The Wrap - Vegas Blue Rinse

1. Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. I thought this was for test cricket. Seemingly not... T20 as well. Mitch Marsh continues to hit the ball well. Surely Matthew Short is a better option that Steve Smith. We all love Steve Smith, but T20 is not his go. I hope he realises that soon too. 

For all our narrow losses in world cricket, we always seem to pip New Zealand. This time 3-0. Great cricket from Marsh, David and those fast bowlers. Hazelwood in particular. Zampa gets a lot of wickets - and can bowl tennis balls sometimes too. Warner hit them really well too.

2. Shoaib Bashir. Four wickets on Day 2 from a park bowler from Lindfield Shires - and an eventual 5 for. 31 overs straight. A super effort for England v India. At 2-1 down, England need to win this one. Result cricket in action. Joe Root bounced back when under incredible pressure, to hit his 31st Test ton... an incredible number really. 46 ahead on the first innings will not be enough. 200 looked ominous, but England will need to bat well. A characteristic visitors batting collapse looms.

3. Melbourne Rebels. They have the place in boxes and the curtains have also been taken down. The joint is in ruins. How they were ever allowed to play this year is staggering. TV contracts no doubt. This is a symbol of the game in Australia at present.

4. ODI Marsh Cup. NSW v WA. Typical poor batting from NSW brought them undone. Ollie Davies is a talent but 50 is a max. score for him. He needs to punch out some hundreds or perish. The work of Hilton Cartwright continues to be measured and sensible. He keeps his head well when others do not.

5. NRL - Las Vegas. Great to hear from Colin 'Funky' Miller re tips for staying safe in Las Vegas. Colouring your hair blue was not one of them. However, drugs, the drink and police trouble will not be far away. Leilua continues the off season goose tradition, keeping his DUI charge quiet. Again, a deduction of two points from his club(s) will deter most nonsense and repeat offenders.

6. NRL Trials. Did we learn anything new that we had not seen last week? There is some ordinary play it must be said. There was also some unbearable footy to watch. Bring on the real deal.

How very generous of the NRL offering a $100,000 prize to the preseason 'winners' in the same week they announced another property acquisition and a $130M profit. You can win more prizemoney at an average race at Randwick. V'landys knows this better than anyone.

7. World Club Challenge. Some sort of trial game with St Helens winning on the back of some terrible local English refereeing. The penalty call against Liam Martin for a 1:1 strip was appalling at a critical time. The tries with 'no try' and 'try' calls upstairs were impossible to make in either case. There were some huge hits. Penrith need one more big bopper for mine. Centres were sound with no Stephen Crichton, but they lack a bit of size. Moses Leota is an unbelievable talent.

8. Matildas. A big 3-0 win v Uzbekistan. Some good moments, but one attraction of the women's game is how flawed it is. 'Real' soccer basically that allows for flair and for entertainment.

9. EPL. Fulham beating ManU was a terrible result for the brand new ManU owners. The top four are stretching out now. Ange must win tonight to stay within striking distance. Aston Villa have been outstanding in season 2023-2024.

10. Waratahs... a longer season than even two weeks ago looms.

The Wrap - Sutherland Till I Die

1. NRL Trials. Lots of fringe players and emerging stars, but let's be honest. Very hot, but Parramatta, Bulldogs, Wigers, Dragons, Cowboys and a few others are not winning it. Unfortunately, it is that clear despite one half game. Broncos will be hard to beat in 2024. How many super stars have they got? Haas, Walsh, Mam, Carrigan... there's a flexi cap somewhere there.

The Cronulla Sutherland Sharks will be there or thereabouts. Enough seen in their depth stakes.

2. NRL Las Vegas. Has it ever been busier at the US VISA and Immigration Centre? It has been hectic down there. The finger print machine has apparently run out of ink. 

3. NRL - Biff. Only last week we mentioned that there had not been any NRL off season tom foolery and then Reynolds and Carrigan wrestle and carry on. Hexed. This is how dumb injuries occur. Always a dreadful look. (Ask the Sydney Swans #14, C. Mills). We have been saying it for some time now, dock them 4 competition points for these types of misdemeanours and these matters stop instantly.

Interesting to see players remarking on Brad Arthur smiling in 2024. He last smiled when Ray Price did.

4. Tottenham. A bad loss to Wolves 2-1. Ange has struggled to effectively deflect the Liverpool coaching rumours. Man City stutter, but Aston Villa and Arsenal power on.

