The Wrap - Medals Like Water My Friend

1. The Olympics. They are fabulous regardless of what comes or what disease lands. Great to see Australians doing well at the Olympics. Class efforts, often at huge personal expense. Olympics - amazing strike rate in, on and underwater. All our medals bar two have been water related - swimming, canoe, rowing, sailing, surfing...and one road cycling and one BMX medal only. Typical island country!

We have Kaylee McKeown (the 100m and 200m backstroke was the first time ever for an Australian!) and Emma McKeon (a million medals for the games!) - hard to keep the head across which is which! What we do know, is they are stars. The efforts of Ariane Titmus were superb. The Harvey Norman marketing crew will be thanking themselves on their 'ambassador' signing of Titmus pre games. 

McKeon has been superb and deserves to carry the flag at the closing ceremony. The most ever Olympic medals by an Australian with another Olympics at least to follow. Five gold as well, equalling the great Thorpey. A legend! A greater legend than the Dawn Fraser and Shane Gould stories... a few more events these days it must be said, but keep that bit quiet.

Australia has had a really strong Olympics really. 58 medals is our best ever (Sydney 2000 - 35 total medals in Melbourne in 1956) and 17 gold medals at Athens in 2004. 

At present we have 31 medals with 14 gold medals... could it be our best ever?

2. Rohan Browning. Great to see an Aussie run fast in the 100m! It can be done if drugs are removed from the Games. Suddenly, certain teams are not as dominant. Poland winning the 4x100m Medley would have been unheard of some years ago. Good that Flo Jo's soiled record has been eclipsed too. I am filthy about cheating athletes. They should be listed in a Hall of Shame. that is well publicised. They deny the legitimate athletes from glory and represent weakness in officialdom.

3. Discus Golfer. That Australian discus thrower - Denny - has a great golf swing too. Liked the Matilda's women's soccer great focus and belief too. Our long jumper looked like he had just mowed the lawn in his black socks. 

4. NRL. As mentioned in the past few weeks...if COVID gets to QLD there is a problem. They should be moving to North Queensland as soon as possible.... or the Northern Territory. They are in trouble if it all falls over. 

I cannot believe how poor the standard of NRL match-ups has been this weekend (outside of Storm v Panthers). Warriors v Tigers...North QLD v Broncos... Can't wait for the Gold Coast Titans v Bulldogs...? Terrible. Perfect weekend for COVID mayhem really. Canberra are a disappointment too. What a bad loss. Newcastle could make the semis based on their draw.

Saved by Storm v Panthers, but the Storm stamped their class. They are not losing this year unless a terrible injury or two strikes.

I noticed the quick tap is being permitted again... lazy refs have been put on notice. Such inconsistency.

5. AFL. Woeful effort by Brisbane this weekend giving up their key position. West Coast were poor too. Freo v Tigers was a cracking game of desperation...as was the Swans v Essendon. Great intensity for semi final positions!

6. Tennis. Djokovic default for the bronze medal? Barty and Peers get a medal which is special for them. How Barty lost a singles match I'll never know... Djokovic will never be as admired as his tantrums and poor behaviour should never be seen in the Olympics. In fact, tennis should be barred. A joke. Golf is another one that could be trimmed. They are simply not the pinnacle event in their sport and are meaningless. The Masters or the Olympics gold? I think most golfers would say the Masters - as tennis players would say Wimbledon. 

7. New Celtic coach. Ange Postocoglou. I hope he is ready for the ride and a thicker skin than he had as Australian coach. He will be under the pump. A first up loss to Hearts doesn't help. He cannot manage media questions at all well.

8. Trevor Hohns is resigning. Now pass the tissues. He has had a hand in there for too long. Successful first time around and second time around, a little tired and uninspiring. George Bailey and Justin Langer are the selectors. Surely Langer gets a say, but not that much longer. Langer is on thin ice - paper thin.

9. Cricket. A win v Windies in the ODI series. A shock with our form. What a boring, uninspiring series. No stand outs on dud pitches too. Starc was the difference.

