The Wrap - Winning Women

1. Paris Olympics. The female athletes are killing it for Australia. How good is Ariarne Titmus? 400m swims are hard to win - especially against some of the legends of the sport. Dawn Fraser swam 4.58 in 1956 for a gold medal for 400m...Titmus is swimming a minute quicker at 3.55 for the same distance. The pain they put themselves through is a long way from what the average person could believe. (Their recovery for the next day is amazing too).

Then the women brain them in the 4 x 100m Women's freestyle relay for the fourth successive time. Emma McKeon now has more gold medals than any other Olympian in history! Six gold medals! Extraordinary!

The individual time trial road race (bike) gold by Grace Brown was tough. The course looked terribly slippery and inhospitable in the rain. How strong was she?

I like this Shayna Jack. Defied the critics and a drugs charge and looks strong. Dean Boxall, the swimming coach of passion and fist pumping, is leading the way. All of his charges seem to be excelling. He would be hard work, but a winner. Jack could go close in the 50m.

Interesting that the surfing is in Tahiti. Is it time to get rid of it out of the Olympics? A bit of a joke. Tennis as well...we have a doubles player (Matt Ebden) taking on the might of Djokovic. Nadal may pull out as well with yet another injury. Please.

How good is Jessica Fox? Such a champion and a great personality too. The sponsors will be circling... swarming and was flag bearer too. She is a bright, awesome competitor. Attended Blaxland High School.

2. NRL. Ivan and Nathan Cleary are near unbeatable. Such skill from Nathan. If he stays fit, they will win a fourth comp. Melbourne, Roosters and Penrith...that is it for the comp. The rest are playing for pride. 

Great to hear of 20 teams for the comp coming soon and all teams playing each other only once. About time. It will truly become a big event each week. Home games will be something else.

3. AFL - Swans. Up to their recent tricks starting really poorly. Papley is so important to that team. The height on the Western Bulldogs team is incredible - Darcy, English, Ugle Hagan, Bontempelli and the Dean Sappey lookalike, Lobb... they are alive and kicking for the semis. The Swans cannot see another win on the horizon! Could they miss the top four?

4. Joe Root. Has become the seventh highest Test run scorer of all time, beating Brian Lara over the weekend against the West Indies in England.  32 Test tons (the same as Steve Smith).

5. Oscar Piastri. Superb win in the Hungarian F1 Grand prix last week. A first ever but what a win for McLaren. Coming fifth now behind the great Max Verstappen who is dominating again.

6. Rugby. A disaster in the Olympics. Australia hopes that rugby might one day get their crap together again. Big French crowd for a gold medal! There must be some cash in that brand of rugby. Hard to think that some of these blokes couldn't help out with a few Wallaby wins too!

The Wrap - Smiling Eyes

1. State of Origin - Blues Victory. An incredible game and so much intensity and physicality - for a sustained period. The NSW defence was exceptional. Rare to beat Queensland in their own backyard.

Awesome games from Edwards, S Crichton, Moses, A Crichton and Spencer Leniu in particular for mine. The Penrith boys were awesome, including To'o... no wonder they have won so many comps.

The efforts of Luai were pretty awesome too. A stirrer, a bling wearing pest who can't swim so well, but he is a winner. He is terrific under pressure.

And then Clearly pushes them home v the Dolphins with a phenomenal two point drop goal. Amazing!

The Tom Trobjevic and Jason Saab show is a dead cert for a try scoring double against lesser teams. Manly are semi final bound!

2. Melbourne Storm. So much depth and so well drilled. The culture in that club is something else. A ripping victory against the Roosters who were not really on their game. They will go close to winning the comp this year with Munster due back too. A mile in front of the comp.

Starting to see some interesting reactions and irritation by Benji Marshall. Robbie Farah's departure is no great loss. He needs to move on and go to the Ray Price House of Smiles. Not much to smile about at the Tigers... yet again. 