5. New Zealand Cricket - Kane Williamson. What a legend batsman of the game now. A few cheap centuries v South Africa, who were young, inexperienced and improving, but 32 Test centuries is 32 Test centuries in 98 Tests. Alistair Cook is on 33 tons and beating 34 tons is the amazing mark shared by Gavaskar, Jayawardene, Lara, Younis Khan. He is averaging over 55 as well.

6. Indian Cricket - Yashasvi Jaiswal. An incredible start to his Test career by the Indian opener. Talk about taking his opportunities. 13 Test innings for 2 x 50s, 3 x tons and 2 x 200! Peeling them off for fun. He has scored something like 50 centuries in the past two years in all forms. 625 runs in the 2023 IPL as well.

7. Alex De Minaur. Into the final of the Rotterdam Open. He plays Sinner who should wipe him, but Di Minaur still looks top ten material. he is ranked 11th at present.

8. Super Bowl. The Kansas City Chiefs have an amazing recent record with their win this week. They have now made the Super Bowl 6 times. In recent years since 2020, they have won 3 Vince Lombardi trophies and were runners up in another. The last two have been won by three points too!

The New England Patriots head them all on 11 Super Bowl appearances, before the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers (8 appearances).

9. Sheffield Shield. Will Pucovski hits a ton v NSW (with Handscomb and Madinson). Those old NSW bowlers don't like the heat. Lyon picked up five wickets. Renshaw another double failure (8, 14). Caleb Jewell hit a double ton. He's a handy left handed bat who could step up instead!

10. Sutherland Till I Die. Annabel hits a double hundred with five wickets for the Australian Womens Cricket team. Will, her brother made his Australian T20 debut last week and then gets five wickets for Victoria v NSW. Talented family. Father James was a useful seamer and administrator too.

11. Sunderland FC? Back in the Championship (second tier) this 2023-2024 season - coming 10th. A bit of improved fodder for Netflix!

The Wrap - Enhanced Performers

1. ODI Cricket and T20 Cricket. Good to see a few new names and faces (Matt Short, Spencer Johnson, Ben McDermott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Xavier Bartlett...) hovering around, but we are still a little soft in the batting department. Too many all rounders can hurt as well. Tim David looks like he is lifting his game while the 'Big Show' was shining brightly tonight! A great batting deck.

The biggest news in cricket this week was the twin centuries by Kane Williamson v South Africa (an embarrassment to all who have gone before them). He gets into the 30+ Test century club now. An awesome achievement.

Looking forward to seeing India v England. True to form, India love dropping the first test of the series before powering home and winning the series. Jadeja looks to be back this test after missing the last one. Ominous. They need sharper bowlers to trouble India - maybe one more batsman and Root bowls more. Jimmy Anderson must be one of them too. Stokes needs to roll the arm over too. He is a match winner.

2. The Enhanced Games. Bring out the needles and drugs and go for it with no drug testing limits. Ben Johnson and others like Marion Jones may make comebacks. Commentators at least. Lance Armstrong will be commentating on the cycling. Can't wait to see Graham Olling open it with Sam Riley carrying our flag once Nathan Baguley delivers it by canoe (customs in tow). Alex Watson will be serving the coffee upon arrival. What could go wrong?

3. Phoenix Open (Scottsdale, Arizona). Those Yanks sure know how to hold their drink. What a spectacle for those spotted by their bosses on TV living it up on the 16th hole! Diving into bunkers, getting their kits off. Messy, but hey, LIV golf took the cake in South Australia of course. preparing for the long awaited PGA-LIV peace accord.

4. Rugby League Trials. Surely these should be banned. The injury tolls will mount soon. The good news though is that the season is not far away now. Barely a player discipline issue in sight.... yet. All trials will be televised too. Penrith will be smarting after losing the World Club Challenge last year. I can't see them losing it this year.

5. NRL - Bulldogs. Surely amidst all the shuffling of the chairs on the Titanic, the matter with the aggrieved player who didn't like the wrestling punishment at training would have been finalised. Honestly, talk about a distraction... and weak leadership by Gus and others. The pressure is firmly on Cameron Ciraldo. Will he meet Trent Barrett's career path?

6. Ange and Tottenham. An exciting end to their tussle with Brighton. A 2-1 win, but they will need to be tighter in defence. Brighton could well have scored 3 goals! The excitement in their crowds this year is unbelievable. So attacking! Son (12 goals) and Richarlison (10 goals) have been dynamite. That man Erling Haaland scored two goals in Man City's win over Everton. He's back on top of the EPL with 16 goals after missing about six weeks! Incredible.