10. NBA Draft. Interesting US reaction when overseas players get drafted in US Sports ahead of local players... Josh Giddey the Australian basketballer gets the nod over locals for the Oklahoma Thunder and there is hell to pay. Jealousy is certainly a curse!

11. Gold Medal Commentator. Bruce McIvaney's spirit and passion at the track is a Olympic Games highlight. Hoping we may get a medal. He'll almost die like he did that night in 2000 with Cathy Freeman, if we do!

The Wrap - Olympic Bullrush and Dodgeball

1. Olympics. Can we save the protests and dais spats? The politicising of sport on that stage needs to take a back seat to a few of the freak athletes. There is such talent. A special priviledge to play or compete at the Olympic Games. Such history. 

Great win by the Olyroos in the soccer v Argentina. Sad loss to Sweden by the Matildas... should have won. Sam Kerr is a talent. Kookaburras fortunate and softball girls just lack depth, but have never missed out on a medal at the Olympics. The Stingers water polo team had a victory too. Rowing is a strength at every Olympics for Australia too. Ash Barty gone in the first round! Hard courts are not her best surface. and it showed.

Not sure why we have Skateboarding at the Olympics. That one and 3 on 3 basketball is tough to accept too. Maybe we need bullrush and dodgeball next time?

Swimmers are special. Such a hard sport, but done really well. The scheduling is a little tough to get into the routine, but it won't take long if there is gold flowing. Amazing how host countries seem to get so much success. Incredible. You have to love the girls' 4 x 100 relay team. Superb under pressure and no one jumped in the water post match to celebrate! Yet another Aussie Smith doing really well at world sport - Cameron (NRL), Cam (golf), Steve (cricket), Brendon (swimming)... common surname with uncommon talent.

What was John Coates thinking at the press conference with the Queensland Premier? Honestly. Being on the IOC leadership team does interesting things to people's self importance and lack of self awareness.

Are we keener to beat China than the USA these days? It seems they will be the most formidable opponent in coming years.

2. NRL. The August player transfer window is out of control. Players are going to move around like you wouldn't believe. Two blokes have played in different jerseys against the same team in different weeks...Mamalo and  Townsend. Other blokes who have moved clubs this year mid -season include Pangai, Lodge, Coates (?), Dallin Z-W, Maguire, Beale, Clifford, Dearden...

Tiring of teams blaming rule changes for their woeful tactics and defence. Warriors were hammered...so were the Tigers. No excuses. If you are not good, get good!

Api Korosiau. Incredible stupidity and typical NRL selfishness. The lack of understanding of what this can do to the game and its operations is the problem. If the game stops, the money stops. Maybe this will only makes sense to some when it is too late.

3. Broncos. What is wrong with that joint? Lose great players and recruit mediocre ones: Adam Reynolds aside, but Ryan James and Dunamis Lui are on the radar and they have Capewell, Brenko Lee and Billy Walters. I'm not seeing a premiership there. Kevin Walters is on thin ice. Paper thin.

Ethan Bullemor. Note this Bronco name. He is a super talent.

4. Salary Cap Sombrero. Not sure how Penrith have salary cap provision to accommodate Pangai. Probably organised by Chadd Townsend's manager. He is the smartest bloke in the game.

5. Wigers. What about the Tigers proposal to trade Wighton and Hodgson for Brooks and Mbye? I think someone is getting a better deal here and the fans of the Tigers are getting the worst deal of all with their management. Brooks is in trouble. he runs sidewards, misses too many tackles, and does not seem to be improving. He would be a superstar under Bellamy. Adam Douehii at five eighth is not the answer. I can see why Wayne Bennett liked him, but found a way to release him.

6. Storm. While the JJ Giltnan Shield has already arrived at the engraver's place, the only problem could be if they get bored winning!..15 wins in a row. Impressive stuff.

7. AFL. Five games on one Saturday is too many games on one day... too much overlap. Maybe a Thursday night? Monday night? 

The Western Bulldogs v Demons on Saturday night was a cracking game in the wet. Plenty of talent. Bontempelli is a legend. Petracca is similar. Melbourne have won one game in a month...a slippery decline. Brisbane looked cooked, but awoke to crush the Suns. They are surging to the top four.