They should be recruiting like Ricky Stuart has been. Lock up all the young stars and invest in their future. They will be a future powerhouse.

3. West Indies Cricket. It is hard for anyone young to believe they dominated world cricket for so long. Those fast bowlers were something else. These days, their batting is just not there, but so many little jewels...consistency is lacking however.

Shamar Joseph could be the start of something great for the Windies ' bowling stocks. Their batting? Not good. 

4. AFL. Hawthorn are storming back up the ladder. The demise of Collingwood is staggering after last year. Jack Dinnivan was quick to remind them of his exit last year.

Very open in the middle of the comp with GWS surging back as well. Western Bulldogs have aimed up in recent weeks too. Gold Coast on the ropes. 12 teams are within two wins of second spot. It is an even comp indeed!

The Swans lose yet another close one...a familiar story that is becoming a concern (three out of the past four). A slow start and giving up a sizeable lead in the fourth quarter as well. They look like Preliminary Final losers every time this happens. What will change? They have Bulldogs, Port, Collingwood, Essendon and Adelaide to come this season. No rest!

5. The Championships. Adam Scott hovering ominously after his strong showing at the Scottish Open last week as well. Shane Lowry the early standout, but how hard is it to string four top rounds together to win a major? A former 2019 winner and was set to equal Greg Norman as a two time British Open winner, but a third round bust has hurt that. Justin Rose always seems to be sniffing around the leader board at Majors, but just the one US Open victory. Shauffele and Scheffler are never far away either. 

Had to laugh about the crowd on the beach near the first hole, writing messages in the sand and getting a free look! Royal Troon is something else! Are ticket prices that much? Not many in the drink however... cold!

6. Wallabies. Beating a few International minnows at present (including Wales who have fallen in a hole), but building confidence and combinations...although a lot of changes for the Georgia game. Not sure we have ironed out all issues as yet. We seem to be giving up too many points still. Three from three for the new coach is a strong start.

7. Travis Bazzana. As predicted, first round first pick in the MLB draft. Incredible achievement. he has improved so much. I recall his mum at the U/18 World Cup in South Korea not wanting to watch him one day, she was so disgusted in his form! Not now! $15M brings a smile to the bank manager.

The Wrap - Immortal Mortals

1. NRL. Well its official. Benji Marshall is the worst coach this year and if Trent Barrett had coached all year, he would be in the Grand Final with him. Both teams have legions of disappointed fans who can see no way forward. Divided camp, bad injuries, excuses and poor fitness and concentration. It is amazing to see professional sporting teams implode and become incapable of cohesion. They spend all week together and look like strangers for the only 80 minutes that matter. Expensive when they fail so badly too.

The Broncos look shot too. An inexplicable decline really. Katoni Staggs was superb. So was Moses Suli. Manly always look a 10 point better team at Brookvale. Imagine a decent stadium there... they would be unbeatable. The Knights? They have no attack without Gagai-Best-Ponga... a fair few withdrawls.

The NRL competition point pariahs come out in Origin time. St George-Illawarra are one of them, doing great business in season 2024. Lomax and Hunt are big losses.

2. Immortals. A thousand names lining up here... surely Norm Provan and Ron Coote need to be there. Cameron Smith one day, but as Wayne Bennett said, these are younger blokes who have lots of years ahead. The point that not one of the Canterbury or Parramatta legends from the 1980s is there is hard to fathom... Sterling, Price, Kenny... surely Sterlo would not be out of place. Two time Dally M winner as well. (Thurston won four Dally Ms).

3. AFL. Indoor stadiums are surely the way ahead. Melbourne v Essendon was a cracker in the comparatively drier MCG conditions, but not under the roof... Adelaide v St Kilda was awful in the wet. Melbourne looked sharp. They are on the way back. Collingwood (like the Brisbane Broncos) are a complete disappointment this year. The Swans bounced back and especially Logan McDonald. Nice to see his resilience. Carlton stumble inexplicably as the Western Bulldogs look like they are finals ready now...but Bailey Smith would make a huge difference there too. Freo also got the staggers v Hawthorn. 

