Wrap - World Cup of Clowns

1. The Australia ODI squad announced last week is simply not good enough to win. How Finch could be skipper is beyond me. His form is awful and he will be lucky to get to the World Cup. Wade surely has to be considered. Zampa is just awful. Khawaja’s fielding is not international class. Why Cummins is going I’ll never know, given how injury prone he is. A nothing tour. Nice to see Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Marcus Stoinis and the Richardson brothers - Jhye and Kane. Alex Carey will need runs or he perishes for Wade. Fancy making him the vice captain...honestly. D'Arcy Short...he has to be in the team. His bowling is better than Zampa's.

2. New Coaches. They’ll need Ponting to bat - not coach! Good to see Saker go. How he ever survived the sandpaper fiasco this long is beyond me. Our bowling lines and length have been woeful for a long time. Troy Cooley has had success before. Hayden should be around this team too. Work ethic!

3. Field of Dreams. Just when you thought Clive Rose was the worst fieldsman in Australia, along comes Fawad Ahmed. Disgraceful under the high ball. He cannot play international cricket because of this. The general fielding standard in this BBL has hit rock bottom.


4. Socked in the Helmet. Can someone explain why batting helmets are still not permanently changed to protect the key arteries to the brain? This is a staggering disgrace that is not protecting players. No matter how good they think they are... I dread the outcome when the next bloke who is hit.

5. BBL. Bit Bloody Long. Two weeks too long. Dragging on and crowds are dwindling. They need some superstars in future and make inroads into India... get negotiating for Dohni and Others... How bad are some of the imports? Chris Jordan, David Willey, Joe Denley....Devich...(worst of the lot) please! Why would you sign Australian internationals? They cost a lot and don't play! The Afghanistan spinners have been the stars. They may just trouble a few teams travelling there for Tests.


6. Gal v Hoppa. This is how bad the current range of sport is for the viewers. Paul Gallen is a handy boxer. Hoppa is a sad case now after having been a very good player in his day..until brain snap after brain snap. I heard he bet his purse against Gallen too.

7. NRL. Can the code suffer any more misery? Apparently so. 5/13 videos released only. More to come. Dylan Napa is a fool, no matter how old the footage. What do these blokes have in common...Kane Evans, Blake Ferguson, Mitchell Pearce, Dylan Napa...? All moved on from the Roosters. Toxic character and behavioural flaws. Nick Politis doesn't get much wrong.

8. Super Bowl. Simply superb by the New England Patriots. A tight game, but what a record. Phenomenal. Brady and Bellichick... remarkable. Love his grit... "do your job".

9. Soccer. The A League is like the BBL. It goes on and on and loses fans the longer it goes. Amazing how much football is coach related. When players don't like the coach, they don't have a red hot go.

10. ManU have been remarkable since the arrival of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Pretty much undefeated (9/10 wins) since he arrived and on the cusp of a top four result and Champions League work again. Jose who?

Wrap - Training The House Down

1. Ashes Thanks. Nothing like a mediocre Sri Lankan bowler to get you on the plane for the Ashes. A few blokes should be visiting shrines in that country when they retire...Joe (Carpet) Burns, Travis (Jimmy) Head, Kurtis Patterson and even Tim Paine...throw in the modern day Graeme Wood - Usman Khawaja (hands like a sundial) and even Mitchell Starc and the travel agent can get to work.


Put a line through Labaschagne and Marcus Harris might just be too reckless. He needed a big score to consolidate opinion on his merits. He has opened the door now.


2. BBL. How long can a cop go on for? Ridiculous. Just trying too hard to kill the goose which lays the golden egg. The Thunder have no brains. They bat too skinny and a couple of wickets lost early and they are all at sea. How bad has Sangha looked? He needs to head back to the drawing board. Whoever signed Devich from New Zealand to the Thunder needs a pay rise. A terrible acquisition who has basically done nothing for anyone.


3. Super Bowl. The big game is tomorrow morning Sydney time. What a cracking game it will be. The younger LA Rams v the hard headed Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Sensational strategy and skill at play. It is some sort of event. Minus 20 in New England this weekend just gone so they will be glad they are playing in Atlanta.


4. Western Sydney Wanderers. They are now playing to remove the coach. Pathetic. Losing by 5 goals is abysmal. Popovich got out of there at the right time. They need to develop talent and fast otherwise their new stadium will remain empty.