Brownlow for me? Clayton Oliver is superb. Oliver Wines too. Wines is at a club where not many others will get points that often. The Bont will go close!

Loving the fake crowd noise... it does a good job and deceives nicely. The player talk mid game is an interesting edge to this footage too now. 

8. Golf. Top British Open win by Collin Morikawa. A top strike rate in his early world golfing days. Not a lot of great players in world sport called "Collin/ Colin" ...the great Colin Croft, Colin Best, Colin Scotts, Colin Miller, Colin Macdonald... even Collis King.

7. Cricket. Empty stadiums. COVID delays... miserable form. It has been quite a dud. Starc, Carey and Mitchell Marsh may be able to hold their heads up, but it has been a forgettable tour in many respects. There needs to be more fresh blood... McDermott, Phillipe, Turner and Carey are the ODI/ T20 future, but Henriques? He has struggled at the top level for a long time now. We continue to struggle v spin and low wickets. Would our domestic scheduling and pitches have anything to do with this? Yet another series where no one really cares.

The Wrap - Long Gawn Kah

1. NRL. God help the NRL officials if they get COVID in Queensland. They could be playing NRL in the Northern Territory or a Grand Final in Broome. Great that sport is still continuing however.

2. Origin Series. A disappointing NSW effort, but three wins in QLD in a series was too much. Moses' defence surprised us all. He certainly has a boot on him. The decision to kick a goal at the end was silly and negative. We need to remember that the greatest of QLD sides rarely won 3-0 ever... only in 2000 and 2010 has it happened in the last 25 years! 

I must say that James Tedesco disappoints with his inability to pass the ball. He skips, steps, stutters and runs across field at worst. At the Roosters, this has been ironed out of his game and he hits the gap. In Origin, he brings it back and it confounds and crowds his team. You need a court order to get the ball off him.

3. NRL Games. Canberra v Cronulla was a contest between two teams that don't have good defence and give others too much opportunity. Canberra have too many big guys who are not mobile and quick enough - and no pace. They need to stop the comp and give the premiership to the Melbourne Storm. 14 wins in a row! Just massacring sides now. Every week they score 40+ points.

Newcastle apparently forgot their jerseys this week for the game. They may have been next to the tubs labelled 'form' and 'effort'. They were appalling. Adam O'Brien is not doing the business. The Roosters however are defying the odds at every stretch with so many injuries. This Billy Smith in the centres has talent. Sam Walker is definitely better than Kyle Flanagan. 

The Tigers showed a little more steel v Broncos. Pleasing for their fans, but the Broncos... They are worse than last year! Kevin Walters is on thinner ice than we can imagine.

Is Lachlan Lewis thick or what?  Unbelievable. Why are we putting up with NRL players writing on their wrist tape? Ban it. Ridiculous. maybe a new literacy strategy?

4. AFL. Hawthorn's 79-79 effort v Melbourne was really strong with a draw a complete disaster for the Demons. Max Gawn the old warhorse skipper is playing well, especially overhead, but this Clayton Oliver will give Marcus Bomptelli a run for the Brownlow. Superb fitness and skill. Tom Mitchell too is awesome under pressure. Good to see the new kid number #1 draft pick, Ugle Hagan, serve it up too. Western Bulldogs beat the Suns in a tight game with the Suns showing more fight now. Stewie Dew may be getting the job done better than any of his predecessors.

5. Wallabies v France - Rugby. 33-30 rounds out a tough series v France. Interesting to see two tests in a week. How can that happen? Wednesday night tests - was this a State of Origin replica? Can anyone explain why Australian rugby union officials are so weak? Why do we put up with the northern hemisphere nonsense rules. Koribete was not worthy of a send off. Lots of play acting by the Frenchman Jelonch. A scintillating French try from the kick and chase. Scintillating, but not enough to win! Our new coach, Dave Rennie, is pretty good. Courageous and no nonsense. (Still looking for that person who actually does tolerate fools!).

6. Olympics - Tokyo. What a COVID nightmare. Hard to see how the disease can stay out of the village...cleaners, officials, media, delivery persons... Looking forward to seeing our swimmers excel. Could be record TV ratings of all time with COVID lock downs across the world. Perhaps this is why the show needed to go on!

