The Wrap - A Penney For Your Thoughts

1. Jarryd Hayne. A sad end to a player who is now a convicted criminal - and a complete mess for the victim and her family. The NFL dream was the start of the end. The 2010 glory of the yellow boots...the adulation in the crowd when NSW State of Origin took the throne against all odds with Paul Gallen. It seems a long time ago. He may yet re-emerge with the boxing gloves, but a terrible, painful tale for all concerned.

2. The Bulldogs. They looked awful on the weekend. The key problem is speed. Corey Allan and Kyle Flanagan are too low. Expensive and slow to complicate it. They don’t take the line on and the team is in trouble. Flanagan reminds me of Daniel Mortimer who was skilful, a great goal kicker but not quick or big enough. He needs a serious mentor and size or he will be cooked. meanwhile the Bulldogs are trying to buy everyone and if I was Penrith based on the injury toll this season, I would not be releasing Burton either.

3. Broncos. Finally a win against the potential wooden spooners. The Osaka try for the Broncos was exhilarating. Touch footy in the park stuff. Great step and excitement. A win is a win. 

Manly have really struggled this year too. Their problem? Four talented players eat up the salary cap... crumbs to the rest. No way to win a comp. 

4. NRL Injury Toll. Injuries are out of control this year. Head knocks are so frequent it is scary. The game is hard, but the NRL need to enable teams to replace head knock HIA situations with new bench players. Simple. Playing with 11 or 12 like Cronulla did, is stupid. Good win by the Eels. Reed Mahoney is a good young kid, but he needs to read the room. If ever there was a week Morrison could not afford to look like a drunken lout it was this one. Is the NRL still in a bubble?

5. The Roosters. Their depth will be tested now. An ugly night losing both halves for long periods of time. Adam Keighran may prove to be an exceptional signing. They will need troops. The salary cap for blokes who have season ending injuries may need examination. Jackson Hastings may yet be popular and could return a new fellow and new character at the home of the once great Kevin 'Horrie' Hastings.

6. The Storm. They are really missing Cameron Smith. They don’t lose tight games usually. That is the difference with superstars. Liking the Gold Coast now. A tougher team than possibly ever before. 

7. Indian Cricket. India are typically impossible to beat at home in cricket. They could dominate for a record number of years. They have such depth. Each team - T20, ODI and Test is almost different...with equal or more talent - just amazing. This Pant is a special talent. However Johnnie Bairstow, whose Test form was abominable, and the great Ben Stokes beat them. England have a handy ODI team capable of winning the World Cup. Daylight next...

8. Sheffield Shield Final. 15 April will see the final played. Not sure where, but very late to still be playing cricket. Looming like WA v ? New South Wales look shocking. QLD could surprise.

9. The Swans. They have started the year well. Less focus on Buddy. More options. More speed. Still vulnerable, but doing well early. First 2-0 season start since 2016. The crowds will begin to flock to see the team play now. Interesting Buddy has 50 odd goals to get before hitting 1,000. Full fitness will enable him to get close. Gulden and Campbell 25 disposals each! Impressive start.

10. AFL Winners. Port, Richmond, Sydney, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs all undefeated after just the two games. A few teams looking woeful...the worst of them is GWS. They should have ended the coach last year. There is something really bad going on there. 

11. Waratahs. Coach Rob Penney has been punted by a clueless Board with no plan. Waratahs CEO, Paul Doorn, was actually referred to in the media as Paul "Door". Well he has shown it. They will go winless this year and the great blue jersey will be washing cars in driveways soon. It would be great to hear him lift the lid on the true problems there. Finances are in a bad way from all reports.

12. Daniel Riccardo. YAAAWWWWWWWWWN. More F1 podium finishes and wins. Less media hype.

The Wrap - A Full Plane

1. Wet Weather. It would have been a mess years ago, but how good are the grounds these days? Even Brookvale looked a picture. Extreme conditions.

2. Shield Cricket. New South Wales all out for 32, yet they lead the Shield. Jackson Bird 7/18. Can it get any worse? Sean Abbott injured, but a soft effort by the top order. Ducks galore. A pathetic effort really. Should we still be playing Shield in late March? Someone needs to show some leadership in that ACB joint. Farcical.