5. Davis Cup. Great that the team won without Tomic and the other goose. It would be great if everyone ignored the two of them forever more. Tennis is on fire at present following the Australian Open and Djokovic's sensational play.


6. Greg Chappell. What about that? He resigns from the Australian cricket selector role... in six months. He needed to go straight away. Again he holds this strange power over everyone and just continues to get his own way all the time. Odd.


7. Todd Greenberg. Strange days when someone (Ben Barba) gets punted on the strength of a casino CCTV. Clearly Greenberg's embarrassment over a similar matter at the Dogs some years back, has got him hopping this time. Is it too much to put into a contract that casinos and niteclubs are out? Most issues start there. Great they will weed out blokes of ill repute and poor behaviour. Some clubs may lose most of their first grade squad!


8. NRL Pre Season. I've heard that Parramatta has been training the house down and never looked fitter. Just waiting for the photo on the back page of The Advertiser of the new recruits and all the new tats.

Wrap - The Man Machine

1. Novak Djokovic is a supreme player. He will certainly take his Australian Open record to 7-0 in finals. He has come off two successive major victories - a Wimbledon and US Open major victory - and sits on 15 Grand Slams (after tonight) above Sampras. Three in a row too! If he didn't go through his injuries in 2016-17, he would be up there near Federer. He is an absolute machine.


His ground strokes are precision plus. His mental strength is to behold. Amazing. To smash Nadal in the first and second set so well was incredible. His return of serve is phenomenal and the depth of his ground strokes exerts so much pressure on an opponent - even one as good as Nadal. These blokes are a mile in front of the others.  The Rafa airswing was extremely rare, but he was ambushed badly by a super aggressive Djokovic. Frazzled!

 

Tomic and Kygrios? Could they win a point?

 

At the time of writing this, a Nadal win would be a miracle. Hoping I have not gone off early, but Djokovic is in complete command.

 

Interesting to see how many losses in Grand Slam finals each of the three kings has had in Grand Slam finals, including tonight:

 

• Federer - 20 wins, 10 losses (30 GS Finals total)
• Nadal - 17 wins, 8 losses (25 GS Finals total)
• Djokovic - 15 wins, 9 losses (24 GS Finals total)

 

2. Naomi Osaka in the Women's Australian Open Tennis Final was awkward when under pressure. She is young with much to learn, but she could dominate for some time really. Athletic and fitter than the rest! Needs to manage her body language.

 

3. Test Cricket - Australia. Great win by Australia v Sri Lanka, but have Sri Lanka been this bad since the days of Roy Dias, Ranjan Madagualle and the Ratanayake brothers, Rumesh and Ravi, along with Sidath Wettimuny and Asoka de Silva? We bowled well, but our batting was only so so. Manus is not going to win Tests for you sadly... I like Head but he has bad lapses in concentration when it counts most. Really liked the slip cordon. Carpet Burns was exceptional. Patterson too. However, Khawaja cannot be a protected species. I don't think he engages enough, yet sheer talent says he should be there. Really looking forward to seeing Stoinis edge into the team on occasion. They look better without the Marsh brothers. It helps when the opposition are ten times worse.

 

Mitchell Starc needs to improve. He is too loose with the new ball. He needs to use the short ball more often! He has pace. Cummins superb. Hopefully he can stay fit before the Ashes.

 

4. Test Cricket - England. England's loss to the West Indies was awful. Not enough top batsmen, especially without Cook. Joe Root's form in the BBL was horrible and is not much better here. The partnership by Holder and their keeper, Dowrich, was outstanding.

 

5. Socceroos. How terrible was that back pass to gift the Saudis the win? Unforgiveable at that level really. Graham Arnold not impressed at all and fair enough. That sort of disgraceful play makes it hard to win! An A-League play. Is the white Saudi dress the only colour available?

 

6. BBL. It is far too long a comp this year, but still entertaining. Not sure how major an inroad the swap of sports (Channel 9 with Tennis...Channel 7 with cricket) has made to the ratings.

 

7. ICC Penalty. How about Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistani skipper, and his racial abuse of a black South African player? Disgraceful. The ICC brought out their biggest and longest feather and banned him for four games. Can you imagine what Cricket Australia would have done? Years...