7. West Indies 4-1 T20 Smashing in West Indies. It is like the old days when the Windies dominated. They seem to have more steel than us now. The arrogance of some of the Australians in not going to this tour with a thousand excuses is staggering. We then get Langer giving in to the players because the precious things don't want tough expectations. Great to see so much talent in the Windies. When Mitchell Marsh is your best player, Houston we have a huge problem.

8. Jamie Kah - 'Kah Of The Year'. 100 wins in a year as jockey is pretty awesome. Back at it on the weekend, winning two more - Gonnadancealot and I'm Thunderstruck. I'm Thunderstruck was awesome! One for the memory.

9. British Open Golf at Royal St George's. What a cracking tournament. Great location, but prone to a breeze! That perennial second place getter Louis Oosthuizen is sizzling with the best half way score ever in the tournament's history. Some sort of achievement. Hopefully he can aim up and not get a second place. He has done this six times in majors - and twice this year! Look for Rahm late. Our own Cam Smith is a proven Majors performer too. Top recovery in his third round.

10. NBL. Pretty amazing that their final series goes into the best of seven...money spinner! The Bucks v Suns. Poised at 2-2 until a big win in the clutch game on Sunday...

The Wrap - The COVID Cruising Bolt

1. NRL Dragsters. It reminds me of wild 16-18 year old parties  - jumping over fences, hiding from Police, doing the COVID bolt. Paul Vaughan did yet another dumb thing and will struggle to get a decent pay day again. Ironically, he could have been on the cusp of Origin selection if he had been smart. 

The interesting thing too was those blokes not invited - or who chose not to attend - Ramsay, Rawalara, Hunt, McCulloch, Sims. Maybe Origin save a few, but the chasm in team culture brought about by assembling too many 'offcuts' from other clubs is laid bare. 

As mentioned last week, the St George retirement home for lost broncos... Beale, Alvaro, Maguire... All looking for a new start and finding trouble. No guessing why they may have been trimmed from other clubs.  As for de Belin, you'd cut him in an instant. After all that wasted salary cap money over the past few years and club loyalty and this is where his brain is at? Jack needs to steer clear of bedrooms. Simple. The story is not over yet, because you get the sense that the lies may come back to bite them with a stat dec. I suspect there may have been plenty of other people there, which will come out in time of course.

Nonetheless, it will be memorable for all the wrong reasons. The NRL fines did not miss. Now, maybe if they did the same for the Corey Norman street fight and his other nonsense earlier this would have been cured. Corey and Matt Dufty (nice five kilometre run home!) are disappointments. No wonder the coach has axed them.

Coach Griffin too is suddenly under the electron microscope. Hook may be hooked soon too. Why would this have not happened with Bellamy at the Storm?

2. Ash Barty. A great effort to get to the final and win Wimbledon. The third ever Australian. This is a player who left the sport and played at the Brisbane Heat! (HS 39). She is so humble, courageous and talented. She plays with such grace and humility and is clearly well regarded by her peers. A few Grand Slam wins need to occur while she is at the peak of her game. It is a small and ever closing window. She has two now.

Dylan Alcott. Great effort in the wheelchair Wimbledon championships (14th Grand Slam win). Can we get an update on the trophy there? It looks like a 'Student of The Week' trophy at present.

So pleased to see Tom Cruise there. What a show pony. Not sure if he understands the game.

3. Nick Kygrios. Casts himself as a modern day Robin Hood these days. Stealing the limelight from others and giving away free advice and Instagram wisdom - and "entertainment" - until he seems to get bored. He's even advertising cars that no one knows the name of at all. The decision not to attend the Olympics underlined why it should not be there as a sport. He sees it as a tournament. Most Olympic athletes see it as a lifetime pinnacle achievement in their sport.

4. Novak Djokovic. He will probably end up with the most majors ever. He is a ruthless machine. Often criticised (with some good reason), but he has an awesome record. He rarely loses a Grand Slam Final. Keep your house on him! He will equal Federer and Nadal on 20 Grand Slam wins. Maybe this will ignite the fire in Nadal a little more. Federer at 40 now looks cooked.

