The Wrap - April Premiers and Season Reviews

1. NRL Disasters. How bad were some of these team this year?

i. The Bulldogs were horrible and then full of controversy at the end. Lots of hype and hope, but what a disaster. Ciraldo now has one of the worst defensive records in NRL history. Reed Mahoney missed more tackles than any other NRL player this year.

A season review? An over used term!

ii. The Cowboys (11th). An awful last round effort with a very talented roster... including giving up enough points to finish 11th behind Parramatta. Missed Val Holmes.

iii. The Rabbits (9th). They are a shambles. The whole Churchill media thing and leaking it to the newspaper with the exit of Sam Burgess, now places Jason Demetriou on the rack. April premiers.

iv. The Eels (10th). Full of excuses and no leadership. Ill disciplined too. They need new backs or they don't improve. Their recruitment seems totally around forwards - like Canberra.

vi. Every team who sacked their coach missed out on the semi-finals: Dragons (17th), Titans (15th) and Tigers (last) - reminding us that in-house dissent is the recipe for misery.

In addition, the generosity of the NRL is staggering. $200K for the minor premiership. Please...what is that in a massively well financed game? It seems the same nonsense with the RLPA is at work.

Coach of the Year? Ivan Cleary again...or Andrew Webster or even Adam O'Brien!

2. NRL Semi-finals. Panthers v Warriors and Broncos v Melbourne look two great games. The Storm record in Brisbane is incredible. The other elimination finals are less predictable: Newcastle v Raiders and Roosters v Cronulla. The two teams you don't want to play are the Knights and the Roosters at the moment. Especially if Ponga is ready!

And the Panthers! They have their third minor premiership in four years. Incredible as a three-peat of premierships beckons.

Canberra may not be that sad to lose today, but Sebastian Kris pile driving Ramien into the ground with 20 minutes to go - then sent off - and eight points behind was dumb play at the wrong time. He will miss a semi-final now and cost his team. Canberra are a boring team, but are in the final eight! 

3. AFL Semi-finals. Collingwood v Melbourne on Thursday night will be a cracker. Then Carlton v Swans, St Kilda v GWS and Brisbane v Port Adelaide. No Sunday games. Collingwood look favourites. Swans and GWS might just struggle, but both did well to get to the semis at all!

Great to see Errol Gulden (Swans) named in the All Australian AFL team. He has been an awesome player since U/9s (yes!) playing for Maroubra. 'Errol the ferral' was his nickname then because he was so good and niggled and scrapped. He has made the senior transition in awesome style.

Christian Pettracca surely wins the Brownlow this year.

4. EPL - Tottenham. The Ange Postocoglou roadshow has continued unabated. He really knows how to get a team to work together. Awesome spirit and results. Undefeated (with a kind draw it must be said...outside of ManU) so far.

What about Erling Haaland...another hat trick too for Man City! Here we go again.

5. The Boomers. Thrown out on their ear after surprise losses. Lots of hype and media but a resounding and crushing loss. Coach Goorjian is on thin ice. Giddey and the former Castle Hill lad, Josh Green, did some good business. Beating Georgia is hardly resume building.

6. Rugby Union World Cup. We might beat Georgia first up which will be something after 0-5 under Eddie Jones. However, hard to think we will do much more. Sad. New Zealand surely wins.

7. T20 Cricket. Mitchell Marsh winning consecutive games with the bat is unheard of in recent years, but good on him. As skipper too. Nice to see a few new faces in Australian cricket. South Africa have hit rock bottom in cricket. Some dreadful play from them too. 

It is official...the BBL auction is very unexciting.

8. US Open Tennis. Australians, Alex de Minaur and qualifier, Ricky Hijikata are into the fourth round. Incredible effort. Aussies have often performed well in the US Tennis Open (think Rafter, Hewitt, Stosur). Djokovic and Alcarez are destined for the final.

The Wrap - Comeback Kings

1. NRL Injuries. Injuries can throw your semi-final surge into turmoil. Jerome Luai out. Jerome Hughes, Kaylan Ponga and Reece Walsh? Joey Manu out. Then the hot heads...Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Latrell Mitchell and Jordan Rapana. These fellows can cost you at key moments. A tough business this coaching gig.

Ryan Papenhuyzen returning was a great moment as well. He is a rich talent and a Hills District lad who attended Oakhill College.