7. Six Nations. Wales bit the dust again in a tight loss to England. A bad start to the tournament.

8. Rugby. The Tahs were down 29-0 at half time v the Reds (who are coached by the legendary Les Kiss), before losing. No shock. The Brumbies did enough to win - as they always do. A long season ahead for the Tahs.

9. U/19 Cricket World Cup Final (India v Australia) 2024. Here are the final two teams. How many legends will emerge in time from here...

Squads

India U19 Squad: Adarsh Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan(c), Priyanshu Moliya, Sachin Dhas, Aravelly Avanish(w), Murugan Abhishek, Raj Limbani, Naman Tiwari, Saumy Pandey, Aaradhya Shukla, Ansh Gosai, Dhanush Gowda, Rudra Patel, Prem Devkar, Mohamed Amaan, Innesh Mahajan

Australia U19 Squad: Harry Dixon, Sam Konstas, Hugh Weibgen(c), Harjas Singh, Ryan Hicks(w), Oliver Peake, Tom Campbell, Raf MacMilllan, Tom Straker, Mahli Beardman, Callum Vidler, Lachlan Aitken, Charlie Anderson, Harkirat Bajwa, Corey Wasley, Aidan O Connor

10. Cameron Myers. Sounds like a gun in the making. Beat an Australian 1988 record for 1500m held by the great Pat Scammell. 3:34:55 is good going for a seventeen year old!  

The Wrap - Rocky Road Ahead

1. Australian Cricket. How great a summer and recent run has it truly been? We win the Test Championship v India (huge win), we draw the Ashes and are lucky with the weather in the final game at Manchester. We beat Pakistan when there were times they could have really pressured us. We draw 1-1 with the Windies. In between a crushing win v India in the ODI World Cup was truly amazing.

The upcoming New Zealand trip will show us where we truly sit. It could be a local carve up, especially if seaming decks are the order of the day.

The constant in it all is that our batting has been extremely dodgy. Marnus has hit rock bottom, Smith musters a good 38 most times these days with his head shaking and amazed looks (except the last test 91no v Windies), our openers are hot (Khawaja) and cold (the rest) and any team with the flair, brilliance and mystifying stupidity of Green - M. Marsh - Carey is going to frustrate the life out of you. Each of these three need to turn into hard nosed Test cricketers and fast. Despite winning a World ICC Test XI gong (shake your head in unison) or massive IPL contracts - or even the AB Medal, they are inconsistent and troubling.

Only the bowlers have stayed steadfast (a long and lonely summer of inaction for Scott Boland and young 'Wild Thing' Morris, it must be said). Starc, Cummins have been superb and Hazelwood rediscovered his wicket taking ability. Lyon takes wickets, but his inability to find pitches in Australia that turn must be frustrating. Ripping through teams in the fourth innings was quite synonymous with a turning SCG deck. How soon we forget. 

At least we are seeing the rise of a few Australian U/19 bats that look promising... Sam Konstas, Harry Dixon and Hugh Weibgen. As silly as it sounds, those who excel here in this tournament have a wonderful world wide track record of excellence in international cricket (in time)... Morgan, Azam...

2. India v England Test Cricket Series. A great story of young Shoaib Bashir, who was selected to play in the current Test after playing Lindfield Shires this time last year. 3/138 off 38 overs was a good start. Better than Warnie in his first Test! He picked up Rohit Sharma, Axar and Kumar - all caught. Took a catch and hit an 8no in his first bat. Solid start.

The Bumrah yorker is as lethal as it ever was! Ollie Pope found out. How often do India lose the first Test of a series and win the series after that. No Kholi is making a difference to their confidence and composure. Another double centurion - Yaiswal. Incredible production lines. Maybe a few of these talented bats may move to Australia to live!

3. Shield Cricket. Jackson Bird (37 years old) and Chris Tremain (32 years old) opening the bowling for the NSW Sheffield Shield team which also has Moises Henriques (37 years old) in it? It could be time for a youth policy, but Moises could actually be our best bat? Olly Davies and Jack Edwards both need to learn how to play four day cricket.

Renshaw did a great job scoring 2 runs for Qld in BOTH innings (4 total) How this guy is in front of Marcus Harris is beyond me. Ben McDermott would be a good inclusion in an Australian team... and our old mates Beau Webster, Aaron Hardie and Spencer Johnson. Jake Fraser-McGurk is a talent, but marching up the pitch in the first over of a 50 over game seems a little extreme. He needs to know he is playing as part of a team.