5. Euro Final. Hard to believe England figures in something so momentus...and in their own backyard. Italy have that X-Factor however. It could all come crashing down. Hopefully not for the fans who won't know what to burn if they lose. Any price on a dodgy refereeing decision?

5A. Copa America. Argentina not crying, but laughing. Messi and crew get it done over Brazil!

6. NRL. No one can ever explain why we need split rounds of the game for a dead rubber Origin. Please... we have Mitchell Moses who will win it for us now. The league becomes very boring and scant, giving the AFL a perfect leg up! How ordinary were the games this weekend?

The ill discipline in camp by Arrow was very hard to comprehend. All good things mind you, but timing? The NRL entitlement culture is staggering. Lots of money and lots of delusion.

The only club that has no problems is the Storm. Their biggest problem is where to put the bigger trophy cabinet.

7. AFL. The Swans are looking sharp. A top win v Western Bulldogs. Lots of tackling pressure can break a team. If only the Dogs had English up front from the get go, they would have prospered more. Crazy coaching really. Richmond are done with Collingwood smashing them in the final quarter but the GWS effort v Gold Coast was appalling.

Still my two AFL rule changes need to occur:

(i). Kick it out of bounds = free kick to the other team from where it was kicked.

(ii). Following a mark, a maximum of five seconds to make a choice. It is far too long at present. Get on with it!

Essendon are hanging on and chalked up a comfortable win v Adelaide. Stringer was on fire and his role as a mid fielder is quite unique and effective for someone so strong. Melbourne bounced back. Love big Max Gawn the Melbourne skipper. Great hands in the air and lots of composure under heat.

8. Connor McGregor. He is a hype machine and good on him. I'd like to see him win a little more. He is a money machine with all the high jinks, so good on him. Surely it ends now. A bad leg break for no real reason. A worry.

9. F1. Speaking of which...Daniel Riccardo. He seems to have more excuses than the St George NRL party goers. As Kerry Packer used to say: "don't complain and don't explain".

10. Golf. A big week for Australia last week. Cam Davis in a PGA play off win taking his world ranking from the high 100s/ 200s to 67! Great effort. All the while Lucas Herbert won the Irish Open. Herbert has been the classic PGA journeyman and has hovered in the 70-80 world rankings for a while now. A career high 55th in the world is nothing to sneeze at! Steph Kyriacou also won in Holland at the best named golf tournament going: The Big Green Egg Open at Rosendaelsche Golf Club. Her father carries her bag as caddy! Great teamwork. 

11. Australian Cricket. What a horrible, pathetic effort. Weak and brainless really. Spoiled players who critique the coach long before they critique themselves. The coach, Justin Langer is now at the mercy of the over paid players. Unfortunately, he is on a short leash. It is hard to like anything about Australian cricket at present. 

The Wrap - Blow Outs and Blow Backs

1. Mitchell Moses. His missed goal after the siren sums things up for Mitchell. Talented, creates opportunities but never really produces consistently under pressure. It would be a risk having him in the NSW Origin team - even a dead rubber. He has got the best chance now, but when has he dominated against a top three team? You'd sooner go with Matt Burton. Moses' boot is superb (goalkicking and general play), but his defence is not. Reynolds? Running over the dead ball line when you are gunning for an origin spot doesn't help your cause.

Can someone explain why State of Origin players need to back up and play for their clubs between games? Maybe after a decided series, but NSW will not have the required team or intensity to compete this time around. A great effort to beat QLD twice in Queensland to start a series. Keep remembering that Queensland won eight in a row! Then start talking about eras and 'best evers'. 

Get Katoni Staggs into the team too. He is a cracker.

2. Sky Racing. With COVID lockdown in Sydney, suddenly the highest rating TV show on the television. Great runs by Grand Promenade and Oscar Zulu especially on the weekend. A few upsets too of course in the damp conditions.