The Broncos are not invincible and so it seems Penrith are not either. A good win for the Broncos over Canberra. Ricky is a bad loser... swearing at cameramen and carrying on like a goose yet again in a press conference. This does nothing for your team.

How about Parramatta?  They will miss out on the eight by one or two points. Just about sums up the club and team...just not good enough! Never make a habit of losing close games.

The Knights keep marching on. Ponga is in Hayne Plane' type form! Adam O'Brien has done a cracking job after looking gone earlier in the season. Best comeback of the year. Coach Webster at the Warriors has been brilliant and is probably the coach of the year. Kevin Walters has been much better too...another comeback!

While Canberra are boring to watch and lack speed, they have only made the top eight four times in 10 years since 2013. They could be bounced out with their poor for and against yet. 

Two of Raiders, Roosters, Cowboys and Rabbits will be dropped out of the semi-finals. If the Roosters lose, they finish behind Parramatta (30 points guaranteed) on for and against!

2. AFL. Geelong have been an extreme disappointment. The Bulldogs were horrible early before finding form and steel on the weekend. No one more horrible than the Gold Coast Suns though who lost to North Melbourne.

A win by GWS v Carlton pushes the Western Bulldogs out of the eight.

Collingwood are still the best team going around. Brisbane struggle to be totally consistent and Melbourne are up and down. Swans played with sensational intensity v Melbourne but did their usual...fell over in the last quarter to Melbourne who are in a semi-final state of mind. Bailey Fritsch was outstanding. Collingwood v Melbourne will be a scintillating game...as will Brisbane v Port Adelaide!

There will be no comeback for Buddy Franklin. A retiring champion!

3. EPL. Tottenham 2 v Bournemouth 0. A bright start by Ange Postocoglou to find two wins out of two games. Little Luton Town are getting smacked weekly. They will get the spoon and disappear if they are not careful. It is only Round 3 too.

4. Basketball. The FIBA World Cup has gotten its timing correct and will become Australia's next team to support. A big win v Finland. Germany next. Then Japan. They will want to win their pool games to avoid a nasty match up too early.

5. Rugby Wallabies. Interesting to see the New Zealand All Blacks lose a lead up game to South Africa. The Australian team are young and inexperienced. They will need to lift v France at 1.45am Monday morning. Eddie Jones is looking at 0-5. Can Eddie launch a comeback of his own?

6. Spanish World Cup Winners - Womens World Cup. Awesome standard and awesome support. Lots of inspiration for a lot of young Australian players.

7. PGA Golf. Viktor Hovland wins the BMW Championship last week and is leading the Tour Championship by six shots. Another back to back winner looms! Tiger Woods has announced he is making a PGA comeback too!

The Wrap - REO Bandwagon and a Mathematical Chance in Hell

1. Matildas Bandwagon. We were all on it, admit it. Great to see the team excel and what an injection for the womens' game in Australia. They looked like they were on tired legs. Can anyone explain why we play once a week and you get to the finals and they play two games in a week? Most peculiar mama! Sam Kerr's goal against England was superb and she was unlucky not to double it close to the goalmouth soon after. The errors that even out the womens' game proved to be fatal as well.

England v Spain. Not many people care for the final result, but England do with a drought at World Cups stretching back to 1966.

2. NRL. Well there it was... semi-final football out the window for both the Parramatta and Manly sides. At least Manly have fought well these past weeks. Parramatta have given up. No pace and no mongrel. The lack of desire in that team is astounding. Coach Arthur needs to make some big changes... or he will be changed. Trent Barrett on the coaching staff has taken them to the space he knows well - no semi finals.

You have to laugh when a team has a "mathematical" chance of making the semi-finals. Usually a team that does not deserve to be involved in semi-final football.

Conversely, Cronulla have knuckled down and so have the Storm. Newcastle have also risen in recent weeks. Seven wins in a row! They can certainly draw a crowd when they are winning!

They deserve a position in the eight while the Bunnies have fallen in a complete heap! Their spare bye will be a great help. No one is near Penrith however... not even the Broncos. Cleary is rotating rested players too. They are toying with the opposition and will absolutely smash Parramatta this Thursday night.

Canberra have to be the most boring team in the top eight. Effective, but boring. Their biggest win this year has been by 12 points.

The spoon is safely with the Wests Tigers now. Their for/ against is woeful.