4. F1 - Ferrari. Huge news that Sir Lewis Hamilton is going to Ferrari from next year (2025). The stocks in Ferrari have gone up massively. His $100M pay packet is dwarfed by this. His record is truly immense. He stands to move to the most successful driver in F1 of all time with one more amazing year. He is currently on the same number of World Drivers Championships wins as Michael Schumacher (7 each).

A huge week for Italy, with Jannik Sinner winning the Australian Open, his first Grand Slam.

5. ODIs. Australia has had a great run post ODI World Cup. The Windies could not aim up with the ball moving off the surface in Game 1. Smith and Green combining for a middle order partnership of substance for an Australian cricket team was a little unique! In Game 2 the usual inconsistency returned on a tricky deck. Green gives his wicket away so often. Can look like a million dollars and then a million rupees.

6. Ange. A bad result this weekend for Tottenham 2-2 to Everton away, but you have to hand it to Everton. Deducted 10 points for financial anomalies, yet they keep hanging in there. Tenacious! They may have more bad news ahead. It is incredible how Ange gets the very best out of his team. Richarlison could barely score a goal...now he has 9 or 10 this season! The Asian Cup should see Son return very soon too. They miss him up front!

7. Socceroos. In the media, "heartbreak" is a common word used with this team. We always seem to be doing OK and then fall in a heap in our tournament, but remembering we are really playing up to or a little beyond our FIFA world ranking. Some careless defending and a fastidious referee. Bad combination. We had our chances!

8. Top Eight - NRL Trials. A month away now. Players are training the house down, never looked better, what not be out of place in an Origin jersey... ya, ya, ya. Local media outlets (formerly local newspapers) will have the photographer out at training sessions getting the new recruits to promise big for their club. 

Hard to see too much change. Likely top eight: Broncos, Panthers, Storm, Roosters, Cronulla, Cowboys, Warriors, Souths and one of the marginal: Raiders, Knights, Dolphins, Eels, Manly, Titans. No hope: Wigers, Dragons, Bulldogs.

9. Waratahs. Lost a trial to the Melbourne Rebels (without a cause?) on the weekend by a fair bit. Another long season ahead in the shadows of North Sydney oval with the other 1,000 remaining NSW Rugby fans. Back to Concord Oval?

10. Six Nations Rugby. Scotland upset Wales and England hang on v Italy. The Irish looked sharp.

11. SuperBowl. The San Francisco 49ers v Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes are red hot favourites. They have the weekend off ahead of the hoopla of this week. A huge event, made bigger by the Taylor Swift romance connection.

12. Rocky. Carl Weathers aka "Apollo Creed" in Rocky passed away this week...

The Wrap - Joseph and the Technicolour Test Match

1. The West Indies. "Get good?". The Windies have gotten a lot better – all in the space of a week! 1-1 is incredible for the minnows! Surely a three Test series is important. An eight run loss...did we declare too early? The negative thinking in the dressing room is extraordinary. New Zealand will really test us out next up.

A lot tougher in their first innings with a few great batting partnerships. The surname Joseph has arrived! Shamar Joseph 7/ 68. They really served it up to Australia. Our batting is quite ordinary and we have known this for some time. What will the future look like? It could get a lot worse for us with a really inconsistent middle order.

Travis Head may best sum up our efforts. Flashes of brilliance but not enough strength and concentration when under pressure. His scores in 2023-2024 v Pakistan and West Indies: 40 - 14 - 17 - 0 - 10 - 119 - 0 - 0.

Liking two things about this Windies team (1) Swagger, smiles and enjoyment of playing with team mates (2) Athleticism and good fielding/ catching. These were the hallmarks of older times in the Windies 1980s dominance. Kraigg Brathwaite as skipper has really rallied the players.

Just when you thought they still needed to play harder nosed cricket, Shamar Joseph was outstanding - bad toe and all. 13 wickets in two tests is a great start to his test career. A bit like Steve Smith’s batting in the second innings - lots of grit, steel and determination for 90 no. A great return to form - and as an opener.

We saw two things that have never been seen on a cricket field on Friday: (1) the ball hitting the bails and spinning them around, without dislodging them and (2) the somersault by Kevin Sinclair when he took his first ever Test wicket of Khawaja. That was outstanding hoopla. We’ve seen it in soccer and league, the NFL, but never in Test cricket. A new standard has been set.