3. Parramatta. Great win v Melbourne. Interesting to see Melbourne under pressure. A little bit fractious with each other when old man Smith is not on the scene. Terrible conditions which are a great leveller. Interesting to see a rematch in dry conditions. Still don't think Parramatta have the speed. They did not miss Waqar Blake either. Please note that Mr Arthur.

4. Adam Douehii. There is a clear problem for the Tigers here. On big money and destined for England. Not quick enough for a five eight unfortunately, but has trimmed down but not game aware enough. Moses Mbye is going to be on the same plane. The effort by the skipper, Tamou, late was terrible. Brett and Josh Morris should be re-signed immediately. Really reaching legend status. The Tigers have gotten worse in 2021. Setting themselves for a solid ninth. Luciano is quality...not sure about Joey who is inconsistent. He may need to head overseas too. A full plane.

Throw in Milford as well. The Broncos have huge issues.

5. Waratahs. They will have every shade of brown on their wooden spoon this year. A sad state of affairs for the game in NSW. It is getting embarrassing and despite how wonderful people think Rob Penney is, he is on the rack here, with a shallow roster. Time for a decision.

5. Swans. A cracking win v Brisbane on Saturday night in their backyard. Young Errol Gulden played a great game. He has been a competitor since U/9s when my son used to play against him and then with him at the Swans Academy. Small and tough, but finds the ball and has game smarts. Braeden Campbell not as bright a game, good touches. A great kid who is a Pennant Hills lad. Can't believe the lack of homework from the Melbourne AFL clubs re Gulden. They missed him in the draft.

6. Jarryd Hayne. A big week here before the law. I noticed Sam Burgess was exonerated by the courts last week. Does the Players Association work on post football careers? They would have a busy growth industry here - as sadly do the lawyers too.

The Wrap - Storm Clouds

1. Mundine. There was a time when he was a sharp talking, quick moving talent. To see him hammered with barely a punch thrown makes you question his handlers and his outlook. He needs to move away and move on. It was very sad seeing a great athlete stagger around for a couple of minutes and be damaged reputationally and physically. You fear for their brain in later life. (I noticed Marvellous Marvin Haggler died unexpectedly today too.. a chilling reminder of the perils of the sport).

2. Cameron Smith (NRL). There is something really odd about this whole charade. Announces it the day before the premiership starts? It is not a good look. He should have done it on Grand Final night last year when they absolutely crushed the opposition. His choice of course, but has he also milked the game as well as serving it? He had a testimonial a few years ago, his wife got an NRL ring, there is talk of instant immortal status. Standing next to your own statue is a little odd too. What sort of outcry would there be if V'landys delayed this and delayed it and hinted in the media, then withdrew... and then announced it in the cricket season? Everyone has had enough. No one - not one person - is bigger than the game. It rolls on as it has since 1908.

2a. Cameron Smith (golf). If it is not one, it is the other. Carving it up and tied third at the TPC Sawgrass tournament. A scintillating player who may well win big soon.

3. Storm. The Storm machine are something else. The Bunnies played like Major Semi Finalists. The Storm played like Grand Finalists. That is the big difference. Players of high quality to burn. They send blokes away to some obscure venue and replace every one of them with someone better. Bellamy is quite the club genius. He has made a lot of people wealthy. This is all despite Sydney media trying to unsettle them re re-signing Hughes, Munster and Brandon Smith.

4. NRL. Well we saw some familiar stories. Parramatta still have poor attack. The worst of it is Waqar Blake still rushes out of the line in defence. Is he thick? Ill discipline that will be exploited big time by other clubs. Maybe a swap could be arranged for Jennings and Blake? Where is Takarangi The Great when you need him least? You cannot win a comp without explosive centres. Brad Arthur looks very mechanical in his view of a footy team at times. Broncos still fold in the second half, but looked better. The Titans and Cowboys were the worst. Awful both. Manly were pathetic too, absolutely crushed by the Roosters. Tigers promised a lot (like most years) but ended up in a heap.

Junior Paulo is such a joy to watch. What a supreme talent he is when playing footy. Gee he must have scored some tries in junior footy. Like Josh Papaali.