3. AFL. A Swans miracle in Adelaide, but with a bit of goal umpire help. How they have tried to lose games in the fourth quarter...! I suspect their pre-season torture sessions need to be greater. They run out of steam right when you can't afford to do so. They are again into the semi-finals after some great wins in recent weeks. Surely the Western Bulldogs needed to smash West Coast. They were panicking all day. Terrible. Geelong punted as well as Richmond who farewelled two champions in Reiwoldt and Cotchin.

The eight is pretty much finalised, but not the order. GWS and Western Bulldogs results will finalise it next week. Essendon have a remote mathematical chance if they win by 1,000 points.

Spoon to North Melbourne now too! West Coast showed plenty of ticker.

4. EPL. Tottenham beat ManU 2-0 which is a strong statement from Ange Postocoglou. A draw and a win against quality opposition is outstanding.

5. PGA Golf. How good is Lucas 'Neville' Glover going at the moment? Wins the Wyndham ($1.3 million) and then the St Jude ($3.6 million) in successive weeks. Tied 15th in the current BMW Championship. A big month with the bank manager! He was only the third player aged in his 40s to win back to back on the PGA Tour in the last 25 years. The other two?  Kenny Perry (2003) and Vijay Singh (three times...the last of which was 2008).

6. Marlon Samuels. Guilty of cricket corruption. Not a great tag on any sportsperson.

7. Wests Tigers. Coaches turning over like the Bosnjaks depot at Northmead. Benji is next. They need an overhaul and some smarts in play too. Luke Brooks won't miss this lot. Jake Arthur will be doing well to play ahead of Brooks and Cherry-Evans at Manly. 

8. Basketball (FIBA) World Cup. Starts this week on 25 August 2023 in the Philippines/ Indonesia/ Japan...an intriguing combination. The Boomers have plenty of talent. It will be interesting to see if they can replicate the success of our women in netball, football and cricket in their respective world cup journeys.

The Wrap - Mad Monday Lay By

1. Matildas. An amazing result to be World Cup semi finalists! It will probably not happen again in mens' or womens' soccer in our life times again! Womens soccer is very entertaining. Better than the men's really in many ways. More attack and while a few more errors, lots of skill and great opportunities late in the first half to Fowler and to Vine in the 105th minute. Sam Kerr has style, uses her body to manoeuvre incredibly and the defenders for Australia and their aerial work is first rate. Tall timber.

Penalty shoot outs are not great...but they are exciting nonetheless. Sam Kerr needed to take the second one to be up and stay in front. This could have cost us. The keeper, Mackenzie Arnold's shot was very bad in the circumstances. Pivotal off the bar...but she did save some incredible shots too. Nerves of steel. A great result. Cortnee Vine - remember the name!

Great to be able to play England again. All keepers have been instructed to stay behind the white line and not underarm the ball to anyone. There is a precedent!

2. NRL. Parramatta were absolutely smashed by the Broncos. Simply not good enough - or tough enough. They are without strike power and there is no one dangerous in their backline who can score points. No 'X Factor' either. The exact same with their womens team too! Parra need to get straight to the fancy dress shop for their Mad Monday nonsense costumes. Moses is also injured. Game over.

The Sharks have bounced back and Souths (with a bye in hand) have a decent win and position now too.

How good is Ivan Cleary? Cleverly resting players, strategising and ready to win three premierships in a row. Not sure he always gets the praise he deserves.

Lights out for Titans, Dolphins now. Manly too. Parramatta as well. Newcastle hanging in there and looking tough. Coach O'Brien has done really well after the mid season stutters. The Roosters look like getting there!

Heard a funny line from Peter 'Zorba' Peters about Warren McDonnell (ex-Wests Tigers) who is joining Manly as a recruitment officer. "He'll be able to show a club with no wooden spoons ever, his collection".

Alex Johnston hits 187 NRL tries after yet another double and 21 tries for the season. He only has Billy Slater (190) and Ken Irvine (212) ahead of him now. Injury permitting and a couple of semi-finals and he will beat it next year. 25 tries off! Prolific most seasons and over one hundred tries in four seasons. Incredible.

3. AFL. The Swans have won five in a row and are surging now. It looks like semi-finals are not far away. Collingwood have the minor premiership sealed now... Darcy Moore's injury will be a worry for them. Nick Daicos will be missed a lot too.

Brisbane are safe, but Carlton are the big improvers. Incredible transformation.

West Coast are anchored at the foot of the table until the end for a well-deserved wooden spoon.

