premiers) - 2021, 2022, 2023
• English (Rugby League) - St Helens: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
• Manchester City (EPL) - 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23.
• Crusaders (Rugby) - 2017, 2018, 2019 (two non-COVID years) and then 2022, 2023. Five in a row.
• Formula 1 - Max Verstappen - 2021, 2022, 2023 (following the great Michael Schumacher who got five in a row between 2000-2004 and Lewis Hamilton who put four successive title wins together from 2017-2020. Sebastian Vettel racked up four in a row too from 2010-2013
• Tennis - Federer did it in 2006-07 (Wimbledon, US, Aus); Rafael Nadal did it in 2010 (French, Wimbledon, US) and Novak has done it three times 2011-12 and 2018-19 (Wimbledon, US, Aus) and in 2021 (Aus, French, Wimbledon). Noval has also done all four Grand Slams consecutively in 2015-16. Awesome.
• World Cup ODI Cricket - Australia in 1999, 2003, 2007.
• Bathurst, Mt Panorama - Brock (1978-1980, 1982-1984) and Craig Lowndes (2006-2008).
• Shane van Gisbergen is now looking for the three peat at Bathurst next year after a win in 2022 and 2023.
• Juventus (Italian Football League) - 2011/12 - 2019/20. Nine in a row.
• Tour de France - Chris Froome 2015-2017. Jonas Vingegaard from Denmark is looking for a three peat next year having won in 2022 and 2023.
• Makybe Diva - three successive Melbourne Cups (2003-2005).
• Olympics...Bolt, Johnson, Phelps, Ledecky, Fraser... lots have done three gold medals in successive Olympics in the same event over 12 years.
• One of the toughest sports to achieve this is in golf. Tiger did it in 2000 (The Open Championships, US Open, US PGA). Koepka is next best in 2018 with only two in a row (US Open and US PGA). NBA has only seen the Lakers and Golden State Warriors string two championships together in recent times.

We'll leave out boxing too.

2. Wallabies. Nice they got an extra week in France training, but hard to see it ending in anything but misery. Fiji have deserved their place alongside Wales in our group. It would be great if they could schedule some games during the week. The longest tournament on record!

The two time successive Player of the Six Nations, France's Antoine Dupont is ready to lead the host nation to glory post injury (France have won 27/31 Tests with him at the helm). However, do not dismiss the All Blacks. They will be hard to toss.

3. World Cup Cricket. What about South Africa? They are in some special form after knocking over the Australians recently. A shock to see them late in any 'World Cup' in any sport, but they look awesome with the bat sometimes... Klassen, Markram and de Kock. They absolutely laced Sri Lanka racking up a 50 over score in excess of 400! Bazball II.

4. Tottenham. A fortunate Premier League win this weekend 1-0 v Luton in many respects (10 men on the field for a long time and some duffed shots by the opposition). It keeps Tottenham right at the top and positions them well leading into the pre-Christmas break. Fulham - Crystal Palace - Chelsea are the next three games and should be knocked over by 'Big Ange' in the coming weeks.

5. Bathurst. Great and all that but the sport lacks something. Certainly not TV time at a tricky time of year. The fact Brock won it so often (9 times) is incredible. Lowndes is up there too (7 times). Gee the police must get a few heading home thinking they are the next Shane van Gisbergen! Good to see him do well in the NASCAR circuit. He won a NASCAR Cup event in Chicago and then a top ten finish in the next - the first driver to ever do that in his first two NASCAR races ever! A tough school there.

Could be the best since the great Dale Earnhardt from the Wide World of Sport days on Channel 9!

6. The Kangaroos Post Season. This provides some respite from poor TV sport, but it is hard to place what it means and why they are playing. The Pacific Championships? Sounds like something off Strictly Ballroom.

7. The Big Bash. This will start very soon (7 December - 24 January 2024). No real roster surprises again despite a 'draft'. Still like the look of Jordan Silk as an Australian player.

8. Sheffield Shield Cricket. Tons to Cameron Bancroft and Michael Neser help their cause. Our batting is so weak around the nation. Surely Bancroft is not the answer to our batting challenges. However, he looks like the only consistent scorer after a ripping year in 2022/23. Puckovski? Good to see him back. Surely we cannot be serious re Renshaw? What about Daniel Hughes from NSW? Prolific in all forms of the game.