The Wrap - Socceroodimentals

1. Socceroos. Graham Arnold and his team of relative unknowns have done an exceptional job. Beating Tunisia and Denmark is substantial. It will be interesting to see the next FIFA world rankings.

A 2-1 loss to Argentina - with the hint of a possible equaliser late - was a top result really. He is definitely the best coach in Australia and his line about critics wearing 3XL tracksuits... hard to argue.

It would be great to see our national soccer team become the main national focus. Everyone loves that sport at the highest level...and when you are winning. Cricket is on the slide. AFL has no international dimension (despite releasing their draw on the morning of the Socceroos match!)

2. Australian Test Cricket. I like the look of young Chanderpaul. He is likely to get a lot of test runs. A little unconventional and different, but an eye like a dead fish. His old man Shiv scored 11,867 runs across 164 Tests at 51.37. That will be hard to beat! Shiv has the eighth best ever batting record in test cricket.

Meanwhile Marnus gets his 9th Test ton, equalling the great Graeme Wood and one shy of Bob Simpson (yes, for all the legend, he only scored 10 Test tons, but three double hundreds). It must be said that Greg Chappell was the one who identified Marnus' talent. Rare gold. 

Steve Smith notched another double century (4) and has a record that is the second best Test average ever (61.62) ...better than Sobers as well (57.78). He is a freak. Adam Voges' Test average doesn't count.

Interestingly Bradman hit 12 Test cricket double tons, Ponting 6 and now Steve Smith 4.

Nathan Lyon has also quietly made his way into the top ten Test wicket takers of all time as well, now coming eighth of all time (446). He needs to pass 519 (Courtney Walsh) next. A super talent really. Resilient.

3. England - Cricket. Hitting 500 runs in a day of test cricket v Pakistan is amazing. Brendon McCullum has ignited a new standard in that team. They will be hard to beat in England in the Ashes. With Joffra Archer, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Stone, Mark Wood, Jamie Overton... that's enough to crush most sides. 

However Pakistan at home know how to bat too. They are never out of it there.

Conversely, we have little batting prowess and Shield cricket batting stocks has never been so poor. The one name that keeps appearing scoring one is none other than the singlet himself - Cameron Bancroft. Surely not.

4. Shield Sacking. Not sure how many noticed the quiet sacking of Phil Jacques who has presided over a complete shipwreck at NSW cricket this season. Gone and replaced by the great cricket coach, Greg Shipperd. NSW need new blood and a few sackings of players to follow suit. Kurtis Patterson and Moises Henriques are two to start with now. An horrific loss to Victoria on the weekend.

5. Parramatta. Mitchell Moses is not worth $1.4 million per season and will go. Dylan Brown needs to be signed up for a long time. The question on everyone's lips is how does it get to this? Useless administrators. Reports that Parramatta could lose both players... At least Jake Arthur and Shaun Lane are signed. The young centre Penisini needs to be signed next... or not by those lumbering clowns at Parramatta.

6. NFL. new England Patriots are terrible this year. Belichik in moves to bring Tom Brady back there? Surely not.

7. Marathon. Interesting to see Aussie Brett Robinson broke Deek's incredible 1986 Australian marathon record of 2:07:51 in 2:07:31 in Japan. A 36 year old record! Could be an omen for Parramatta who last won the comp in 1986, if they have any decent players left.

8. Australian Open. Adam Scott...ouch.

The Wrap - Winners, Winners, Chicken Dinners

1. FIFA World Cup Victory v Tunisia. Tunisia's Game 1 draw v Denmark may have been the pivotal moment for Australia's hopes, but the truth of it is that the Socceroos won a really tough game 1-0 on Saturday night but will struggle v Denmark to make the Round of 16. We have never won two games at the football World Cup before.

It is our first win at the World Cup since way back when we beat Serbia 2-1 in South Africa in the World Cup of June 2010. Glorious to win a game at the World Cup however. It vindicates a lot of hard work and preparation and also gets away from the embarrassment of just an appearance and a straight sets exit - Qatar style.

Graham Arnold is still one of the best coaches in all sports in the country that is for sure. He is so centred and flourishes despite the heat applied by loud mouth ex-players especially. I can confirm that Mark Bosnich never played at a World Cup for Australia. The way he talks you would swear he played five like Ronaldo.

The World Cup of football is the premier World Cup across the world. It brings out the super stars and heavy weights all at once. Very exciting to watch - especially the second half with the run into full time. The game opens up massively.