 

8. WBBL. An exciting finish, but they could rival the blokes for entertainment soon. No more 8.30am starts!

 

9. NRL. How extraordinary that a player defends himself so publicly about rumours and innuendo? Blake Ferguson has done just that: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/eels/it-wasnt-a-drug-overdose-with-pictures-proving-parramatta-recruit-blake-ferguson-did-not-fake-foot-injury/news-story/5fc53010ab6f2a0e3755482e4fd1466b

 

However, it raises big concerns about his mental state and personal happiness. Will he play a game for Parramatta?


10. SuperBowl LIII. The effort of Tom Brady v the Kansas City Chiefs was incredible. What a stunning game. His composure under pressure is immense. There is nothing stopping him from yet another SuperBowl. To get them into their third straight SuperBowl, Bill Belichick has also been amazing. Perhaps a better coach than Vince Lombardi, the walking quote?

 

Wrap - These Three Kings

1. Bernard Tomic and his dad v Hewitt. Not sure why Lleyton Hewitt feels he even has to talk about Tomic. He needs to invest in media training. It was unnecessary and silly to front the media about a player who means so little to every Australian - and be so poorly prepared. Poor management. Don't you know Tomic is worth 10 million? He needs to be ignored and make it back into the top 200 players before he is even discussed. As for his father's legal threats...please...


2. Federer (20), Nadal (17) and Djokovic (14). They could almost call the whole show off and fast forward to the final few days next weekend with these three kings. Those numbers of Grand Slams - 20, 17, 14...They are the most awesome players that we have ever seen... and that includes McEnroe, Connors, Borg, Lendl, Agassi, Wilander, Edberg, Becker, Sampras, Evert, Navratalova, Hingis, Sharapova, Seles.... (maybe Graf aside). Djokovic has won the last two Grand Slams (Wimbledon and US), Nadal won the French and Federer last year's Australian Open. Djokovic (14) is equal with Sampras (14). The only players above that are these other two - Federer and Nadal.


3. Serena Williams. Much maligned and a big mouth often, however how talented? She looks a little unfit this year however...needs to drop some pounds but her power has increased. Her showdown with Simona Halep will be tough, but if she beats Halep she may just get her next Grand Slam and be the equal greatest Grand Slam winner of all time. At present she has 23. Margaret Court has 24.


Ash Barty is looking strong. She remains composed and calm and is into the final 8. A great effort...and now in the top ten of world tennis. She is a really hard worker too. Great reward.




4. EPL - Liverpool. They are on fire and only need Man City to slip up and they will skip clear. A fair few weeks to go as yet however with the comp finishing in May. ManU continue to win as well and are within striking distance of the Champions League top four finish. Arsenal and ManU are only four points behind Chelsea now. A stunning result really after the mess of the great moron, Mourinho.


5. Australian XI Game v Sri Lanka. Kurtis Patterson is an unusual case. He actually averages over 40, 6 tons, hs of 157...and then back to back tons v Sri Lanka this weekend! He is scoring runs, but evades the selectors! That can't hurt your chances of joining the Ashes tour. Renshaw was appalling - soft even. 'Carpet' Burns is loose and Labuschagne earnest, but limited. Pucovski looks good... maybe we have the seeds of talent right there with Patterson. Hope springs eternal. Maybe throw in a bloke called Stoinis and see how England like that.... he is a risk, but so much better than Mitchell Marsh.


6. ODIs - Australia. Finch looks cooked, but stubborn Langer keeps him there and lets D'Arcy Short wither. Khawaja is not a ODI player. Carey better start making runs too or he will be banished. The bowling of Siddle was awful. How can he even be on the radar? Hopeless. We also need a leggie who spins the ball - not Zampa. Tremain continues to be ignored when he is our most prolific wicket taker. Honestly...


7. NRL. Big Pappi Scandal... on it goes. Paul Carter was pointed at. Kane Evans is being pointed at. Parramatta also have to manage Blake Ferguson whose thirst for cash is rising. The NRL also seems incapable of managing anything. Their clubs need to be really placed under pressure with penalties for this nonsense. Not cash...points. This ultimately becomes a cash penalty too. Hearing that Shane Flanagan will never step back near Cronulla either. They are over his autocratic ways. Brad Arthur will do well to have his contract renewed too. His roster is hopeless. They are firm spoon winners.