5. Tom Brady. Signed on again and you get the feeling Tampa will be there to enjoy it all over. A legend. Meanwhile The Patriots stick solid with Cam Newton? I am worried Belichick could be coaching his final year there if Newton fails.

6. Hugh Bowman. A star. He heads to Melbourne when others do not and picks up the win on Mugatoo who showed a great turn of speed in the wet. A brilliant win in the All Star mile in a tough race.

7. Central Coast Mariners. leading the A-League, but for how long? Alen Stajcic the coach has done a great job thus far. Only another eighty games to go in this comp.

8. EPL. How hard is it to stay in the top tier of English football? Sheffield United are cooked (coach gone!) and West Brom, Fulham and Brighton - even Newcastle are not far away from the "drop zone". meanwhile Manchester City (with two extra games played) are now 17 points in front. Awesome power. Liverpool comfortably mediocre in the middle of the table.

The Wrap - Pant's On

1. 2021 Footy. About time it is back! Everyone is looking forward to the contests and controversies. Amazing how you miss the footy! Premiers? It will be hard to toss the Melbourne Storm, Roosters and Bunnies and in the AFL, the Tigers will win if they can sideline the off field nonsense from the pre-season. 

2. Waratahs. At least that footy will also get people away from the misery of the Waratahs. Losing to the Force is an extremely low ebb. I noticed the board have offered their full support to coach Penney. He will be gone in the month now.

3.  T20 Cricket. No wonder they had no doubts over Finch. He has played brilliantly to get two straight wins and will be looking to lead us to a 3-2 win over the NZers. It is the complete lottery this form of the game. A little worried about the form of the big quick Jamieson. 2-3 million richer for the IPL, but still quick to the fence.

A loss in the end. Our inconsistent blokes proved just that... Maxwell, Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh. You wouldn't want any of them in a crisis. Talent, but lack application. They are a complete lottery. You need to find eight batsmen (including the keeper) and can tolerate three full time bowlers in this form. Too often they go with a 'bowler heavy' team. A collapse and you pay the price. Too many inconsistent blokes and you lose.

The love affair with Mitchell Marsh continues... Ben McDermott, Ashton Turner and AJ Tye don't get a game! 

Thank goodness our women's cricket team shine. They provide the hope!

4. Sheffield Shield. Young Cameron Green hit a solid 250. He has starred in the Shield in season 2020-2021 and has a good head on his shoulders. His four tons is not a patch on Michael Bevan who hit 8 and Matthew Elliott who hit 7 in one season. Hopefully he can do it for Australia one day. I noticed Starc went wicketless again for NSW. Not sure why he is back playing. He needs a long break! He must have been told of his future by selectors.

5. England v India Cricket. This wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant, has the goods. He is a tough nut competitor who has that Gilchrist type skill of taking the game away from you. Brilliant attacking mindset. Another big Test score - 101 - v England when it mattered. He is a man for the pressure moment.

As predicted a 3-1 loss by England. I cannot believe they played Bairstow. You know a team is in strife when they have no top order capable of laying the necessary platform. Dom Sibley (87, 16, 16, 3, 7, 0, 2, 3 - avg 16.75), Rory Burns (33, 0, 0, 25 - avg 14.5) and Bairstow (0, 0, 28, 0 - avg 7). India just carved them up with their spin. Typical nonsense complaints re pitches and conditions. Get used to it, because India is where it happens in world cricket now. They are the key location.

India v New Zealand in England stands to be a fascinating contest in the test Cricket Championship Final.

6. Liverpool. The wheels have fallen off. A new manager is imminent. They are gone.

7. AFL - Trials. Interesting to see the young Swans in action this weekend. A lot more pace (finally), but not a lot of size. Errol Gulden and Braiden Campbell both looked good, but physically they need work or they will be poleaxed by the tougher experienced players and seasoned professionals. Starting to think that Callum Mills needs to be traded. A Rising Star some years back, but two parts of nothing since. He makes a lot of kicking errors. Logan McDonald looked sharp, but again, needs to hit the gym.

