The Wrap - Masters of the Greens

1. The Masters Legend. Synonymous with Easter (who can ever forget Norman's 1986 six shot lead disaster?) and it never disappoints. Brooks Koepka is a gun, but has surrendered the lead in a similar crash. He had been a bit of a pop gun recently. A four time major winner already when he burst onto the scene winning the US PGA in 2018 and 2019 - and the US Open in 2017 and 2018. 17 professional tournament wins.

Phil Mickelson still has a bit of life in him yet! Jon Rahme is easily the best in the world at present. He was World No. 1 for 46 weeks in 2020 and has 19 professional wins and one major only. He will add to this record.

Interesting to note that the LIV Man, Greg 'The Great White Goldfish' Norman won two majors and had seven (!) second places in majors. 88 professional tournament wins however and 331 weeks as World Number 1 (and three marriages). This is second to Tiger who holds the record with 683 weeks as World Number 1.

What about the performance of the US Amateur champion, Sam Bennett? Super talent. One to watch.

The conditions in the wet at Augusta were outrageous for those finishing their second round. What a disadvantage on the greens. 

2. Masters - It's Over. Finally after so many years, Larry Mize (Masters winner in 1987 with that ridiculous chip) has completed his 40th Masters and has pulled the pin. Sandy Lyle (equally ridiculous Masters winner in 1988 and British Open in 1985) goes too, after racking up big numbers for many years. Nostalgic however and part of the magic of the tournament. Gary Player holds the record with 52 Masters appearances (Arnold Palmer 50, Jack Nicklaus (45). 

The other bloke still playing well is Fred Couples in his 37th Masters appearance. He has made the cut 31 times, including this year at age 62! Jack Nicklaus holds the record number of cuts made at 37. (Gary Player - 30 times). Couples is second! An amazing record.

3. Good Friday. Annually, this day always dishes up gold or dust sporting wise. Gold was Latrell Mitchell, who can polarise the fans, but he is a superb player. So strong and tough; a real game changer. The Bulldogs fell apart after a really bright start. They are building a new empire, but were found out. Cody Walker was exceptional too - and always is when he puts the niggle away and the antagonism to the game officials. This takes some effort from him.

Really liking the patterns that The Dolphins play with. Fast and fit. Their line speed is so unified and strong. Quick play the balls and pace. Kodi Nikorima has never played better. Isaako and Tabuai-Fidow were awesome (put them in an 'Anytime Try Scorer bet!). Both so athletic and strong. 

In the AFL, North Melbourne were game, but hardly a great game. Carlton steam rolled them eventually. Both games found a similar end. Tight early and loose later. All of a sudden Carlton rush to top spot on the ladder and are the only undefeated team on 14 points.

4. NRL. The rest of the round saw some devastation... Manly belted by the Panthers and The Bulldogs belted too. The Raiders did the impossible at Suncorp Stadium. What a draw Brisbane have received? Five games at home in a row! The NRL need to get this stuff ironed out to be fairer across the 24 regular rounds of NRL in a season.

One home/ one away game is a long season (17 teams but 32 home/ away games), but every other code does it (eg. EPL has 20 teams but 38 home/ away games). 

Getting a really bad feeling re Parramatta on Monday. Their defence when Junior Paulo is out is terrible. Waqar Blake has finally been dropped 20 games too late. His defensive errors at that level are woeful. Sean Russell has a chance to prove himself and at least has some pace! They need an outside back with size, pace and skill. There are a few rattling around in England Super League. Maybe a player swap for Mr Blake?

5. NRL Fairer Restructure. In the NRL, what about one game against everyone - a year about home/ away, making the main season 17 games long. But then, like the Scottish Premier League (12 teams), split the comp after 17 rounds into one pool of bottom 9 teams/ one pool of top 8 teams. This gives another seven rounds to make up the existing 24 rounds (one bye for the lower team pool). 

The bottom teams cannot enter the top tier however many games they win, consigning the bottom nine teams to the dustbin. However, they had a fair chance like everyone else.