3. AFL. The form of Richmond is disturbing. For the carry-over 2020 Premiers they have completely turned it up. A disgrace and now they lose their best player in Houli to injury. Melbourne losing to GWS was appalling too. They seem to be cursed. How that happens at a clutch time of the season is unbelievable.  Essendon are cooked for the season again. Parish got 40+ disposals which is outrageous. He's been doing it all year. Brisbane were strong as always...they look like they are firming for a GF appearance too.

As soon as the rain comes, the game totally changes its complexion!

Swans were dominant. Callum Mills is on fire in 2021. He has toughened up. Florent and Hewitt are growing in strength and speed too. West Coast missed Gaff, but surely the cold of Geelong may have been a bigger influence. Big 'local' South Melbourne support of the Swans!

Western Bulldogs are on top of the comp now and should be minor premiers.

4. NRL. Parramatta won their first premiership in 1981, some 34 years after joining the NRL top flight rugby league in 1947. It is now 35 years after their last premiership in 1986. Incredible drought that does not look like breaking.

Parramatta are finished for the season. The tally now goes to 35 years without a premiership. A tight loss to Penrith confirms the worst. Put the queue in the rack and get overseas and look for three players for the backline with speed. Maybe an All Black? They are completely lost and Haze Dumpster is simply not up to it yet. Small and not quick! They completely leave Dylan Brown lost and he needs to be coached properly to get the best from him. They need to sort the backline out. Get rid of Waqar Blake and Opacic and sign some speed! They are slow and in wet conditions, completely painful. 

5. NRL Blow Out Saturday. Apparently this is all to do with the new rules, Peter Vlandys and head high tackles... and nothing about poor coaching, ill discipline, terrible recruitment or awful defence. Sportbet punters love it with try scorers!

6. Blow Out #1 - Bulldogs 66-0. Worst result in 60-80 years. What a miserable mess they have become. Trent Barrett has done nothing really this year. He was touted as the next best thing, but he has been dreadful, presiding over ill discipline, slackness and insurrection. He seems obsessed with new signings, but we all know that will paper over the problems. He is close to being shown the door as well. He'll have to race Kyle Flanagan. His future is not in Australia sadly. Unfortunately he does not get it and Barrett has still not picked up on it.

7. Blow Out #2 - Raiders v Titans 44-6. The Titans are the best first half team in the comp, but when they meet Canberra it looks so much easier. The efforts of some of the Canberra players are dreadful. Ricky's time may be up. He should move on. 

The cranky angry coach has a short lifetime...Michael Maguire (Wests Tigers) is in trouble too. A bye next week gives the club the perfect preparatory phase for a transition coach.

8. Blow Out #3 - Newcastle v Cowboys 38-0. Amazing what a player or two does to a team - Ponga and Pearce... new team. Cowboys disastrous.

9. The St. Broncos. How many Broncos can you fit into the Dragons...Maguire, McCulloch, Hunt, (Sims, Norman)... Pangai-Junior? Hook needs to watch out too or he will be on the slippery slide out of the joint. Looks like the ill discipline has travelled south too...COVID parties. Honestly. Hook may cop the hook himself if he doesn't smarten a few of them up!

The Broncos looked good on Sunday. Unfortunately they were a bit lost on the words for the team song!

Reuben Garrick is an impressive Manly player. Low maintenance and easily one of the underdog signings of the year. Hasler can coach! Tommy T is the gun player of the comp. With Cleary injured, Tommy will be the Dally M winner.

Has 'Blocker' Roach lost it as a commentator? He needs to be more insightful.

10. The Warriors. They are the misfit vacuum cleaner of the NRL at present - Townsend, Lodge, Johnson, Dallin WZ... surely there are better local products in a country that pumped Tonga 102-0 in rugby on the weekend..

11. Wimbledon. Put your house on Djokovic. He is going to blitz them. Roger is superb, but struggling at 40 years of age. No Rafa. Barty looks to be struggling a bit, but still winning. Hopefully the heat cranks up and the courts get faster and less slippery.

12. Nick Kgyrios. An entertainer, but not a winner sadly. No one is really that surprised to see him withdraw from the tournament. Interesting to see if he plays doubles with Venus Williams still. 

