1. NRL. A few rounds in now and a few teams are starting to get headaches. The Roosters did not look a patch on the Panthers who keep rolling on with great consistency. Manly dropped their bundle and so did the Cowboys. Canberra gave up an 18-0 lead which was staggering too. If the Grand Final ever returned to Brisbane, the Broncos would be red hot favourites. They were electric at times. The Titans look so far off the pace it is incredible. They need a roster clean out there. The coach looks like he is under a lot of pressure.
St George looked like their Round 1 selves in defence again. This Tyrell Sloan can play. Electric pace. Has anyone ever seen Shane Flanagan smile?
2. AFL. Melbourne showed some amazing steel to knock off Port Adelaide. Impressive. The form of Carlton continues to rise and the Swans...dreadful once again on the big MCG field. Fit enough? Too much down the centre and no width at key times. Kick and hope. The always entertaining Richmond crushed them with their superior defence and marking skill. Shae Bolton is outstanding. West Coast and North Melbourne are spoon certainties again - already.
3. Cricket. Interesting that the CA contracts were distributed last week and nothing for Bancroft, Harris or Renshaw. The selectors are clearly not sold on any of them, hence Steve Smith opening. There was room for Aaron Hardie, Nathan Ellis (?), Jhye Richardson (?), Xavier Bartlett, Matt Short and Lance Morris who mixes a great cordial but rarely bowls. That in itself is a worry... no Spencer Johnson (hard to believe), Beau Webster...The value of these contracts stretches from $400,000 to $3M. The uncontracted are a worry as they become 'live' targets for international T20 franchises.
Interesting to read that for the next Shield season, Jason Sangha will head to SA who lost coach Jason Gillespie this week as well. Daniel Hughes to VIC, Nic Maddison to NSW, Josh Phillippe to NSW... WA won well and will continue to dominate. Coach Adam Voges looks set to be our next national coach.
Olly Davies picked up a duck in the Sydney Grade Cricket final for Manly v St George and 81no in the second innings. A great leveller this game of cricket.
4. IPL. Underway and a tighter contest in most games than many seasons before. The great Virat Kohli already dominating. Cameron Green looking better. Tim David solid, but Mitchell Starc is struggling. Our 2024 Australian IPL players:
- Mitchell Starc ($4.43 million)
- Pat Cummins ($3.67 million)
- Cameron Green ($3.15 million)
- Glenn Maxwell ($2 million)
- Spencer Johnson ($1.78 million)
- Marcus Stoinis ($1.7 million)
- Tim David ($1.53 million)
- Travis Head ($1.2 million)
- Mitch Marsh ($1.2 million)
- Jhye Richardson ($890,000)
- Ashton Turner ($178,000)
- Nathan Ellis ($135,000)
- Jake Fraser-McGurk ($92,000)
5. EPL. Tottenham win v Luton Town to become equal fourth now with Aston Villa. These two teams look to be fighting out fourth spot, but Tottenham have a crushing draw coming up soon, playing West Ham, Nottingham, Newcastle - then Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool in consecutive weeks!
6. NBL. The Tasmanian Jackjumpers almost beat Melbourne United mid week, but instead it headed to the fifth and deciding final today, winning it 3-2. A huge upset. Revenge for the Sheffield Shield loss!
7. Boxing - Tim Tszyu. Great to see the end of the hoopla. The "disrespect", the media high jinks, the dark sunnies, the microphone domination, the fifteen weigh-ins, the private jets, the money... please. The height and reach of the big mantis, Fundora, was pretty awesome. Tszyu got unlucky with his Benny Elias head cut, but it was never going to be easy. Maybe less mouth and more fighting might be good advice for the future.
8. Kris Lees. An amazing training record of recent with Kalapour (@$50) winning at Rosehill in the Tancred Stakes ($900,000). Nice if you were on it! The young jockey, Dylan Gibbons, is one to watch too.
9. Waratahs. After so much promise, they went down to of all teams, the Rebels. A terrible result. There are more and more blue stadium seats than not. Imagine working in marketing there... They have lost four in a row by six points or fewer. This is not what the fans want... or their coach.
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