In the top pool of eight teams, it allows the order of the final top eight to be decided against top opposition, but it gives every team a fair chance to make that top eight after playing everyone once across the year. At present, not playing some teams at all and playing some teams twice, etc is a biased nonsense. The bottom nine teams play - first game early on Friday night, early two games Saturday and late game Sunday. The top teams fill prime time - Thursday night, Friday night second game, Saturday night second games, Sunday 4.00pm game timeslot. Much slicker! No extension to the season length! Better games leading into the semi-finals. Bad teams are punished, but still play. 

The bottom teams might also consider playing a game on Wednesday nights like the old Amco Cup/ Panasonic Cup for those last seven games.

It would make the 17 home/ away premiership games even more valuable and intense.

5. AFL. In other games, the Swans are fast earning a 'choke' reputation which is very unfortunate. Lots of blokes with neat kicks and handballs, but no forwards. They were up by 20 points with ten minutes to play. They capitulated against Melbourne last week too. Is Sam Reid around still or injured again? Buddy is largely ineffectual these days in so many ways. The only bloke with some toe is Chadd Warner. He has to run fast to get away from the fans! Swans need to recruit pace to win on big grounds. They will get lapped again at the MCG.

St Kilda crushed the Suns who are taking on a familiar character in 2023... one week good, one week bad (Arthuresque). Love the Geelong v Hawthorn Easter Monday clash. A lot of theatre!

6. Australian F1. Max Verstappen won in fine style late last week. Huge Melbourne crowds and not an Aussie in sight of the podium. Daniel Riccardio is the reserve Red Bull driver. Young Oscar Piastri registered an encouraging eighth place at McLaren. Talk of a night fixture next year at Albert Park. Interesting.

7. Green - NBA. Delighted to see young Castle Hill lad, Josh Green, doing well for the Dallas Mavericks. Delmus the old man was a massive architect of the Castle Hill Basketball Centre and taught at Kings.

8. Green - IPL. It is striking how few Australians are in this tournament now. We have not succeeded on Indian soil in the T20 form of the game, but did win the ODI series recently. It looks like fewer international players world wide are included now.

Another Green, Cameron Green, is struggling but the bank manager is not. Stoinis solid, Warner fortunate, chalking up fifties (2), but not flash and still very slow! Nathan Ellis is the pick of them so far, getting wickets for fun at present. No one standing out early, even the great midnight tennis court runner himself, Glenn Maxwell. However, Tim David continues to shine in lower order cameos!

9. Scottish Premier League: Celtics v Rangers. Big showdown over this weekend with that familiar nine point lead for Celtic sitting strong going into it. In the end, Celtic won 3-2 extending the lead to 12 points. 

Interesting to see the record of Celtic. In the past 24 years, Celtic have won the Scottish Premier League Championship 16 times and been Runners Up 8 times. High performance! Add one more to Celtic for season 2022-2023, to make it 17 titles in 25 Years. Extraordinary. One of the most successful clubs worldwide in any sport.

10. EPL. Arsenal are getting the hippy hippy shakes as Man City close in with their trademark ruthlessness! The 38 game EPL season has only seen Saleh (Liverpool) crack 32 goals for a season. Both Andy Cole and Alan Shearer got their 34 goals in the old 42 game EPL season (pre 1995-1996). 

Norway's Erling Haaland is on the verge of greatness in season 2022-2023. He sits on the magic 30 goal mark already, with plenty of games (eight) to follow. Shearer is an EPL legend, breaking 30 goal in a season three times! Haaland may make his EPL season record beyond reach forever.

The Wrap - Greg Chappell NRL Coaching Tips

1. Dave Warner. Back in the runs (56) in the IPL for the Dehli Capitals. He is the skipper of the Delhi Capitals in the absence of Rishabh Pant. Hitting them a bit too slowly, but he is a super star in the IPL. One of the great records (acknowledging the newsbytesapp.com website) - and pay packets to match: 