13. Tim Tszyu.  I think everyone knows how Michael Zerafa must have been feeling. Stevie Spark...keep running! Tszyu is world class. Cinderella Man. Didn't Cinderella blow a sand shoe and turn into a pumpkin? There's no sunshine here.

14. England - Euro 2021. Awesome play by the English team...first semi final since the early 1990s v Denmark. First time a clean sheet has been kept in five straight European Championships tournament games. England don't know what to say with a semi final birth. Gareth Southgate has been composed and courageous as coach. Impressive signs.

The Wrap - NRL Hippo Ears, Not Elephant Ears

1. A League Winners. Sydney FC have been Premiers 5 times (to Melbourne Victory's 4 titles), but not today. They had been dominant for a long time and coach Steve Corica played in the very first win. It is clear that the dunny seat trophy needs to be replaced soon. Designed by someone trendy, but it looks terrible. It could well symbolise the standard of some of the players. Melbourne City had more control and poise at key times. Not sure when the new season resumes...possibly next week some time.

2. US Open Golf. Jon Rahm bounces back from a PGA COVID disqualification when a mile ahead and then becomes a Major winner. Poor old Louis Oosthuizen came second again. A first world problem, but a concern... Koepka in the top five yet again. He could well be one of the greats eventually. Five or six Major victories puts you there forever.

3. No NRL. Terrible scheduling really - and now a COVID lockdown. The greedy wasteful clubs are already whinging. Not sure how the broadcasters tolerate it to be fair, but the AFL dominated this weekend. State of Origin is a great showpiece, but how great? The women's State of Origin was full of big hits, but in the wet was hardly the entertainment showpiece that many were hoping for... Lots of toughness and skill on show it must be said.

4. State of Origin. The usual Queensland mystery illness. Reece Walsh this time. The tactic is used in every Origin. Farcical. In some ways the silly NSW gamesmanship around the eligibility for Mulitalo plays straight into QLD hands. Fittler would be annoyed he has so many administrative idiots around him. Stupid old fashioned nonsense. He is hardly going to be selected for NSW anytime soon... and he's no Greg Inglis.

In the end a great game. The NSW backline was put under pressure, but not to be. Latrell Mitchell was brilliant (one on one strip, defence to contain QLD in their own in goal, intercept try, sideline defence...outstanding). Too slick for Queensland. The Cronk-Smith-Thurston- Slater era was spectacular, but time changes everything. Always seem that our forwards might not really aim up in Origin as much as Queensland's forwards do, but Sims, Murray and Saifiti were spectacular. Really like Junior Paulo and he hasn't been able to play with the ball in hands yet. He could be the closest we have seen to some of the greatest ball playing forwards.

Jack Wighton almost did an Aaron Raper, playing next to no minutes.

Capewell looked like he was running on a Heavy 10 every time he touched the ball. He missed so many tackles it was ridiculous. Trobjevic was awesome as usual. One of the best we have seen.

5. Warriors. Nice signing of Shaun Johnson, but how will he go back smoothly at the club who didn't want him?  Gus is building some sort of roster there. Distance allows for salary discounts I suspect. 

The signing of Nick Meaney is also typically visionary from the Storm. On song and strategic - and Xavier Coates coming on deck too! He will be better than anyone can believe once he gets weekly confidence in a top side. If George Jennings can become a world beater, anyone can!

6. Bulldogs. Why are the most hopeless teams also the most ill disciplined? COVID breaches? Dylan Napa again. He should have been cut before. Unfortunately the hippo ears are alive and well with players in the NRL... not the much needed elephant ears. 

7. World Test Cricket Championship. Great work by NZ to beat India. Lords conditions suits their game to a tee. A monumental achievement really by a cricketing minnow. Ross Taylor keeps producing runs in pressure moments. Kyle Jamieson justified his IPL price tag with a MOTM performance. Interesting Australia could have been there but for a ICC ruling to penalise us for a minor discretion. Absurd, but never really contested by Australia. Boony had to make the call!