4. EPL. Ange Postocoglou gets underway with Tottenham v Brentford tonight. The world's shortest off-season is the EPL!  Harry Kane may be lost to the club, but at $168 million, that is some war chest for the club to utilise on other star players! Ange's style will come under scrutiny...a bit like Ted Lasso.

5. Cricket. Great to see Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, Tim Ward, Campbell Kellaway, Sangha, et al in the Australian administration's sights. Interesting to see Australia's second greatest test batsman, Adam Voges, as our Australia A coach. Time for a rebuild.

6. Wallabies. A clean out here is also necessary, but can the game actually promote its players? Hooper and Cooper probably needed to go. I feel for Hooper as he has been a warhorse and injured...calf injury of course (old player's disease). 

Not so sure Skelton is a skipper. Left overseas to be his own man worries many. Eddie Jones loves to be controversial, but this team looks developmental and hardly capable of beating the All Blacks, Springboks, the Poms, the Welsh, Irish or many others really.

Forwards: Angus Bell, Pone Fa'amausili, Zane Nonggorr, Blake Schoupp, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Matt Faessler, David Porecki, Jordan Uelese, Richie Arnold, Nick Frost, Matt Philip, Will Skelton (capt), Langi Gleeson, Tom Hooper, Rob Leota, Fraser McReight,  Josh Kemeny, Rob Valetini.

Backs: Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Tate McDermott (vc), Nic White, Carter Gordon, Lalakai Foketi, Samu Kerevi, Izaia Perese, Jordan Petaia, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Marika Koroibete, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Suliasi Vunivalu, Ben Donaldson.

The Wrap - Come Here and Say It!

1. The Wallabies. Hope...17-3 up at half time and ahead for 64 minutes... only to collapse in a heap. The All Blacks are too good for us - always. Poor old Eddie Jones is now 0-4. "Come here and say it!". Maybe there are signs of improvement, but can anyone recite the team 1-15? The public are trying...we're trying...

2. NRL. Newcastle keep charging back up the table. A fantastic record for Adam O'Brien likely to make the semis three times in the last four years. Not many coaches can say that. Yet there have been rumblings to replace him. They need to get him to public speaking classes and media training that is for sure. He needs to get more professional in that regard... but I guess look at Wayne Bennett and his nonsense.

The Broncos have just about got the minor premiership (one bye in hand), but will come under salary cap pressure more and more. Souths are in a bit of strife for a roster as good as theirs is. Parramatta win...just, but have Storm, Roosters and Panthers to play. They will miss out on semi-finals on current form.

3. Fox Fall Asleep. If Anthony Griffin was as boring as an NRL coach as he is a commentator, no wonder St George players did not respond to him. He needs to add spark to this golden opportunity or ratings will plummet. Shane Flanagan is the next step up the rung of the boredom ladder on TV. Knows his league of course, but not wowing the TV fans. St George can pick them alright.

4. AFL. On the cusp of the 2023 minor premiership, Collingwood fall in a heap against Hawthorn. The Western Bulldogs have sealed the deal now for semi-finals. Interesting how some sides fall apart and others muscle up in tough times. Port Adelaide did not do much better crashing to their fifth straight loss, this time to Geelong.

GWS v Swans. The Swans are alive and kicking, but only just. They sure know how to squander a fourth quarter lead, but held on against a gallant, but lack lustre GWS. In recent games they have beaten Western Bulldogs and Essendon by two points and a draw with Geelong. They were beaten by GWS and Port Adelaide in last minute results earlier this year. They did smash West Coast too.

They play the Gold Coast (home), Adelaide (away) and Melbourne Home) in the run to the semis.

5. Buddy Franklin. A superb player and retired now as forecast last week. A legend player with crowd pulling power plus!

6. Matildas. Great win v Canada 4-0. The demise of Brazil, Germany and Italy has been interesting to watch as the world of football gets evened out in the womens game. This lifts spirits all round as the world order is re-visited without the huge money dictating this. Some impressive play and big crowds! An entertaining brand of football.

7. Calves...Sam Kerr, Buddy Franklin, Nathan Lyon...seniors injuries killing the sports!

8. Netball. Australian girls netball has been an awesome force for many, many years. Into the World Cup final again. 11 World Cup wins in 60 years with four second places only. An awesome record.

Put this against the Australian womens cricket, the Matildas and the swimmers (O'Callaghan, Titmus, the McKeons, the Campbells...) and we have some elite female players. Not forgetting Ash Barty too and our top 10 world golfer - Minjee Lee.