8. Golf. Great footage of Bryson DeChambeau hitting a massive drive over the lake at the Bay Hill Invitational 370 yards. Reminds me of a few boys golf games over the years. He'd be handy in ambrose.

9. Iron Man - Iron Cowboy. Not sure if you saw James Lawrence as he attempts to do 100 Iron Man events (3.8km swim, 180km ride and a full marathon every day)  in 100 days. He kicked off last week. He surely cannot achieve this in 14 hours for each one with no real recovery. Stunning ambition.

The Wrap - Every Dog Has Their Day

1. Moises Henriques. Firming for a Test debut. Hits the ball very well when on song and a sparkling century from all reports. We have a rich tradition of bringing back old hard headed experienced blokes who hold the show together in the middle order - Lehman, Voges, Bevan, Hussey... Travis Head's double century doesn't hurt either. About time we started to see some longer form of the game. The strength of the bowling is not at its best with so many in NZ getting their tails kicked. Aaron Finch is woeful. What is worse, he does not seem that worried - nor do the selectors.

Cameron Green with another Shield ton continues to excel. 168no remains impressive in anyone's books. Even Bancroft hit a ton.

Not sure why we need Pat Cummins bowling in the Shield at present? Next we'll have injuries and more problems than the federal government.

2. India v England Cricket. As predicted, we are definitely looking at a 3-1 defeat by England which will almost certainly deliver a Test Championships decider to NZ v India at Lords. The state of that last pitch is a complete disgrace. This old trick is one Murali benefitted from big time and it is how Ashwin has rocketed to 400 Test wickets so soon. Nullify the opponent's strength (pace, seam bowling with a pink ball) and feather your own strengths. Not good enough. Imagine the outcry if we had a deck like that in Australia? Not surprisingly the Indian officialdom are sitting on their oversized cheques and remaining quiet. Unacceptable, no matter how many straight balls the Poms missed. Jonny Bairstow will be lucky to play again based on his effort in getting a pair. Hitting straight balls needs to be a priority at the top order - not guessing. The England rotation selection policy is a joke too. They were smug after the first test (like Australia were) and now pay the price. 

3. EPL - Man City. 20 wins in a row tells you they are not losing the PL race this year. Tough win against West Ham, but call the engraver.

4. NRL. Is it possible to predict the whole comp after only one weekend of trials? Not much changes.

Melbourne. Dominant again. Souths flashy and skilful. Roosters powerful with brilliant youngsters. Penrith winning, even ugly ones. Parramatta OK, but simply have no pace and not enough points in them. Cowboys tenacious. Canberra and Knights solid, but limited in attack. Bulldogs and Gold Coast improving gradually. Broncos inconsistent. Tigers look a little faster, but will struggle. Manly injury riddled and will be OK if Turbo stops running up the Corso. Cronulla sleepy in defence. Warriors limited. Dragons woeful.

Anthony Griffin is under immense pressure already - as is the whole administration of that place.

5. NRL Incidents. They need to crush some of these disgraceful player behaviour moments and remove more from the game. They could start with domestic violence matters. Great to hear that Penrith stood down the cocaine taking Naden, when the NRL couldn't find the strength. He needs to have a good think about things I suspect. Tom Trobjoevic is another one who may need to reflect on being a goose running up the Corso and pulling a hammy during/ after. What gets into these blokes' heads?

Has Corey Horsburgh from the Raiders set a record? Reported twice in two different trial games on the same day? Channelling Chris Guider type memories.

6. Waratahs. While there have been flashy great moments, inevitably, this team is a poor imitation. Why is it that the Brumbies always seem to be a super competitive rugby team. The Waratahs...what a humiliation: 61-10. Is this the best that this proud state of GPS/ CHS loving rugby types can produce for NSW? Or is state footy a thing of the past? Good luck to the streaming service who picked this code up.

7. AFL Trials and WAFL. The sport starved southern states are all over it! They love the game, but draws in AFL trials could be as bad as it ever gets.

8. Tennis. So Djokovic with his dreadful mid tournament injury, recovered in quick time to give Medvedev an old fashioned towelling. 18 Grand Slam wins is elite. Nice to see Roger Federer back into things as well. These hard headed experienced guys are supreme athletes, the likes of which we will never see again. Serena Williams was not far away either, but will be better for the run. Intriguingly she has been in 33 Grand Slam finals for her 23 wins. She has not won one since 2017 but has made four (losing) finals since then. An absolute legend.