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2. Wallabies. Finally a victory and an excellent win v Wales. How many tight games has this team either lost or won? Dave Rennie has coached Australia from 2020-2022 (34 Tests). In this time he has had 18 Tests decided by 5 points or less (8 losses and 7 wins). An incredible stat:

• Lost by 2 to France
• Lost by 2 to Scotland
• Lost by 1 to Wales
• Lost by 4 to England
• Lost by 2 to NZ
• Lost by 1 to France
• Lost by 1 to Italy
• Lost by 3 to Ireland
• Won by 2 v NZ
• Won by 2 v France
• Won by 3 v France
• Won by 2 v South Africa
• Won by 2 v England
• Won by 1 v Scotland
• Won by 5 v Wales
• Drew with NZ
• Drew with Argentina
• Drew with Argentina

3. Cricket. Justin Langer needed to remain quiet in the media, but could not. He is an intense fellow, but a winner. He does need to smile more often. Cricket Australia again can't do anything right and always seem to be playing catch up. Finally Ronnie McDonald and the hamburgulars have reason to smile with a mean nothing, do nothing ODI tournament won by them v England 3-0.

There is something not well with the fast bowlers in that team. Starc has been dropped and reinstated, barking back in the media; Hazelwood became captain for a game (please) and Cummins..we know about his world more now as he patches up soiled friendships and ex-player relations and comments on world energy issues.  That Alinta Energy bath did not help any of them. There is a need for renewal there too. 

4. WBBL. The Adelaide Strikers beat the Sydney Sixers in a bit of a canter, heralding the commencement of the BBL on 13 December. Will be interesting to see if the draft they instituted brings a jot of difference to the quality. They need to bring through new talent and should be mandated to play two rookies in every team. The women's version of BBL is more entertaining.

5. Cameron Smith. Killing it at Royal Queensland again (third Australian PGA title), but still not content. That is the sign of a legend in the making. High expectations of self first...then others. Sustaining the highest level of performance over time is the other challenge. Look at Adam Scott, Jason Day...great moments, but unsustainable. A three time winner of the Joe Kirkwood Cup. 

Who was Joe Kirkwood? Our first US PGA winner and a player who it is said hit 29 holes-in-one in his career! He also beat his age in a round of golf (62) at the age of 63. Legend...not a lot of major success - three fourths at the British Open and a third at the US PGA., but handy!

6. Australian Davis Cup Tennis. Into the final for the first time in quite a few years. Not a Kygrios or Tomic in sight which is a great thing. No place for ego in a team tournament. Alex de Minaur is a rising star (24th in the world) and led the team. Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson did the business in the reverse singles, but Purcell made a goose of himself swearing in the post-match interview. He will regret that ill discipline and needs to do better. First time since 2003 into the final. No surprise that Lleyton Hewitt is the captain. He is a winner through and through.

The Wrap - Dead Set Winners

1. NRL - World Cup Final. Kangaroos v Samoa - 30-10. A great game to get up to watch in the dead of the night! Cleary was strong, but Latrell was magnificent. So powerful. Junior Paulo was possibly the best on the ground. Luai and Crichton are talented too. To'o was a bit clumsy and disappointing. I think Australia were lucky not to play England it must be said. However, they got it done.

Imagine the NSW backline in Origin: Tedesco-Addo-Carr-Latrell-Wighton-To'o - Cleary. Throw in Turbo and Sualli... unbeatable if the coach picks the right team.

Mal Meninga is such a successful coach. 53% winning rate at the Raiders (125 games); 67% winning rate with QLD Origin (30 games) and 89% as Australian coach (18 games). Pretty impressive numbers. We will ignore the Titans record as coaching coordinator!

Australia incredibly were sitting at No. 4 in the world prior to this game...they are back at No. 1 fittingly.

2. Jillaroos. How powerful and skillful are these women? Awesome win. They are the All Blacks of the women's rugby league game. 54-4.

3. World Cup Cricket Final and ODIs v England. How good is Ben Stokes? He beat Pakistan on his own last Sunday in the T20 World Cup Final. Stokes will continue to win Ashes games for England. He has more and more in the tank. A dead set winner.

Pat Cummins is a good guy, but how many runs does he give up in T20 and ODIs? Incredible. He must be doing well for himself however resting in the ODI games (Hazelwood the skipper? Please...). Cummins has also bailed out of the IPL too. A few lazy million sacrificed there.

Plenty of other Aussies brushed from the IPL this time around. The BBL is not doing the business.

Australian cricket is on the nose in so many ways. A really poor cricket crowd at the SCG on Saturday too. No one wants to know them. Steve Smith looked much tighter with his technique and a happier man too.