9. The Ashes. 2-2 is probably fair, but how Australia squandered a great start in that final innings chase. Whinging about a five year old ball that swung like it had electrical tape on it, is justified but worthless. The form of Cameron Green (Marsh failed when we needed him most....), Alex Carey and Scott Boland needs to come under the microscope. Carey was incredibly disappointing. He seems a decent fellow, but he has too much ego and needs to start scoring runs. The binoculars scene with Todd Murphy was one tiny glimpse into his character. There are a lot of keepers who average 25 and keep well. He has no mortgage on the spot. Green has talent, but needs to lose weight and get sharper on his feet. Boland was ordinary, sadly. Has Morris actually played cricket in the past 12 months?

Josh Inglis may need to come in for Carey. Will Pucovski needs to get his work right too. Aarron Hardie, Jason Sangha, young Johnson from QLD/SA...a few options emerge. 

Did you know Khawaja's run scoring (496) was the best Australian opener's haul since Matt Elliot (556) in 1997? The combined teams run rate (3.93) was the best ever in an Ashes series. (England scored at 4.74 - highest ever and better than the 2021 Aussie team (4.26).

Our bowlers leaked more runs than ever before. Crawley killed us...who would have thought? Crawley now holds the record strike rate (88.72) for a longer Ashes series. The tactics still stink a week later. Maidens bowled for Australia (34) v 171 for England! Nathan Lyon was missed!

The Wrap - Save The Tickertape

1. The Ashes. A draw in the Fourth Test through the help of rain is still a series 'retention', despite how many English pundits and cranky ex-players want to believe otherwise. A small matter of two well won opening Tests by Australia is a fact. There have only ever been six series where Ashes have been retained through a series draw (2023, 2019, 1972, 1968, 1962-63 and 1938) - and five of them have been in England.

However, since then, we have been belted really. Nathan Lyon has been missed, tactics have been baffling, odd field placings have abounded and catching has been woeful. This poor catching is a symptom of unhappiness and lack of confidence typically. And it moves across the whole cordon! The captain and coach, Ronnie McDonald and his million sub-coaches have been found wanting. Pat Cummins looks completely confused at times. 

The performance in the first session on Day Two was diabolical by Khawaja and Labuschagne in particular - under clear instructions. It has cost us this Test because it set up a defensive mindset which we are incapable of sustaining. No aggression, never really rotating the strike or looking for singles and a clear instruction to build slowly across the day which in the end ironically yielded more runs that England on Day 1. However, we are playing scared. We lack courage.

Very rarely do we see English cricket look more aggressive and commanding than us. It is an uneasy feeling for us all.

To think that Duckett and Crawley have dominated us so easily early is staggering. Crawley has been a standout really because we have bowled to his strengths. But both are moderate operators really and not a sign of any other bowlers in our camp. Jhye Richardson could have been handy and does Lance Morris regret being twelfth man for the last nine months? Boland's disappointment has meant that the other pacemen have taken on a lot of work, struggled and look jaded.

With one innings to come, Starc has been valiant with the most wickets for any team thus far (23). Our batting has been ordinary. Green was dropped and Carey has not been the same since the Bairstow moment. He is on notice with the bat. It is simply not good enough. Bairstow has twice his average and has gotten better. 

Khawaja has been our best with an average of 47.11...no one else averaging in the 40s tells a story. Yet Khawaja was told to do the go slow on the second morning! Please.

Conversely, with England, their averages with the bat are staggeringly better: Crawley (53), Root (51), Stokes (45), Brook (40), Bairstow (40) and even Duckett (35.66). All would be in our top three.

However, this has been a story of an Australian team that is scared and will seemingly settle for a loss in this test and tell us how wonderful they were. Remember when we used to have tickertape parades for returning Ashes teams? Hold the shredders and work on the ticker of the team. It has not been a great series for us, but yes, they have retained the Ashes.

2. Stuart Broad - Retired. He still looks like he will get a wicket most deliveries, but a great career of over 600 Test wickets. A legend of the game... and plenty of incidents over the year as well, including famously hitting one to first slip and not being given out - or walking. Went for six sixes in a T20 (Yuvraj Singh) when he started his career, but smarter now.