• Warner is the highest run-getter in the IPL among overseas players - ever.
• Warner is just 63 runs away from touching the illustrious 6,000-run mark in IPL.
• Warner requires 76 runs to complete 2,000 runs for the Delhi-based franchise.
• Warner, who owns four IPL tons, has a chance to become the lone owner of the second position.
• Notably, with 11,179 runs, Warner is the sixth-highest run-getter in T20 history.
• With 5,881 runs in 162 games, Warner is currently the third-highest run-getter in IPL (SR: 140.69).
• Among batters with at least 1,000 IPL runs, his average of 42.11 is only second to KL Rahul (48.01).
• His tally of 59 fifty-plus scores is the highest for any player in IPL. He owns 55 fifties and four centuries. No one else has 50 such scores.
• Warner has a chance of becoming the first player to lift the IPL trophy with two teams as a captain.
• Warner is the only player to claim the Orange Cap (most runs) three times (2015, 2017, 2019).
• His tally of 848 runs in the 2016 season is the third-highest for any batter in a particular season.
• He has hit the 500-run mark most times in a season (6 times).

2. Murray Goodwin. You may recall this old warhorse Zimbabwean and Western Australian state cricketer. Just copped a 16 week ban after knicking off to the keeper. A sledging opponent was given a clip over the head with his bat on the way back to the pavilion in a club game! 

3. Parramatta. Didn't quite get there to 0-5 (1-4 instead), but a loss is a loss. Hard to cop this "we are competitive" talk. Losses by 4-4-4-(win by 1)- 8 are great in the coaches room, but not good on the premiership table. 

They actually do lack a super star back with size and pace (not on in the whole Parramatta area?) and the loss of Mahoney is telling. Hodgson is a warrior, but he is not going to win you a comp with a lack of creativity and enterprise. Dylan Brown is really struggling this year and needs to lift. He does not seem to have the confidence and the speed this year. The defence out wide - Blake and Sivo especially is atrocious. Really poor reads which unfortunately is a coaching problem. 

Trent Barrett continues his outstanding awful coaching record, this time as an Assistant Coach. Only Greg Chappell has a worse record in senior coaching.

The Brad Arthur 50% record is alive and kicking - one week good... one week bad. It is just that the bad ones are stacking up under a new contract extension.

4. Wests Tigers. Some excellent forwards, and not as bad as it looked v Broncos, despite an horrific scoreline. They could trouble the Eels. They also need more 'Wests' in their strip to be competitive. Ban the orange for a week or two. 

Brisbane have played five straight home games on a dry home deck. Once they start travelling this will test them out. The Broncos are in the semis already with that start. An NRL gift...and Parramatta get every opponent off a bye for four weeks straight! Incredible how they can stuff this up. 

The Warriors were impressive again. Sitting second on the table is incredible. Young Coach Webster has started his career well. Having been coached by the great Pete and Chris McCallum combination as a junior, they taught him everything he knows. Like this Blacktown Pats lad, Curran. Tough and fearless. Sign him up.

It would be remiss not to add the great work of St George-Illawarra as well. Crushed the Dolphins and looked sharp. Bravo!

The NRL is close this year. Two golden points (Manly-Newcastle and Bulldogs v Cowboys) and a penalty kick on the siren (Warriors v Sharks). The Sharks were unlucky, but entertaining stuff!

5. AFL. Collingwood are looking awesome. Their superior fitness and skill level is incredible. They will be hard to beat in the semi finals - especially on a big ground like the MCG. Cracking game on Saturday night in the 'showdown' with Port Adelaide and Adelaide too. Port started the season with a bang but are falling apart. Really enjoying the massive crowds and their passion for their teams. Huge followings and so tribal. Essendon...St Kilda...Richmond. A lot of tradition and joy, even in the loss.

The Swans suffered GF nightmares again on the MCG with a huge deficit at the end of the first quarter. They got it back to be tight early in the third quarter and were then blown away. Clayton Oliver is just superb. Melbourne looked like they had more licence without Gawn in the team. Full of running. The Melbourne umpires enjoy a penalty to the locals too.

Geelong are doing a Parramatta. No points thus far and a crushing loss to the Gold Coast this weekend.

6. EPL. Arsenal still 8 points ahead of Man City and powering on. Hard to feel confident however with the perennial loser tag dangling nearby. They really struggle at times to land the decisive killer blow, but are getting closer in season 2022-2023. There are 38 games for each team (19 home/ 19 away) and they have played 28 of them with 10 remaining. (Same for the Scottish Premier League). 