4. FIFA World Cup. Starts this week. France, Denmark and Tunisia will make it a three game effort for the Socceroos. If we go further it will be an absolute miracle.

Get ready for fake injuries, stretchers, scandals and no beer. 

5. Wallabies. Another week and another tight loss. The team are almost getting used to it. Not good enough, no matter how many injuries or how many issues arising... no problem drop another 11 players next week and do it all again. Tick tock...tick tock...

At least Georgia didn't beat us...they beat Wales instead 13-12! NZ-England pa 25-25 draw! Cracker of a game.

6. Celtic v Sydney FC/ Everton. The ground looked a picture, but Celtic have come away with two losses... interesting reality check for the team leading the Scottish Premier League.

7. F1 - Red Bull. Daniel Riccardo comes back to F1 as the fiftieth choice driver at Red Bull. A shame his career has stalled. He is too good to keep quiet. 

Most wins and podium finishes ever by Australian F1 drivers? (Brabham - 14 wins/ 31 podium finishes); then Allan Jones (12 wins and 24 podium finishes), Mark Webber (9 wins 42 podiums) and Daniel Ricciardo (8 wins and 32 podiums). Ricciardo also holds the Australian record for most points won in F1.

The Wrap - Underdog Feeding Frenzy

1. World Cup Rugby League - England v Samoa. Samoa were brilliant underdogs - and so talented. That try where Luai passes to Junior Paulo who then gets it across to Stephen Crichton...awesome. Plenty of dry sunshine razzle dazzle rugby league which is a missing feature of the game these days. 

Not sure about the defence at times, but an exciting result for an island nation that beat the biggest of fish on their own turf. There needs to be more definition to heritage when selecting national teams, but players are petrified that they will not play Origin because of it. Our Origin rules have always been a mess. Thankfully quite a few players opted to represent their country...and to good effect.

This Jerome Luai is not liked by all, but he is such a leader and a winner. Hard not to like that.

2. World Cup Rugby League - NZ v Australia. An awesome standard of league with some great collisions and battles. Jack Wighton was tough. How he and the Fox missed Origin selection this year...please. They are big game players.

Perhaps Fittler himself is finished as coach when his judgement is so lacking. Australia lumbered a little in the game. When you shuffle and shift combinations you invite this. We certainly lack punch up the middle. Strong props are gold these days.

A slow tournament overall, but starting to hot up now. Two super high quality games.

3. Signings. Can Parramatta do a classic Parramatta and lose Dylan Brown to another club now? He should have been re-signed last year when he was a bit flat. He is a ten year signing at his age. Not sure clubs actually get it. He was superb for New Zealand. Letting players test their value on the open market tells you that the club is mismanaging it all - again. Reed Mahoney is a classic example. 

Moses is older and a different story. Where are the half backs with quick feet of the future (Jake Arthur is not that type of player to win you a comp and break open defensive lines)? Development of a half back academy might be a strong investment by an NRL Club. Imagine the premierships in time.

3. Wallabies - Dave Rennie. Time is ticking for Dave Rennie. Losing to Italy (first time ever?) is never good. He seems to panic at the selection table. Every one or two point loss (and haven't there been a million in the past two years), he changes eleven players around... then they lose again. I think his tenure is drawing to a close. He clearly has the worst coaching record in living memory and he has coached for a fair stretch now.

This table below doesn't take into account the Italy loss overnight. That included, allowing for the error in the maths below, his win/ loss % lands at: 37.5%

4. EPL. Great to see Man City knocked over at home by none others than the Brentford Bees. Who? A slashing underdog win. Everton are in a world of pain yet again, scoring less than one goal per game on average. They need to sign some strike players or they are gone.

5. Jeff Fenech. Interested to see the WBC retrospectively award him the world boxing title that he was robbed of in the early 1990s v Azumah Nelson. I wonder what else may follow this precedent in world sport. Parramatta getting a premiership when Melbourne cheated? All East Germans eliminated and legitimate Olympic winners awarded gold medals?

6. World Cups. Can we have any more? We have them in everything at the minute... womens, mens... from lacrosse to luge..basketball..the lot.

7. Cricket World Cup - Pakistan v England. The 1992 ODI World Cup Final and the great Wasim Akram is etched in our minds. I wonder who can step up for them this time? Babar Azam is talented. Watch for Shadab... signed by the Hobart Hurricances for the BBL. He is a superstar of T20 with bat and ball. If they can knock over Hales and Butler cheaply they are a huge chance.