3. NRL. Cronulla and Parramatta. Parramatta are nearly finished for 2023. Every top team they play they struggle to beat.  Their run home (St George, Broncos, Roosters, Panthers, bye) is not good with Brown returning but Campbell-Gillard still suspended. They need to start purchasing quality players out wide to make a dent. Waqar Blake is possibly the most error prone, poorest defensive winger the game has seen in the last ten years. It is embarrassing, but he can make a few years from the back if he doesn't drop it. Yet Brad Arthur persists in giving opponents a huge leg up. Baffling. Their for and against has been hammered too.

Cronulla meanwhile have the attack with speed to burn, but their defence outside of McInnes is not great. Cameron McInnes made 84 tackles v Manly. Incredible! They have fallen hard in recent games. Other teams are onto it and Matt Moylan (bench) cannot be blamed for it all.

Newcastle are surging back into semi-final contention with a bad loss by the Raiders. The Cowboys hit a hurdle but have a bye in hand too. 30-32 points is typically the magic semi-final goal. Five rounds to go.

4. AFL Upsets. Carlton beat Collingwood, Fremantle beat Geelong, Adelaide beat Port Adelaide, GWS

beat Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast beat Brisbane - all major upsets in one weekend when some teams clearly had more to play for than others. The Swans tried their usual fourth quarter trick and almost lost after a strong lead. They are so inconsistent. Richmond had Melbourne on toast as well, but

let them off the hook. Almost the first time the top four could have lost in the same weekend for a million years. Getting tight on the table now with many teams a chance. This weekend proves it could well be any team!

5. Buddy Franklin. Surely a retirement announcement will arrive soon. He has struggled this year to be truthful, but remains one of the greatest ever kicks the game has ever seen. Calf injuries and hamstrings are 'old man' injuries sadly - as many know.

6. Wallabies v All Blacks. We have no answers for the All Blacks and they will simply get better next year under coach Scott Robertson. He won seven Super Rugby titles in seven years! Now he will soon have the full All Blacks resources and talent at his fingertips. 

Eddie Jones has started with three successive losses. He is quick to be cocky and pass comment, but does not like it when he is under the pump. Mass changes in teams never works sadly, but Australian rugby with their hundred strong squads never work this out. We see it time and time again. As for the tempo of the game and how slow it is... a yawn fest.

7. Australian Swimming - World Championships. Only the second time ever an Australian team has achieved more gold medals than the USA at a major swim meet. There has been some sensational work done here by coaches behind the scenes. Amazing commitment by these athletes.

8. Matildas - Sam Kerr. A terrible loss to 40th ranked Nigeria and now a win against the fancied Canadian team is the only road back. Two wins would have had them into the final 16. Only two hosting teams have ever missed making the Group Stage of a World Cup, mens or womens: Qatar and South Africa (both mens). Sam Kerr's return gives hope as she is a gun. Hopefully some tickertape is required here.

The Wrap - Tactics in Ashes

1. The Ashes. When a team starts looking at weather forecasts over their plans, they have lost before the battle has really started. Australia batted appallingly in the first innings. Starts and not much more on a decent deck where they could have pushed for victory. The second innings was not much better and an hour or two of play was all that was/ will be needed. So from 2-0 up and on the cusp of glory...back to possibly 2-2. Negative field placements, short pitched rubbish bowling.

Marnus stepped up at the right time, helped by those silly deep leg side fields that this Ashes tour has seen grow out of control for both teams. Boring cricket by many measures.

In the Third Test we lost after having them 6/171... Short pitched rubbish bowling again. Defying belief they keep it going in the fourth test. Stupidity of the highest order. The captain is rightfully needing to be questioned strongly by the media - not cream puff questions. Lucky he won the Test Championship recently. Ronald McDonald has done pretty well, but this is not clever when the Hamburgular is close by.

2. The Ashes - Player Spotlight. Cameron Green needs to lift today. D-Day. His technique is simply too lumbering at times - not good enough. It is getting to axing time for him soon if he doesn't produce, especially with Marsh arriving so powerfully. 35 innings in tests and he has been bowled or LBW in 55% of the time (Tendulkar was 39%, Smith 36%, Ponting only 32%, Steve Waugh 30%. The great LBW third umpire review man himself was Shane Watson 42% - admittedly all over many more innings).

Dave Warner also needs to hit the ball straighter down the ground. The best batsmen do this because their technique and eye sight is right. Those who just look for runs on the drive square of the wicket are doomed - especially in England. We all know how hard it is to execute a straighter drive. Warner was very silly calling out a SCG retirement. He looks set to go a long time before then. Heaven help us when Khawaja, Warner and Smith retire. Is Will Pucovski any better?