A championship is within sight for Arsenal. At the other end of the table, Leicester are suddenly in strife (with West Ham and Everton). It is much tighter at the bottom this season, so there could be some surprises.

The Wrap - Marsh Power

1. Australia v India ODI Cricket. Not often you are able to laud Mitchell Marsh, but in full flight he is awesome. He was the difference really. It is the first time India have lost at home in a ODI series for four years. Amazing result given that Smith, Marnus and Warner did not really contribute that much. Zampa is awesome at times and gets a lot of ODI wickets. Starc with the white ball is one of the toughest batting assignments in world cricket.

2. Sheffield Shield Final. Ashton Turner has joined the greats in scoring a ton in a Sheffield Shield final. He was MOTM as well. It is a match winning innings in every instance. The work of Aaron Hardie is superb too. He is a talent of the future with a massive bat as well. The opener for Victoria set a very conservative tone and this is either really good for the team or simply handcuffs the whole line up into a negative psyche. Will Sutherland starred too for the Vics - a five for and 80+ with the bat.

WA coach Adam Voges is again in the legendary status very quickly. He has done it back to back now in all three versions of domestic cricket in Australia!  Sheffield Shield winners, ODI Marsh Cup winners and Perth Scorchers BBL winners. All three back to back. Pretty amazing. Up there with his Test average being second to Bradman.

3. Holy Moses. Finally a resolution. Mitchell Moses now has a significant chunk of the Parramatta salary cap and will need to produce something special most weeks. He has made a good start with that golden point victory against the premiers. That is what you pay the big dollars for, right there! How good was the two point field goal by Nathan Cleary? That is a million dollar plus play. There will be a few players looking for pay rises now that Moses has set the rate.

The lead up to that golden point moment spoke volumes about Parramatta in recent years. Dylan Brown takes the ball on a fifth tackle with 1:40 on the clock and only had to dribble it into the in-goal for a drop out and match win. Instead he gets tackled for the turn over. Then with less than a minute on the clock Junior Paulo makes a lazy and silly play, getting sin binned... out for two weeks now. Composure in pressure moments defines the best.

That is also required in the Board Room and with recruitment. The club has just informed Clint Gutherson they are looking for more spark in the backline and are recruiting for a fullback... go figure. They just got away from a disaster or two and now back in the news the next day. Another destabiliser.

We all know Gutho has slowed down and rarely breaks a tackle these days, but talk about timing.

On the other side of town, the work of Isaac Moses (the manager) and Nick Politis is of interest. Joseph Suaali has apparently gone back to union. Politis will not be best pleased. He will strike back hard.

4. Waratahs. Another loss and another familiar season unfolding. Those fans are hard suffering. So plain and underwhelming and the Brumbies this week. 

5. NRL. Some impressive performances on the weekend. The Broncos v Dolphins was outstanding. Great intensity and this year's State of Origin could be amazing. Manly v Souths was also high grade, with Manly unlucky on many fronts really. The Warriors may be surprise this year. Young coach Webster is talented and they are in the top four! Not often you say that. Wins over Knights (home), Cowboys (away) and Bulldogs (home).

The Tigers. A lot of money spent...not much to show. They are in trouble. 0-5 makes a lower top eight position your only option, if anything at all. Their season is almost cooked. 

6. AFL. North Melbourne have done better after two weeks that they did all of last season! The premiership window for Melbourne and Western Bulldogs seems to have been and gone. The Collingwood Magpies are white  hot and will be hard to beat in 2023. They are quick and expansive. Incredible really and hard to beat. Carlton and Richmond will be tough most weeks too. They play uncompromising footy. Swans methodical on a small ground and Essendon seem to be rising faster under their new coach. 

7. Power. Blackouts with the Port Power AFL team v Collingwood, then at the Gabba in the AFL and in the netball...and on the Sydney Harbour Bridge this weekend... a sign of things to come? We could be back to day time sport and a day time NRL Grand Final before we all thought.