Poor old Glenn Maxwell, tripped on a tennis court and broke his leg while running at night? We are told he was not intoxicated. Understandable. Nothing to see here. Cricket Australia can barely get anything right.

8. The FIFA World Cup - Football. Are Australia the Lebanon of the FIFA World Cup? Playing France, Denmark and Tunisia (they beat Mali to make the World Cup), we will struggle. Three games max. unless we get a miracle. Hopefully the air conditioning works at the stadiums. A great world wide - truly 'world' - cup.

The Matildas looked sharp v Sweden on the weekend. memo to self: a friendly is not a World Cup game.

The Wrap - Hunted and Beaten

1. Australian Cricket. Well that was great. A new softer culture and feathering the Finch nest...all for nil. We even dropped Starc in the final game (and nearly lost to Afghanistan) who can win a game on his own in his first two overs. It won't surprise that Andrew McDonald is a lovely bloke, but a cricket coach? He's a pushover for spoiled brats. No steel in that mob and quite frankly, most Australian cricket fans are (a) not surprised and (b) don't really care. They fell out of love with this team many moons ago. I fear that cricket is on the skids in all forms for Australia. We have too many older blokes and the younger guys are not impressing. 

In case you wondered who the Australian cricket coaches were meant to bring us to glory - Andrew McDonald, Clint McKay, Daniel Vettori, Michael Di Venuto, Sri Sriram and Andre Norovec. No wonder we lost. Honestly. A rabble.

Not as bad as South Africa who lost to Netherlands when a semi final spot was theirs to grab!

2. Wallabies. Has there been a team (since the Titans) who lose more close games than this lot? With every one point loss comes fifteen squad changes. I think Dave Rennie's reign needs to come to an abrupt full stop soon if he can't reverse this. It is a pattern now. A 39% win rate does little for your career too.

3. Celtic. Two wins on the bounce in the Scottish Premier League and they have secured their lead. The pressure is on Rangers who cannot afford a draw or loss.

4. World Series Baseball. The cheating Astros win again (v the Phillies). They are a despised franchise - mainly because they got found out when others had been doing it for years. Doing what? They used cameras in 2017 and 2018 to identify signs and signals from rival players...banging on drums to identify which pitch was coming. Amazing how their batting averages were so much better at home!

5. SBW. Knock out. Stunning hit by the Samoan Storm - Mark Hunt Memo: you should have taken up the Paul Gallen cash!

6. Rugby League World Cup. It is a great tour if you are not playing... a week of touring around before one game a week. New Zealand lucky, but England look very good this time around. I wonder how the Lebanon local league looks these days - or is it just a national team?

7. EPL. Leicester have bounced back. How hard is it for the newly promoted teams. They don't hang around long in the top flight. Money wins. Newcastle the early surprise... and Brighton. 35 points gets you out of the drop zone. Everton needs a rocket. A proud old club on the wane.

The Wrap - The Little Show

1. T20 World Cup. The work of the minnows has been impressive this week. Ireland beating England and Zimbabwe nailing Pakistan was impressive. Incredible results really. However Duckworth-Lewis can impact like that. The weather too - despite an indoor stadium at Docklands in Melbourne not being used. How can that happen with Australia v England? Typical poor Cricket Australia organisation. Organisers seem so locked to their schedule that catch up games/ dates are too hard to consider. There should be a reserve day for each game!

Australia will need a miracle. The Big Show has become a 28 inch black and white Rank Arena TV. Calls to sack Cummins are interesting. Finch could be souring the good work he has done over time. No surprise to learn he is extremely close with the coach. hence his elevation and Langer's demise. Langer would not have put up with it. 

2. World Cup Rugby League. Australia look specials, even after all the others disappear (Greece, Scotland and Jamaica all look like they have had enough already). It is incredible league is actually played at all in those countries. Australia has so much depth and smart players. Ben Hunt is such a talent. Then Cleary...Latrell. If anything, our forwards are the weakness. 

3. NRL Coaches. Anthony Griffin seems to have a target on his back as the club leaks and lurches from release requests to dud signings to no one turning up at Hook's end of year presentation. No BBQ was on offer apparently. Adam O’Brien and Justin Holbrook have had it much quieter in the media by comparison. Perhaps their clubs are more united, but the wolves may be howling soon! 

4. NFL. Tom Brady. Sadly divorced from his supermodel wife. There will be much pain… a bit like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are slipping fast. If anyone can rescue them it will be Brady. Meanwhile the New England Patriots are in huge trouble. Belichick's promises of new quarter back talent are fading yet again. The knives are sharpening. The gun teams are starting to sort themselves out now…. the Ravens getting stronger.