Interesting how consistency is the absolute true measure of high performance.

4. Wallabies v Wales. The ref allowed the play to flow, but do we want to watch box kicks end to end. We probably would prefer the kicking duel return. Some together defence and a more enterprising style - even in the pouring rain. Two wins for the new empire under Joe Schmidt. Schmidt looks like emulating his success with Ireland. The team look different under his leadership.

5. All Blacks v England. Cracking game, but coach Scott Robertson is an absolute gun. His Crusaders record (seven championships and 98 wins/ 115 games with two draws) is unparalleled. He is the best senior coach in any sport worldwide one suspects. And so it was v England again. Two Test victories in his reign already. No losses. Cue breakdancing!

6 .South Africa v Ireland. Another cracking international rugby fixture... back to back rugby of the highest level. 25-24 to the Irish in the last moments of the Test.

7. Wimbledon Finals. The women's Grand Slams are now so open since Serena left. It is a lottery each time. Swiatek would be kicking herself. The seeming no names in this year's Wimbledon women's finals - Krejcikova (adding to the long list of "-ovas" who have won Grand Slams) and Paolini from Italy - still entertain with much skill. The central European rise in tennis has been quite incredible in recent times.

8. Djokovic. Looking to equal Federer's record eight Wimbledon wins and eclipse Margaret Court's 25 Grand Slam wins. He is a legend, but still one of the most villainous and unpopular ones ever. Alcarez has never lost a Grand Slam final and will pick up the Channel Slam (French plus Wimbledon) if he can win. Coached by the great Juan Carlos Ferrero... a name from the past.

9. Euro Final - England v Spain. A chance for England to earn some serious silverware under Gareth Southgate. Southgate has done a good job juggling the egos. Why is it that we all suspect some catastrophe and some sob story that will explain why they lost?

10. Athletics - Jessica Hull. She has the highest pitched voice of any athlete in Paris, but also smashed the world 2000m. Not a common distance run by women in athletics, but 18 seconds faster than the Australian record. That seems simultaneously highly impressive, but incredibly strange. Hopefully just a product of the rarer distance and all legitimate. Beat her own PB in the 1500m earlier this month too. Amazing. A product of University of Oregon. 

11. MLB Baseball - Travis Bazzana. An Oregon State University product, he will be announced as one of the top MLB draft picks tomorrow morning. This will net him $10M+ as he becomes one of Australia's top paid sportspeople. Ben Simmons ($60M - how?), Jordan Mailata ($33M) and Josh Green (19M) are ahead! Sam Kerr and Minjee Lee may have something to say about this soon. Ash Barty would have been up there as well.

Most importantly, Travis is a sensible young man whose focus and intensity is incredible... as are his manners and civility.

12. Olympics Fever from 26 July...coming soon! Looking forward to this excitement.

13. The Championships - British Golf Open. All on again next week! Adam Scott and Ludvig in fine form in the Scottish Open this weekend. it has been a time for Adam Scott, but he still looks super fit.

The Wrap - Coach in the Carpark

1. NRL. Latrell Mitchell. Keeping Latrell and Tom Trobjevic on the field at the same time over the past four years has been near impossible. Both are pretty injury prone it must be said. Burton surely comes into calculations. His towering bomb is a weapon, but he is a big man with good pace and a step, particularly when it is wet. Not sure that Bradman Best is the answer. He is strong and big, but enough flair?

For Queensland...Tulagi out...Cobbo in? Gagai in? Ponga in... Some further changes there I suspect.

Two golden point games on one day and two wins in a week for Canterbury! They are surging up the competition table now and are delivering on the promises. That equalising two point drop goal by Scott Drinkwater was special, but then he was nowhere to be seen in the final moments to ice the game. Odd. Townsend missed a hundred shots.