The Wrap - The Fish That John West Reject

1. The Dolphins. Some tougher drift nets in the seas ahead no doubt, but what an emphatic statement upon entering the NRL premiership! Wayne Bennett is unbelievable. Not real likeable at times, but smart, wise and clever. He is the ultimate successful coach really (except at Newcastle...how is Nathan Tinkler these days?). The recruitment is interesting to witness. Tough, seasoned forwards and speed to burn. This torches tired defences. Utilising the home ground advantage will be a huge positive for them.

2. NRL Tipping. How hard is it to tip anything at present? Such an even comp. The Storm, Sharks, Souths, North QLD and Parramatta all lost on a single weekend and the Dolphins, Warriors, Raiders, Titans... all winners! We have not seen this for some time. I wonder whether the new team in the comp is actually evening it out further? The Storm and Parramatta's sad form has opened the comp right up.

3. Tigers. They are perennial losers unfortunately. Michael Maguire may have a wry grin given the coaching hoopla in the off season. Not much has changed. Brooks has ability, but is under utilised and Douhehi is not a five eight. Too lumbering and slow. Yet he fancies himself. I suspect he will be heading to England soon. He has not got the pace needed as a five eight. Conversely, Matt Burton is a gem. So talented and tough. Origin class. 

How did the Tigers miss out on Nathan Brown? He is a solid signing by the Roosters and Parramatta needed him. 

Another poor decision by that club who bounced to 0-3 and will hit 0-5 (Panthers, Roosters) as predicted in Round 1 here. No fast outside backs, a lumbering and aging hooker who lacks creativity and has no running game. 

The million dollar half back needs a new gig too. Wants a five year deal? It could be catastrophic for a club to pay that sort of money for five years. Save the money and rebuild. Jake Arthur should be practising his goal kicking night and day down there at Memorial Drive, Kellyville. This could make him very valuable.

Funniest thing happened in a cricket game I was playing in few years back at that ground. A streaker ran across the field from neighbouring houses, leaping the stumps and getting into a getaway car in the car park. Gooone!

4. Celtic and Rangers... 30+ points in front of third placed team in the Scottish Football premiership. Lop sided. 

5. Erling Haaland - Man City. This Norwegian striker is a freak. He has scored 42 goals (35 appearances, 6 hat tricks) since arriving in all competitions for Man City. 28 EPL goals. Unbelievable strike rate.

Most goals in an EPL season?

34 - Andrew Cole (Newcastle United; 1993/94 - 42 matches)
34 - Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers; 1994/95 - 42 matches)
32 - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool; 2017/18 - 38 matches)

6. ODI Cricket. We have a tough team by all respects, but the batting was terrible in the first ODI. Not sure how Maxwell waltzes straight back in, but there you go (replaced for the second ODI). The Mitch Marsh fans are always out there, but underwhelming form is a nuisance. Nice to see the supremely talented Josh Inglis in the team, but he was promptly dropped for ODI #2.

All out for 117 in the second ODI, should see us home, but our collapses in India are legendary. Starc and Abbott amongst the wickets.

7. NSW Shield Cricket. Not one single win this season...draws and losses only. Horrible. Worst in 80 years! They sacked coach, Phil Jacques mid-season, but it didn't improve much. I could think of a few ways they could improve their junior pathways. Poor ex-player junior coaches is a start.

7. Kane Willamson. One of the absolute greats now. Getting up there now to challenge Steve Smith, Graham Pollock (and the great Adam Voges, who it must be said is turning into a cracking first class cricket coach). 

215. v Sri Lanka in the second test (a ton in the first test as well). This Henry Nicholls is the real deal too. He is forging a great Test record and scored 200no. Handy.

8. AFL. Fabulous support for the return of Anthony McDonald - Tipungwuti to Essendon's team today. Incredible support after some serious personal and family issues saw him retire early a couple of years back. Collingwood looked dangerous on Friday night. They will be hard to beat in 2023. 

The Swans have a very similar swarming pressure style to last year. I cannot see their pace for the bigger grounds. It has been a few years since they have had this problem and don't seem capable of addressing it. 

