1. The Opening Phase of Big Games. Getting a strong start in finals games matters. Incredible how the start becomes the critical and pivotal part of semi final success, regardless of the sport. The Wallabies give up 21-0. The Sharks get a flyer. The Roosters were super aggressive early and set the tone. Hard to come back in a finals game - which makes the Brisbane Lions efforts quite amazing! The Swans have lost three GFs with poor starts in Grand Finals!
2. NRL - Sharks. Nicho Hynes bounced back and the Sharks' finals misery was eased. Their stretch of finals' losses ends, but the Panthers await. Is there a weakness in the Panthers outside back defence? It must be said that Paul Alamoti, a signing from the Bulldogs, has been terrific in defence, but is a little inexperienced. There is a little flicker of hope there for Katoa, Mulitalo, Ramien, Trindall and Talakai.
Not sure they can beat the Panthers, but a good finish in the end for them at any rate. The year long inconsistency of the Cowboys became telling in their final game. Holmes will be a great Dragons signing. he looked better than most literally playing on one leg.... with a leg in the air!
3. Manly v Roosters. How important are the enforcers in big games? JWH, Radley come back and add so much. They had a horrific start last game, but not against Manly.
The Roosters are a better chance of knocking over the Storm. A shame Sam Walker is not playing. That would make it very interesting! At any rate, it will be an enthralling contest. Why do the Storm get two home finals? This is a joke and a massive leg up. Time for this to return to a common playing field for all.
4. AFL - Sydney Swans v Port Adelaide. The Swans were 'on'. Great use of the field and absolute experts at the SCG. The MCG is going to be a big challenge for them. Are they tough enough? (Do they need more blokes with tats and fierce haircuts?). Their marking across the park was a vast improvement.
Some mental toughness is needed now. It is time for Sydney to step up and make a difference. In the 2014-2016-2022 GFs they were rubbed out in the first half of each game. Surely they have learned a lesson here.
Callum Mills? Injured? Karma is a troubling thing for some... for a player who hurt his shoulder horse arsing around at Mad Monday and disadvantaged his team all year, this could be his annus horribilis.
5. AFL - Geelong v Brisbane. Brisbane's defence and turnovers cost them big time early on. They lacked intensity at key times, but came home hard. Cam Rayner was immense. Geelong faded in phases of games all year and it has cost them at the worst time. They seem to be a superstar team, but need a recalibration, which will come through retirements of Hawkins and Tuohy.
Lachie Neale is so good. Tough, clever and a deft touch under pressure. A definite for the Brownlow.
Brisbane lost last year's GF to Collingwood (2023). Sydney lost to Geelong the year before that (2022). Both are ready to rumble now. Set to be a cracker! An out of town Grand Final is an intrigue in Melbourne, but they love their sport and are not fussy!
6. Wallabies. 23 years of Bledisloe gloom continues, but they did not embarrass themselves thankfully. The 0-21 start made us all think this would occur, but they recovered this well. 68,000 in the crowd was the most extraordinary thing too...day time international rugby is popular!
Even more popular for Argentina who beat the Springboks!
Joe Schmidt is proud of everyone, admired the effort, loved the passion, appreciated the commitment, saw pride in the jumper...but sadly lost. We have so much to learn. Stopping this outrageous mixing and matching of key combinations with huge squads is the first thing. Trim the squad to 20 blokes and stick at it!
James Slipper. Most capped Wallaby ever? Hard to believe, but good on him. Hooper deserved this honour.
7. F1 - Singapore GP. Oscar Piastri's win last week gets him up the rank order. Incredible effort really. McLaren dominating.
8. Travis Head. What an incredible player he has become. He wins games single handedly for us now. he has won 7 man of the Match awards in test cricket at an incredible rate (out of 49 tests). He is an absolute match winner.
The overnight ODI effort from the Australian team was outstanding. Interested to see Hardie lead the way and Green on the bench. Star and Hazelwood returned...too good! Not sure how much longer Maxwell has left, but nice to see Alex Carey making a difference there. How shoddy does Steve Smith look sometimes of late? Hopefully he can do a Joe Root and rack up a few more test tons this summer.
9. EPL. Tottenham win, but the Man City v Arsenal clash tonight will be the one! Chelsea in good form too. Liverpool and Aston Villa join Man City on top. Everton get a point and all teams are off a duck egg.
Interesting to see Sunderland coming second in the English Championship! The Netflix series "Sunderland Till I Die" may become a best seller soon if they get promoted to the EPL! Early days of course...they have a special knack of pulling themselves into the fire!
10. Horse Racing. Fangirl won running away on Saturday. The form of Autumn Glow was impressive. Liked McHale's win... big price too. Buckaroo had the Waller stable excited at Caulfield with its win... Liked Jimmystar too.
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