8. Women's BBL. Great article in the Saturday Sydney paper re Elyse Perry. A number of the Wrap know her dad Mark 'Pez' Perry well, who was a Maths teacher back in the day. Have a read at: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/why-elite-perry-is-destroying-bowling-attacks-and-her-father-s-shins-20190118-p50s85.html She was player of the match in Saturday's BBL semi final as well. Amazing end with a great Sixers save on the boundary, a superb run out and a powerful six to win the game in the super over.

Wrap - Short Changed

1. NRL. What a terrible image this sport has and it is getting worse under Greenberg. There will come a day when no one with brains wants to play it. Hefty suspensions need to be in place for discrediting the game. A sex tape or two for Dylan Napa this week, an assault charge on Moga at Newcastle... on it goes. News today of yet another piece of idiocy from Corey Norman. Good luck to the Dragons who axed Dugan and inherited this bloke.


2. ODI Cricket. Hard to believe Australia could possibly win the series in Adelaide tomorrow. We lack so much, but did well in Sydney. Nice to see a few early wickets, but that man Dohni is still the gun ODI bat worldwide at his ripe old age. Kohli rarely fails twice, but I was surprised to see him reveal in an interview that he had played a lot of cricket this year and would retire and not play again. Intriguing. Maybe he is more vulnerable now that usually. He has become more personable on this trip and has rescued his image in Australia quite nicely.


3. Big Bash League. Some of these BBL umpires are on something cheap. Seven ball overs, silly no ball calls, tons denied because some goose thinks there are wood flies at the MCG and awards four leg byes. Why can't these be reviewed and altered post innings - like contested boundaries? Umpires with helmets are even worse. Matthew Wade reckons they have earmuffs on and he is probably half right. A robotic artificial umpire is surely not far away.


D'Arcy Short is a star. He is the best striker of a cricket ball in Australia since Adam Gilchrist. This Riley Meredith is a gun as well. Great pace, like Jhye Richardson. We need attacking geniuses like Short in the national set up. He needs to produce more consistently at that level however.


4. EPL. The ManU juggernaut continues under their new coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Six from six. They are rocketing up the ladder reaching Arsenal (41 points) with Chelsea (47 points) now in their sights.


5. Andy Murray. Are we missing something here? A teary press conference (very modern worldwide sporting trend at present) and yet he plays on in the tournament. It will be really difficult for Andy to manage his millions and the sympathy of everyone travels with him. He has always lacked perspective for mine. Injuries happen. It is simple really...get them healed and rise up - or move on and count your cash.


6. Ashley Barty is looking strong. She is very composed - nerve less. Quite the artist when playing. She is powerful but highly clear mentally. With Alex De Minaur, we are in a better space in Australian tennis than we have seen for a few years. The sooner Tomic and Kygrios disappear the better. We are over the antics, attitude and sob stories.


7. Australian Open. Rafa Nadal looks sharp. You need seven wins to take out a Grand Slam title. He is underway, but so too is Federer. It is interesting to read of the ATP breakaway tour plans (like Super League!). Djokovic is the mastermind there. Federer will be there when it matters as well.


8. NFL. As we head to the divisional playoffs, the Los Angeles Rams v New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots v the Kansas City Chiefs match ups will be tantalising. The hot favourites for Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta on 3 February 2019 will be the Chiefs v Saints. However the mastery of Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick at the Patriots is never to be underestimated. They are an awesome duo and will be hatching a plan. They enjoy a stunning record of finals excellence. Love how the SuperBowl moves around the country. This would be a great model for all codes in time across Australia.

Wrap - We're Not Gonna Cop It...Anymore

1. The Selectors - Greg Chappell. Greg was a gifted cricketer averaging over 50 when it was unheard of ever being regularly accomplished. A talent in the corporate world and in the 'Bug Snapple' cricket hat range. However one of Greg's complete disasters is in the area of cricket administration. It is some sort of record:

• Stints at South Australia as coach without so much as a Pura Cup/ McDonalds Cup reflection in the trophy cabinet...
• A national selector 1982-88...
• In the early 2005-7, disaster in upsetting the whole of Indian cricket and being panned by every player of note in that team. Dumped.
• Being barred from the Australian dressing room by its players (as national selector in 2010-2011 - and being heavily criticised in the 2011 Argus Review for his meddling and deceptive conduct.
• By 2016-2018, he is back reappointed to the National Selectors table. How?