Carey's batting has been pretty ordinary as well. There have been a lot of Australian keepers with good hands and gloves...think Rixon, Zoehrer, Dyer, Emery, Woolley, Wright, Maclean, Manou, Nevill and Paine (no Test tons), but these days we need a reliable 30-50 runs each time... and tons. Gilchrist scored 17 of them. Healy, Haddin and Wade all scored four Test tons. Marsh got two and Wayne B. Phillips got two. Carey has one.

3. NRL - Wrap. 

• A long time waiting for success, but Adam O'Brien keeps on defying the critics - and the journalists who battle to understand him. They are pretty slick and are using two firebrand 'rejects' - Tyson Gamble (Broncos) and Jackson Hastings (Tigers) - to really good effect. They played with great intensity against Melbourne for the victory. 
• North Queensland keep steaming on. Absolutely impossible to beat them in the humidity up there. Parramatta were a mess in Darwin earlier in the season and exactly the same v North Queensland. No learning, especially with ball control.
• Great to see Waqar Blake back from his exile. His special brand of incompetence in defence has been missed. Great runner off his own try line in trouble, but sadly the other players around him have absolutely no faith in him. Haze Dumpster is no better. They need strong and fast outside backs.
• The Cowboys are in excellent defensive hands with Paul Bowman. He was a mastermind on the sand tackling sessions back in the premiership winning day. Their defence will get them into a preliminary final again. Some sort of coaching effort by Todd Payton who started terribly in 2023.
• Andrew Webster has done an outstanding job with the Warriors. Their whole crowd war cry before the game is something else!
• The Sharks...oh my goodness. A defensive mess. Suddenly they are being questioned big time. Wade Graham and Dale Finucane will sharpen them up.
• The Tigers... save us. They have now signed two unknowns. That will sell memberships and win a comp? They have at least five to eight years of misery ahead.
• Just jot this one down...Ethan Sanders, a lower grade/ junior half at Parramatta is set to join the Raiders. He could be the next great thing in NRL halves. No chance getting past Mitchell Moses who is in career best form.

4. AFL. The top four are almost sealed now: Collingwood, Port, Brisbane and Melbourne. Hard to believe that Carlton and Richmond are still in close contention for the top eight. Discussion recently of a wild card round to get into the top eight is a great fundraiser for marginal teams! Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and GWS are solidly into fifth, but no errors will be possible. A tight table, a little like the NRL.

Port v Collingwood was a tough game. Possibly the best we have seen all year. Port are really benefiting from their pacy midfield. Such a success story, but Collingwood are the comeback experts and knocked them over by a couple of points. They sneak well ahead on the table and firm for the minor premiership first place. 

Swans squeak home, but are still so inconsistent, especially in the final quarter. Both the Melbourne Demons and Swans are terrible in the final quarter. The Swans are a win behind the best after a few shocking losses. The draw with Geelong and loss to Richmond a few weeks back will be regretted.

5. British Open. Always something magic about the Open Championships, and at courses like Royal Liverpool. A place where wind can be your worst enemy. It always seems to throw up a surprise performer. Brian Harman is that person in 2023. It is his to lose  five shots up into the final round. Unfortunately when a little known player looks like winning, the interest fades for many fans.

Jon Rahme never seems far away either. What a talent! Viktor Hovland is often there or thereabouts too. Jason Day is doing real well too - a little unexpectedly. India even have a top ten player in Shubhankar (not to be confused with 'Shrub shankar'). 

Why do black Afro-American golfers seem to be in short supply on the world circuit? World golf may need to ponder that equity question, but never will.

More pleasant weather on the west coast there than at Manchester. Back to Royal Troon next year.

6. Football World Cup - The Matildas. A fabulous crowd for their first game and win v the Irish. Hopefully Sam Kerr is back soon. The fans want to see the best in the business. An exciting tournament, with the scope of the tournament on par with the men with 32 teams! The USA are the team to beat. 

We should knock over Nigeria, but Canada will be tough. Not an easy group to be in as hosts! Losing host nations are rare.

7. Wimbledon. Great five set win by young Alcaraz. No 24th Grand Slam for Djokovic!

8. Wallabies v All Blacks next week. I wonder how many mug punters can name ten blokes in the 110 man Wallaby squad? Once upon a time everyone knew them all! Eddie Jones is under pressure already. Can we aim up or will it be the same old, same old? Hard to see us troubling the top nations.