Carlton-Richmond was awesome, but Port were super impressive. Even North had a win. 

9. NBA. Sydney Kings beat the NZ Breakers 3-2 in the Grand Final series to take back to back premierships. 5 championships now (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2022, 2023 - plus 3 GF losses 2006, 2008, 2020), behind Melbourne United (6) and the Perth Wildcats (10).

The Wrap - Two Zou

1. Dolphins. How good are they going for a team no one thought would aim up? Dominated both the Roosters and Raiders. A lot of teams will be nervous playing them - especially away from home. The genius of Bennett's recruitment is amazing. Experienced forwards and quick athletic backs. Picking up Farnsworth and Flegler as well for 2024 - gold. 

Interesting that getting rid of the five eight, Anthony Milford. Osaka looks to have become such a better player too under Bennett. The Broncos are the real deal again too.

2. Parramatta. Concerns they could slump to 0-4 or 0-5 to start the year with their draw (Storm-Sharks-Panthers-Roosters-Tigers). One big difference this year is their dummy half. How they ever lost Mahoney is staggering. Josh Hodgson does a few things right, but is a problem. He is a top defender and leader - no risk. However, he is too slow from dummy half and takes steps before passing the ball. This is a critical pressure point for the attack. His pass is not as crisp and when compared to Mahoney's long passing game from dummy half, there is no room out wide. Hodgson does not do this and is easy to defend. he also has no pace to scamper. Defences are too slick these days for this. 

Poor old Waqar Blake. His reads in defence continue to be a massive problem and his hands are awful under pressure. Miracle that he gets selected each week, but Arthur loves him. They can't get an outside back at the club to save themselves. Cut him free and rebuild. Simonsen also has hands like a digital watch. Ricky Stuart rarely gets rid of great players.

Cronulla are the real deal. So silky in attack. They will be there in September. The Storm without Munster looked a different team. 

The Tigers? I cannot see them changing much. Douhiei just does not have it for mine. Not quick enough. Their fullback is nimble but too small. They have problems early, but hopefully can give the fans hope. Newcastle tried to throw it away late, but failed.

3. Rugby - Waratahs. Once upon a time, NSW would lose nothing - especially in the arm wrestle. These days... They need to smarten up because Eddie will simply look at other blokes. They look tested already.

4. Cricket. Usman Khawaja is an incredible story at the age of 36. Easily our best batsman in India, yet denied games for two previous series under this stupid coaching belief that certain players struggle with spin. Think Travis Head too. He is getting on in years however. Nice to see Cameron Green do well. Super Talent, but you get the feeling his bowling is in the Shane Watson style, rather than the Imran Khan all rounder type.

One player who has done nothing to enhance his reputation and in fact looks under pressure, is Carey. You can be as great as you want with the gloves, but to offer nothing with the bat kills the modern Test team. He has been limp. Especially when the whips are cracking. Steve Smith has been a disappointment too with a lack of patience.

There is an ominous feel to this final test. India get ahead by 150 and roll us? We have seen this movie before in this series. You always know in India that if we can get 450, they will get 650.

Peter Handscomb is playing for his life in the second innings. A score he stays; a failure he goes. Simple. The age of the team is a concern moving ahead, but Broad and Anderson have a pipe and slippers and it does neither any harm at all.

5. Tim Tszyu. Can there be any more hoopla in boxing weigh ins? It has become a sport of so many divisions and associations, it gets very confusing for the mug punter. Bottom line is always, who won? A slashing win. Brutal. Tony Harrison was tough, but outgunned.

6. Zougotcha. What a talented horse and trained by Chris Waller. One to watch. Younger than Winx when it started winning, but it is winning well already. Jamie Kah took a bad fall on the weekend at Flemington. Such a brutal sport for whispy skinny jockeys when horses roll onto them or they fall. Injury is guaranteed.

7. EPL - Celtic. Still 9 ahead, eight rounds to go. Likely League Cup, Scottish Cup and Premiership winners! EPL winners included Everton whose life saving work continues to stay in the top flight. They need to recruit more good players!