Federer 20 wins out of 31 finals. Nadal 20 wins out of 28 finals and Djokovic 18 wins from 28 finals. Losing about 10 each, generally to each other.

9. Tiger Woods. Tiger unfortunately almost met the premature fate of many superstars, rock stars, child prodogies and sports elite. Thankfully he will recover. Not sure golf is high on the agenda right now. I suspect with his millions, he should be employing a driver. Cars and Tiger have had a chequered history from golf club attacks/ fire hydrants, roadside breath tests and now this. Time to invest.

10. Great News. Great to know Lady Gaga's dogs are safe too. Rest up. Your work is done.

The Wrap - Impossible Petty Logic (IPL)

1. IPL. The auction is an amazing thing with no logic. How can you pay over a million for Riley Meredith, two million for Jhye Richardson and then $400K for Steve Smith. Not sure what Ponting was doing there as the franchise coach. A little disrespectful to Smith to be honest. Not sure Ricky would have coped silently in his day. To then leave Alex Carey with no contract is staggering. Basically, you need to be an all rounder to make money - or have extreme pace. 

THE AUSSIES PURCHASED IN THE IPL AUCTION:

Glenn Maxwell $2.52m (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Jhye Richardson $2.48m (Punjab Kings)
Riley Meredith $1.42m (Punjab Kings)
Nathan Coulter-Nile $885,000 (Mumbai Indians)
Dan Christian $850,000 (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Moises Henriques $743,000 (Punjab Kings)
Steve Smith $390,000 (Delhi Capitals)
Ben Cutting $132,750 (Kolkata Knight Riders)

2. Sheffield Shield. A terrible Shield loss by NSW to Victoria. Paper thin batting again and they had the Test bowling attack. We need new fast bowling stocks. No excuses either. The GOAT did well (10 wickets), but Test bowlers should dominate at this level. They have had a few weeks off. Surprised to see Starc bowling so soon actually. Great win by QLD. Apart from Marnus, not a lot of consistent batsmen. Burns, Khawaja got runs, but I would be looking closely at Jordan Silk.

3. Indigenous All Stars v Maori. Good to see footy back on the screen, Some players looked razor sharp already - David Fifita is an awesome player. James Fisher-Harris, Josh Kerr and Blake Ferguson excelled. Plenty of niggle and push and shove throughout the whole night! Andrew Fifita still runs across field too often. Some big defence. Not sure as a coach I'd like this type of trial. No golden point stumped them too. 10-10 was a fair result. An amped up trial really.

4. Cameron Smith. Please, how ridiculous. Cameron is now moving into that territory where people think less of one who is so talented and revered. Heaven help the club that may land him. It is starting to look like it is all about Cameron. A circus and late in the pre-season.

5.  Naomi Osaka. A crushing semi final victory v Serena and Jennifer Brady was never beating her in the final. Four Grand Slams now edges her up the pole. She is one short of Hingis and Sharapova who both have five Grand Slam wins. Her limitation is the hard court surfaces and needs to play clay and grass as well.

6. Novak Djokovic. A fake injury? No winning a popularity contest. A crushing forehand... on the cusp of yet another title. Interestingly, not a word from Kygrios who may now be 18 Grand Slams behind Novak now. Novak should crush Medvedev eventually. He is right too...there are lots of talented blokes (Zerev, Thiem, et al), but they don't put the work in to be better. Right now with the 'big three' still in operation, you need to work harder than ever before in the history of tennis!

7. Waratahs. It looks like a long and cold winter ahead. Do the fans care or have they given up? No one wants to go searching for a Super Rugby game to watch. The product is on the nose. Interesting to see Andrew Mehrtens praising Coach Rob Penney as a hit worth investing in. Hopefully.

8. Bulldogs. Every year this joint finds controversy. Adam Elliott has some explaining to do. The drink does strange things to people as well all know. Is there a reason why sex addiction is only diagnosed when someone is caught?