He seems to enjoy some sort of power over those at Cricket Australia, but the same card is played each time. Pick the unusual and untried from left field, back in the underdog and to hell with form and records. Look at some of the selections in recent times: Sam Heazlett, Hilton Cartwright, John Holland, Marnus Labachagne, Callam Ferguson, Joe Mennie, Nic Maddinson. All raging successes. Then Paine as skipper...

Trevor Hohns is no better. He needs to go. Too old and out of touch. He should catch the same cruise as John Inverarity, who at least explained his decisions in his day.


More annoying than a Clive Palmer advertisement.


2. ODI Team. That ODI Team is a disgrace as well. No D'Arcy Short or Chris Lynn and hanging with Zampa, Michell Marsh, Siddle is why we have lost 11/13 most recently.


3. Marshmallow. Had to laugh at the Justin Langer release of the Australian Cricket team before the Sydney Test:

Geoff Marsh
Shaun Marsh
Mrs Marsh (think blue ink chalk)
Graham Marsh
Benji Marshall
PJ Marsh
Mitchell Marsh
Rod Marsh
Melissa Marsh
Dan Marsh
Paul Marsh
Nathan Hindmarsh


4. The Australian Cricket Team. Pathetic bowling lines and direction - and a humiliating result of 600+. They need to get Craig McDermott back in the bowling coaching ranks. We were at our best with him. He is a bit ruthless on bowlers as well. Saker can fade away... Why we need Graeme Hick as a batting coach I'd never know. What about Matt Hayden who has a great combo with Langer? He also mastered Indian conditions and worked hard. Get him out of the cookbooks and into the nets. Overseas coaches do not work. Repeat...


Nathan Lyon is a cantankerous fool sometimes. Not referring his dismissal in the first innings was arrogant.


The sooner Ricky Ponting gets the Australian cricket coaching reins the better.

5. BBL. What a test of the marriage! Every night. The best advice...Run off your kids here.. blame them and lap it up. Team of the Tournament thus far:

Jos Butler (Thunder)

D'Arcy Short (Hurricanes)

Matt Wade (Hurricanes)

Jordan Silk (Sixers)

Glenn Maxwell (Stars)

Marcus Stoinis (Stars)

Ashton Turner (Scorchers)

Daniel Sams (Thunder)

Tom Curran (Sixers)

Rashid Khan (Strikers)

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Scorchers)

Jhye Richardson (Scorchers)

6. WBBL. Elyse Perry is now the record holder of most runs in a WBBL season. Prolific. What a star she is!

7. Hopman Cup. A mix between hit and giggle and tennis promotion, but no matter, Federer will win. He is extraordinary. The Hopman Cup seems doomed. To be honest, it has probably lasted longer than it ever should.

8. Heart Conquered is some sort of horse. Keep an eye on this nag. It is setting course records with its speed.

9. NFL - New England Patriots. Had a mixed regular season and did well to reach the longest consecutive NFL playoff appearance streak (10 seasons). Some sort of effort that is... You have to love the coach, Bill Belichick and his mantra: "Do your job!". A life mantra.

Wrap - Hands Like Nemo

1. Cameron Bancroft. Last week it was Steve Smith trying to hijack the Boxing Day Test and now Bancroft wearing a stupid singlet and ridiculous haircut to present as the 'innocent young man'. Political spin doctors out of touch who have Foxtel in their pocket. I think Steve Smith did three "exclusive" interviews in three days. People have had a gutful of these clowns. In fact Warner has been made super popular in his silence. He does not need to front the press. Now let's hope Candace and Roxy don't advise poorly.


The cricket public are even now wanting to see the back of Bancroft for a long, long time. His booing last night in the BBL was no accident. He has brought it all his way. ‘I wanted to fit in...’. What a spineless, irresponsible excuse.


The wrath of the ex players says it all. An immature goose who has learned nothing (remember his giggling post match press conference?). He is flippant, arrogant and has not owned his own behaviour. Gilchrist was hardly helpful either. He refused to ask tough questions adding to the lame tenor of the whole pathetic charade.