The Wrap - Dolphins Bottle

1. Test Cricket - England v New Zealand. An unusual week last week. New Zealand win by one run after following on. The fourth time ever in Tests and the first time for New Zealand since they were called Old Zealand. A cracking game which shows England that living by the sword can also backfire. 

2. Test Cricket - India v Australia. Uncanny that Australia has won all three times under Steve Smith as a fill in captain since the sand paper disgrace. Is Pat Cummins the man long term - or just coincidence? A top win on the back of Khawaja’s brilliant first innings and Lyon’s eight for. Travis Head has a lot of ability too. Lyon is onto 479 Test wickets. Courtney (Fish) Walsh is next on 519. McGrath sits on 563 Test wickets. He is one of the greats of the game already. 

3. The Dolphins. Lots of hype and media all summer, but Bennett unexpectedly delivers in Week 1 v the Roosters. They were sharp and showed, dare we say it, a lot of bottle. A fair bit of inexperience, but tough forwards who know how to win. Bennett is a legend. Remember the Roosters lost to the Knights at home early in 2022. They will be back.

The Broncos were perhaps the most impressive. Beating the Panthers at home is great going. The ‘weak gutted dog’ controversy seems to have been reopened with Luai v Salmon into each other. 

Parramatta were strong, but typically lack concentration in the clutch moments. Will they start the season 0-5? They face the Sharks, Eagles, Panthers, Roosters and then Tigers in the game they often lose late on a Monday afternoon. It could happen. The million dollar player rises at such moments. He could not slot the winning field goal under pressure... and then they lose. Moses needs to make a contract decision. What a boring saga. Some would fancy cutting him free at that price, but the reserve guy will struggle to win you a comp. This looms as the sticking point for the coach's exit one day.

Manly were also impressive, with no Trobjevics requiring ambulances or mercy dashes to Philadelphia witch doctors and fitness gurus. What about Souths? They could go close in season 2023. The Sharks are good, but were soundly beaten. Early days. 

4. Scottish Premier League. Celtic are five matches away from glory, beating Rangers for the Scottish League Cup midweek. Their journey is a massive transformation from where they were two years ago. Ange will be hot property on the coaching merry go round soon. 

5. Super Rugby. Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies all winning in the same weekend? Hard to recall that ever happening recently. I suspect having Eddie Jones on your hammer helps achieve that. It has been a while. The Rebels did OK, but they need to win. I noticed Eddie was at the ground himself old style.

6. WTA Tennis. Alex de Minaur wins the Mexican Open in fine style. Good to see the NRL loaning him their salary cap sombrero. 

7. LIV Golf TV. Why is no one watching it? New era and structure, but it has not really captured the imagination. Lots of promise early, but little since. Is it becoming like cricket on TV...people are busy and catch a glimpse and move on. WSC and Super Leagie faced the same dilemma on TV coverage in their early days.

The Wrap - A Big Week At The Travel Agency

1. Pat Cummins. So it is clear why Cummins has not been himself and has been yielding to the hair brained ideas of Ronnie McDonald, Tony Dodemaide and George Bailey. This combination will go down as some of our worst in time. Panicked and rushed calls and crazy tactics, including sweep mania. We could lose 4-0 in this series and miss the World Test Championship. To be honest, do we deserve inclusion? Some of the recent selection oddities:

• Pick Agar in Sydney and then don't play him in India.
• Pick Renshaw and play him in Sydney and in India. COVID fiasco.
• Go to North Sydney Oval for your prep - not to India. On the back of one of the wettest Sydney summers on record. Go figure.
• Don't pick World Test Batsman No. 4, Travis Head for the first test. Outrageous.
• Transport Kuhneman across as our 'saviour' (please). If he came on in B10 you would be happy.
• Tell us Kuhneman looked great in the nets. Who doesn't?
• Pick ill and injured blokes. Hazelwood should never have gone. Starc and Green stayed at home.
• Cummins not bowling aggressively or with short pitch stuff, yet we have blokes hit and injured (he has been shy at times, but gathers confidence with 8-9-10-11 at the crease).
• It has been busy at the travel agent - Hazelwood, Warner, Cummins, Agar, Green, Starc, Kuhneman, Morris, Swepson... all back and forth for various reasons at various times. Not great for team culture and common purpose. No such luxury with distance in the Ashes.
• Not one batsman added to a squad in all that time. Just a procession of mediocre spinners. Yet our batting has been horrible.