Cherry-Evans is one of the greats. He is so resilient. When was the last time he missed a game through injury?

Looking like Kevin Walters is back in the tough long grass as well. Has he lost the dressing room and the carpark?

JWH. A true warrior...shocking discipline record, but so tough and the most capped Rooster now. Roosters have a massive positive points differential!

2. Coach of the Parramatta Eels. Is this role the quickest way to oblivion? This announcement has been drawn out and either a massive surprise is ahead or another underwhelming appointment...think Steve Kearney, Michael Hagan... It is hard to believe how that team can implode like it has. Gutherson is on one leg. Russell is still try-less. They look like a rabble. Their forwards are poor and unfit. Paulo and Hopgood are now both missing the rest of the year. They need new blood. Shaun Lane has been tame this year.

3. Wimbledon - Alex de Minaur. Into the fourth round on a walk over. He has no excuses whatsoever now. Alcarez did it tough in five sets. Time to strike. Djokovic marches on. He is still a chance.

4. AFL. The Gold Coast loss to North Melbourne was terrible. The words of the team song were distributed in the sheds I am sure. It has been a while! The Gold Coast need to win those ones to have any chance, but North have surprised in recent weeks.

GWS a big win over Carlton and Port powering along!

The comp is pretty even and the chasers are coming to get Sydney! One point last week (Fremantle) and two points this week to St Kilda. They again crumbled under pressure. Worrying signs despite them leading the table. Logan Macdonald lost one last week after the siren and did better to hit one point, but not good enough this week either. Like a few in the team, the mindset needs to be worked on!

5. Rugby - Wallabies v Wales. The famous name of Lynagh is back in lights. A surprise win in many ways, but we will take it in the current circumstances. The Lynagh brothers are representing Italy and the other for the Wallabies. Amazing... they join a few special families whose sons represented in different countries: Duhan (Scotland) and Akker van der Merwe (South Africa); Charles (New Zealand) and Siale Piutau (Tonga); Manu Tuilagi (England) and all his brothers (Samoa) and Billy (Ireland) and Freddie Burns (England).

6. Euro 2024. Spain v France in one semi and a big chance for England v Netherlands. England seem to find a way to be underwhelming at all major tournaments since 1966, but Gareth Southgate has them in a good space. They need to tough it out and fight for each possession. A bit like Parramatta.

7. F1 - Oscar Piastri. Starting to hit his straps now. Coming sixth in the Drivers Championship overall, but Max Verstappen is a genius. Third best ever number of F1 wins (61) behind the great Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103).

8. World Championship of Legends Cricket. Have you seen this? Old(er) names running around in some rich T20 tournament. Sounds like a superannuation filler. The "Australia Champions"? S. Marsh, Ferguson, Finch, Cutting, Christian, Hastings, Paine, Dunk, Haddin, B. Lee, Nannes, Laughlin, Siddle, Coulter-Nile, Doherty. 

They play the South Africa Champions (Gibbs, Kallis, Steyn...), the India Champions (Raina, Pathan, Yuvraj, Harbhajan), The Pakistan Champions (Akmal, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi), The West Indies Champions (Gayle, Benn, Sammy) and The England Champions (Pietersen, Bell).

The crowds are not big, but the cheque books will be.

9. Olympics - Closing In. The diving will have Tubby Taylor in command in the commentary booth. Can't wait.

10. Netball Collision. Best wishes to Amy Sligar who is a star defender for the Giants in the Super Netball. A massive collision v the Melbourne Mavericks and some time now on the sidelines. Injury is a curse, but she will be back strongly! 

See it here: https://www.foxsports.com.au/netball/super-netball-2024-melbourne-mavericks-vs-giants-collision-result-ladder-video-highlights/news-story/cb8deb2252b22e4f8a89ba5c008e8d73