Suddenly Bancoft is a long, long way from a return to the Australian team. His weakness here and public lack of 'team' perspective, will count heavily against him. Smith will return through our necessity. Warner, if he stays silent, will be back soon too. A bit rich of Aaron Finch offering to welcome back Warner as a senior player - when he can't hold his own spot in the squad!


2. Third Test Fiasco I. The MCG staff should hang their heads. They serve up an Indian deck that pleases the Indian pay masters and expect the same favour in Eden Gardens? If not, what is wrong with Victorian cricket and where is the investment in a better deck? They have a record number of players in the Australian Team - Finch, Harris and Siddle. Their favourite son, Peter Handscomb is punted and all of their players fail on the biggest stage. The crowds, outside of the Indian support, were pretty pathetic too!


Typical pandering (no DRS for a few years, no Indian IPL players in other countries' T20 leagues....). I even noticed Kerry O'Keefe penning a public letter of apology to Indian fans after a few funnies at their expense. They need to lighten up. They are ever so precious at times, despite blitzing us on the field.


3. Third Test Fiasco II. On the field, things are worse. Finch has the worst technique in world cricket. How he has scored so heavily in ODI and T20 cricket is beyond me. As the only Australian player competing in all three forms of the game, they need to end him in Test Cricket. Mitchell Marsh is a terrible selection, but he did a 'relieving' job bowling his ineffective seamers to give others a break. He is averaging 74.88 in the past 15 Tests with 9 wickets from 181 overs (23 innings). Not impressive numbers.


Khawaja has hardly set the world on fire and he and Shaun Marsh need to step up. They are both part of the malaise of Australian Cricket who cannot consistently crack the code of focus and steel required at this level. Travis Head gets bowled far too often for mine. He too is on shaky ground. Josh Hazlewood (162 Test wickets) and Mitchell Starc (198 wickets) need to get busy too. Their strike rates are too moderate against the best batsmen. They need to start dominating erlier and stop playing 'make up' cricket. Starc seems incapable of moving the red ball.


Who to bring in? Pucowski from Victoria, Lehmann from South Australia, Stoinis... all marginal.


Despite their talent, Wade and Maxwell seem to have a stunning knack of exciting selectors' strong views of their attitudinal problems. However the absence of Shield fixtures makes the readiness for excellence in Test cricket unlikely. They are not playing enough four day cricket and averages are pretty bleak too as a result. More time in the middle!




Is it time to trawl Grade Cricket in the larger states and find some long term stars who may not have had the silver cricket spoon through Australian U/19s, etc? Hard nosed players of gravity who know how to win. They could start at Parramatta in Sydney with young Bertus.

4. Complete Fiasco - Siddle. Why is he in the Test squad firstly and secondly, why is he fielding for us at a key time? Joke. Hands like Nemo. There is not a better fieldsman out there? Where is Mickey Edwards? The fielding generally was poor and worse in the BBL. Clive Rose is the worst in Australia.

5. World Cricket Stage. Dale Steyn overtakes Shaun Pollock as South Africa's leading wicket taker ever v the Pakistanis and in NZ, Trent Boult brains them to lead the team home. The fans love when ball dominates bat in Test Cricket.

6. EPL -ManU. Ole Gunnar Solskjær as the relieving football manager is igniting Pogba and the team to surge up the table into sixth place after 20 games. He is unleashing the team's spirit and grandeur in a quiet, reassuring manner. Having played for many years at Old Trafford has helped his credibility and resolve. Meanwhile Liverpool roll on as the stuttering Man City have given them the Christmas jump.

It must be said that the foxes of Leicester and the wolves of Wolverhampton have had great years to date, closing in on the magic 30 points when teams like Huddersfield cave in and look set for relegation.

7. Socceroos. Stunning words from the great coach, Graham Arnold, who suggested that the 5-0 win over Oman was inspired by his scrutiny of Liverpool games and their style. Honest, but leagues and miles away!

8. NRL. A week without a taxi rank/ niteclub/ M4 incident is staggering.

9. Sydney Mania. The Sydney Kings are in first place at the turn of the season. Amazing how quality players can get you there! Bogut has been stunning. The same with the Sydney FC and the Sydney Bluesox (baseball)! Add this to the NRL Premiers, the Sydney Roosters too and the netball Grand Finalists, the Sydney Swifts! Sydney on fire.