9. EPL. It's all over. The chances of Man City being run down are near none. It is a rare day to see West Ham hunting for a top four finish. A great effort. Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal all need a miracle this year... and maybe a new manager is on the horizon for all - as hard as that is to believe for Klopp.

10. A-League. This competition slides on through again, providing the fill for broader sports streaming services. Central Coast sitting pretty and got severely dudded this week. Sadly, for football to takeover in Australia, they need to straighten out a lot of things. There is as much chance of it being a huge success nationally in Australia as Dustin Martin playing for the Swans!

The Wrap - Top Notch

1. Super Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Superbowl glory! They were stunned and had every right to hold their buccan ears on either sides of their buccan heads in victorious hysteria! We have tracked the journey all season and what an outcome for the QB and his team. They can defend too. Fascinating that he gets a couple of mates to come with him too to feast on the glory too - Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski ('The Gronk'). What a legend he is. They were delighted in Tampa Bay (Just quietly, how good is Mahones however?). Superb. Tears in New England who are about to crucify Coach Belichick. This is not what they wanted. New England need a QB and should bring him home. If not, they need to get busy in the recruitment stakes. They seem very quiet at present.

2. Nick Kgyrios. Is anyone upset that we may not see him again? Does anyone care that he was turfed out on his ear? He started well and got run over. Dom Theim is a gun and likes to play long into matches. Sadly Nick's lack of fitness and a coach to get him right, cost him. Retirement might be best for Nick. Listening to tennis on radio is another good tip for a Kgyrios tennis game. Maybe he can go and join Greg Norman on his ranch and walk next to him on that beach in his blue shorts. Sad, but a wasted talent. He also has 17 fewer Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic who he bags all the time - even when he loses in the doubles too. More losses in one tournament than Djokovic has in a long stretch.

3. Rafa Nadal. Can he become the greatest Grand Slam winner ever? If he wins, he will move ahead to 21 Grand Slams of the great Roger Federer (20). Novak Djokovic (17) is right up there too, but he sadly brings a shadow to some of his work at times. He seems to pull a hammy too often when times are tough. Dominic Thiem avoided Kygrios, but was torched by Dimitrov today. The challengers are falling fast.

4. England Victory and Pending Loss v India. Jimmy Anderson still has got the goods. He is lethal if that pitch seams. What a superb performance by England. I suspect in the four test series however that they might follow our example and get run over. Root on fire. Some question marks emerging over the Kohli leadership style too. They need Jadeja back in the team and Siraj. Curious how many changes come when Kohli returns. He has his favourites and dictates to the selectors something fabulous. Not all are happy in that team I suspect.

Surely there needs to be a rule against a pitch like the current one on Day One of a Test? Winning the toss has put India in the box seat. England will struggle to get 100 runs in both innings. 1-1 beckons.

5. Junior Paulo. An impressive boxing display. Nothing like how M4 road rage training can position you well for a boxing career. He has silky hands on the field and can turn them into sledgehammers in the ring. A talent.

6. St George-Illawarra Dragons. What is going on at that place...? Corey Norman involved in off season biff and nonsense (how long before he leaves us?), Israel Folau going to be signed then discarded after sponsors rise up, they offload their only defensive bookend in Cameron McInness to the hated Cronulla, who now has done his knee, they sack Wendell's young bloke and are scratching around for Andrew McCullough who had serious injuries last year. They also have Bird in the centres who can barely stand up. The place is in turmoil. The new coach is a top fellow by all reports (Dean gave him a lift home one night and can confirm), but he inspires no early confidence that they won't get the spoon.

7. What A Great Era. How fortunate we have all been to see some of the all time greats...Kelly Slater, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Stephanie Gilmore, Shane Warne, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and the great Adam Voges in our time. 

8. Manchester City. Skating away with the championship right now. Too far ahead now and 16 wins in a row. Meanwhile Liverpool and Tottenham stumble and bumble. The efforts of the Liverpool keeper are something to behold! Leicester and coach Brendan Rodgers are doing the business as well.

9. Ash Barty. Will she be the one to break our 40 year Australian Open duck? Serena looks switched on after a hiccup today. The traditional Serena determination looks sharp at present.