5. Scottish Premier League. Tight between Celtic and Rangers. One point with Celtic having a game in hand tonight. This ding dong battle meets a crescendo when they both play each other on 2 Jan and 9 April 2023! Long season yet.

6. MLB World Series. Astros v Phillies. This is tight already, with the home diamond advantage truly massive. 1-1 after a shock Phillies win away ion Game 1.

7. EPL. Chelsea copped a hiding from Brighton 4-1. Arsenal have started to slow and Man City have started to really ramp it up.

8. Wallabies v Scotland. A cracking win in their European tour. Close, but significant as they try and rebuild and rescue their inconsistency.

9. Melbourne Cup. It is unknown, but Hoo Yah Mal may just about win the thing. Gai Waterhouse trained and an overseas stayer. I also like Arapaho at $81 with Rachel King and down in the weights.

The Wrap - Old McDonald Had a Shocker

1. Cricket. What a thumping. Old Ronald McDonald the coach will be thrown out on his ear soon. Soft and gentle on the players...and no silverware. It was Justin Langer who won the last T20 World Cup last year. All strength to New Zealand. Too good and too courageous. How often do we see Glenn Maxwell produce in Australia? Not picking Cameron Green was gutless and Aaron Finch should hang his head in shame...and what about those who agreed to this? Steve Smith either plays or he is replaced in the squad. Too many bowlers who don't bat as well.

2. Loud media mouthpieces. Once upon a time it was Neil Harvey. Man Mundine was an expert. Ray Price has dabbled and Jana Pittman was pursued and gave us comments on everything from medicine, marriage/ divorce and bobsleds too. Move over the lot of you...Erin Molan has arrived and re-arrived. Bullied, oppressed, downtrodden, married, divorced and comments on everything, from motherhood and politics. There is a reason her radio show rates so poorly... unfortunately it is all a little boring.

3. Netball. Talk about poisoning the whole sport commercially. $15 million for an organisation that is bereft of business acumen was a bonus. Now everyone is claiming it wasn't them that influenced it. Aboriginal programs are broad and flourishing under Gina Rhinehart and the silly old goose of a father is dead a long time ago. - and with it his twisted, sad comments.

Businesses are rightfully wary about going near sport. I am yet to see a wind farm sponsorship or a 'Climate Change/ Greenpeace' sponsorship of mainstream sport. Has anyone seen this?

If it is a betting company, alcohol, even banks and insurance companies... forget it. Qantas bailed. Cigarettes went years ago (Benson and Hedges, Winfield Cup, Craven Mild Cup), but what is left? Milk (OAK), but flavoured milk is unhealthy, car companies like City Ford are dangerous too...every single one has a fault in the eyes of many of our new age viewers. Casinos are in trouble. Even Souths pledged not to have pokies... is that still in place?

So too much squabbling - bad publicity - and now all players from the grassroots upwards suffer. Cricket has done this as well. Soccer/ Football as well. No strength or substance. Players need to be reminded that your never sponsor sport to make money. Pat Cummins is now a world energy expert too I see. If he took more wickets in T20 cricket instead, we would be better off.

4. Celtic. They break free and now are four points ahead of Rangers (who drew with Livingston) beating Hearts 4-3 on the weekend. I am noticing some loose play this year in Celtic however. They need to be on guard. It could come crashing down. 

Liverpool are experiencing this in losing to Notts Forrest 1-0 and their former legend, Steven Gerrard is particularly feeling it having been dumped by Aston Villa. Had to laugh re the home crowd's chant here when the result went to Chelsea 2-0: "you're getting sacked in the morning". And he was.

5. Rugby League World Cup. Love watching tries, but the minnows are a joke really. Addo-Carr is loving it. Jamaica? Italy? Lebanon? Scotland lost 84-0. Bring on the real stuff. 

Surely you fill the competition with those games which are fair dinkum contests only and play more regularly than once a week. The squads have enough players to do this. It stands to be a decent competition, but clean out the minnows. The game will never grow there. 

John Ribot promised China in Super League (1997). How's that one going? Russell Crowe promised the USA? How are they progressing? (Like NFL in Australia I suspect). We played Origin at Veterans Stadium in LA in 1987. Any day now we should see their excellent steps forward. They are not even amongst the minnows!

6. MLB. The Philadelphia Phillies lead the San Diego Padres 3-1 and the Astros lead the New York Yankees 3-0 in their best of seven games series. Both the Phillies and the Astros look like contesting the MLB World Series (limited to the USA - but played by the best players from across the globe).