One shining light - Murphy, but I worry about him against England and other teams. He could go for a ride in Bazball.

The NSW Shield team is always the benchmark of Australian cricket depth. Not one of the current crop of batsmen deserves to be in the Australian team (outside squad incumbents Starc, Lyon, Hazelwood, Cummins, Warner). NSW are doing dreadfully in season 2022-2023.

2. India Aftermath. The fluffy end of the feather duster has no doubt been used on the team by McDonald and they are all none the wiser. If Australia lose 4-0 and miss the World Test Championship, there will be big changes. What a spoiled lot represent the nation. So sad to see Allan Border's reaction to it all. He was more devastated than the current players and coaches!

I must say that in the SCG Test, I could not believe how many coaches, adviser, technicians and hangers on there were around that Australian Men's Cricket Team. Incredible. Like a second XI plus. Net value?

3. Australian Womens Cricket. Amazing how these girls repeatedly dominate world cricket. Incredible really and not a peep of arrogance, hoopla... Prime TV would have a more popular series if they followed this team. Their T20 World Cup games and approach have been outstanding. A 12.00am midnight kick off is poor viewing time, but it will be an upset if they don't make it yet another title. The intriguing thing is South Africa made the final. They have never managed to achieve that in men's cricket.

4. England Cricket. Their domination continues under Stokes and Brendan McCullum. Attacking cricket at the right time. It has been a while since England carried that ethos in any of their play. This Harry Brook gets after it. He is averaging 90+ in his early days. He needs to be ruffled. He loves lunging on the front foot. Four tons in record time (3 v Pakistan, 1 v NZ). He has played South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand so far. Sterner tests await. However he does have the most runs ever by a batsman after nine test innings.

5. Arsenal v Man City. The new Norwegian striker, Erling Haaland has now scored the most goals ever for Man City in a season (27), yet the typical English nonsense abounds questioning if he has actually been a problem for Man City this season! There will be a few more managers around the place looking for that problem if he was ever cut free. Leeds have bounced back under their new manager and Everton lost dreadfully at home... Even West Ham had a win! (David Moyes is on the nose there).

The race to relegation is a lot tighter this season... week by week. Ange Postocoglou could get a coaching gig in the EPL sooner rather than later. 30 points typically sees you safe:

6. A-League. It would be great to have someone come out to play in the league that the fans could get excited about. Melbourne City are miles in front this year (37 points) and Sydney FC (24) are continuing to struggle. This is not acceptable to the bosses and Steve Corica may find this out soon... but please not Dwight Yorke. They tell me Ed Sheeran draws a big crowd and may be available.

7. NBL Final. Sydney Kings v the NZ Breakers. A best of FIVE games series starting this week (3 March). Eeking every last cent out of the public US style. 

8. Rugby League. Let's look at the pre-season injury toll. These are just the high profile, longer term ones. Are they unlucky, under prepared or sacrificed for no net gain in meaningless competitions for $100K? Or is it just the way the sport rolls?

• Dean Ieremia
• Justin Olam
• Shaun Lane
• Josh Schuster
• Taylan May
• Tevita Pangai-Junior
• Edrick Lee
• Xavier Savage.

9. NRL - AFL. Always a great time of year when the twin footy seasons get underway. Summer ends this week, so we are warming up for the winter sport! As always the AFL dilly dally around for a few weeks, starting on 16 March. The NRL kicks off next Thursday 2 March 2023.

10. Anamoe. What a tremendous horse, ridden by JMac of course. Great turn of speed and too strong once again in the Chipping Norton Stakes on Saturday. It has now won 8 Group 1 races (only Octagonal with 10 and Lohnro with 11 have won more). He is the seventh horse in Australian turf history to win at least $11 million. He is the Godolphin stables most successful horse ever... no breeding talk yet thankfully. Really like Alligator Blood too. Crushed I Am Thunderstruck again!