8. AFL. Richmond were dreadful (lowest score since the 1960s). No pressure and lacking intensity. St Kilda were pretty solid for the first Friday win at the MCG since 2010. Brisbane have jumped in flag favouritism after their effort v Geelong. COVID could impact big time now. Really liked Port Adelaide's form v Swans who lack punch up front.... and the effort of Melbourne v Essendon for their twelfth season win tells us they are Grand Final bound! Western Bulldogs belted West Coast too. They will be there. Keith gave us all the tip at the start of the year...Marcus Bontempelli the Brownlow too! Get on it!

9. Andrew Hoy and Mary Hanna. Olympians for Australia at 62 and 66 years of age in equestrian! Some sort of achievement at that age. Should it be an Olympics sport? How does it survive? Is there a succession plan in the sport?

10. UEFA Euro Football. There is always excellent football in world wide competitions. Outstanding. The big name countries lead so powerfully at these tournaments. Italy, Denmark...England v Germany. The fans love it, but it will test the best alarm clock...

11. Newcastle Races on the Weekend. A complete imbecile. Spooked horses and jockeys. The punters should have nailed him.

The Wrap - Galvanised and Gallant Hearses

1. Paul Gallen. Gallant, galvanised... the media loved it. A great effort, but a loss in the end. 

2. NRL. While we lament the absence of games in State of Origin, some of the match ups are dreadful. Newcastle v Warriors... in the wet. Does it get any worse? Four wins in a row for Cronulla as well.

The game is in disarray with contract renewals and sackings. So much press on this and so little on the skill of the players. Lazy journalism about the most vocal and selfish player managers/ players. Is Gareth Widdop playing with every club? The Warriors seem to be buying anyone with a pulse. the Roosters need to pounce big time with Cordner, Friend and others now retired. Saints seem to be shedding more players than most...Periera has signed with the Broncos too... Norman, Dufty...

For the first time we have a player who has played for two different NRL clubs playing the same time in successive weeks (Ken Maumalo). The game's transfer situation is out of control.

Kevin Walters looks like he drives a hearse for a living. He may be in the back soon the way the Broncos are going.

Canberra Raiders have turned over a lot of players in key positions and need to re-invent themselves. Fullback, halfback and hooker...all new and changing. Kris in the centres has served it up to Jarrod Croker. Is there a worse second half team in living memory? Lacking fitness and leadership. The Gold Coast could be awesome eventually, but they fall asleep in the second half too.

3. Nathan Cleary. Here's hoping he doesn't get injured this year. He could complete the Origin-Premiership double. He and Tom Trobjevic are streets ahead of the rest at present. The loss of Jake Trobjevic will need a strong tackling blocker in replacement. Not sure if Nathan Brown is the answer.

4. Wests Tigers. They need to shut the joint and re-open as The Magpies this week. A dreadful, dreadful performance v Storm... and they keep signing poor players. Maguire does not look like the answer sadly.

5. AFL. Gary Rohan has had a career high hitting one between the sticks after the siren to win for Geelong v Western Bulldogs. An under performer for years, but finally he may continue to deliver! This could well be the Grand Final rematch. The standard of the top few teams is so superior to most. North Melbourne look to have bounced back from being deported to Van Dieman's Land. 

The Suns are getting worse too. They could be in Tassie first.

6. Cricket. Wet weather everywhere, but how predictable was Lords. Surely the World Test Final needs extra game days up the sleeve. Cricket is often far too slow (bad light) or in a hurry to nowhere.

7. Rugby. Did the Waratahs win? They reported a $3 million profit, but no one knows a single player in the joint. 

8. Tennis. Djokovic is about to go real close at Wimbledon to equalling 20 Grand Slams and even this up with Federer and Nadal. His win in the French Open was awesome really, coming back from two sets down. Federer 20/31 winning finals; Djokovic 19/29 winning finals and Nadal 20/28 winning finals.

9. US Open Golf. Louis Oosthuizen always seems to be there or thereabouts in majors, sitting third at Torrey Pines. Eight all time top ten finishes. 22 majors won all time by South Africans (17 by Australians). Eleven different winners in the last 13 majors since 2018 (excluding no British Open last year) makes golf more open now than ever. Four Majors wins put you in the top 20 of all time. Rory is there but a fifth has him join Mickelson as well.