One of the greatest mysteries of 2024 was how Alex Carey was added to the ICC Text XI of 2023. Not a lot of runs, but plenty of dismissals. He backed it up with a nice counter punch innings of 65 off not many...but then gave up his wicket in the second innings. 

Cameron Green has had a shocker this Test in the field and with the bat. A better second innings effort. Maybe he should have been rested with COVID, but Cameron is realising that you never let others know of injuries at that level or you could be overlooked again. He has a lot of learning but he looks lost at number four.

Mitch Marsh is always a risk too. Bison strength and bison thinking sometimes. A bit troubling to hear his aversion to bowling in the on field microphone set up last Test. He better keep scoring runs. The World U/19 World Cup is on at present and it is being scrutinised for our future…

2. BBL - Darren Lehmann. He really has risen up again with his ability to reshape (got rid of Lynn et al) the Brisbane Heat. They crushed the Sydney Sixers. An exciting career ahead for Spencer Johnson, the left arm quick. He will take a heap of wickets… hopefully in Tests. This Saudi T20 League has all the T20 journeymen…Hales, Billings, Guptill, Lynn, Bravo, Munro, Boult, David, Vince, Jordan, Overton… If you couldn’t cut that league you could go to South Africa or join the Bangladesh League with Ben Cutting.

3. England v India. Has there ever been a day impacted by rain or lost to rain in Indian Test cricket? It is always sunny there! Wet weather is as rare as an Indian streaker! That will not save England. Enter Jadeja. Five wickets and 87. He is a fierce competitor. Kholi absolutely loves Jadeja – Ashwin not so much. Interesting to see Jadeja and Ashwin in a run out together at the crease, even with Kohli not playing. Not a lot of love lost there I suspect. Ashwin has a tremendous record, but is a prickly customer at times.

Ollie Pope scored a magnificent 195. If Jimmy Anderson was selected, it could have been even more interesting. A very inexperienced spin bowling outfit (Leach, Hartley, Ahmed), but Krezja and Todd Murphy have gone there and done well.

4. Novak Djokovic. Knocked out by the Italian, Jannik Sinner after making an uncharacteristic trail of unforced errors. The efforts of Medvedev in this tournament have been stunning. He played so many sets of tennis to get to the final. First round (4), second round (5), third round (3), fourth round (4), quarter final (5), semi final (5). Three five setters at that level is amazing. He is tenacious and unpopular, but an incredible work horse. He has won one Grand Slam (2021, US Open) to Sinner’s NIL. A change of the guard – or a minor aberration?

In the women’s Sabalenka v Zheng. Awesome strikers of the ball, but we hope Zheng does not disappear under government influence like Peng Shuai who mysteriously disappeared after sexual assault allegations against a government official. Sabalenka is ruthless with back to back Australian Open wins.

5. New Wallabies Coach – Joe Schmidt. Seems like a bloke who you’d happily let collect your mail and put your bin out when you are on holidays.

6. FA Cup. A rough time at present with these international commitments… Asian Cup, African Cup of Nations, etc. Tottenham v Man City played in the fourth round and Man City pipped them. The announcement of Jurgen Klopp’s departure from Liverpool as coach was a shock! Some talk Ange may get a move across to lead them next season!

 7. NFL Ravens v Chiefs. A huge game tomorrow for the AFC Championship. Lots of eyes on this for the eventual Super Bowl winner. Our NFC Championship game (Detroit Lions v San Francisco 49ers) is the early game!

The Wrap - Having Trouble Catching On

1. West Indies Cricket. There was a lot of romanticism in the media, on commentary and in interviews across the past week. Lots of hope and ambition for a young side with talent. Great job, interest generated. However what we saw was 'Z Grade' Test cricket over in a couple of days effectively. The Windies were thumped and walloped. Poor catching betrays sides in Australia and impatience at the crease. They were found out big time.

We also batted poorly (except Travis Head whose seventh century passed the retired Shaun Marsh) and look like we have a few batters who believe the bowlers will rescue them each time. They do, but won't be able to do this v India. This is our achilles heel. A middle order with Green-Marsh-Carey worries the life out of us.

2. Josh Hazelwood. The bowling quartet of Starc, Hazelwood, Cummins and Lyon marches on. Hazelwood has never looked better. It would be nice to see him get more early wickets against top class batting teams too. 258 Test wickets at an average of 25 is good going however. Perhaps the quietest of achievers here!

3. Catching Steve Smith. He knicks to second slip and shakes his head, looks at the pitch, quizzical looks at the umpire. Get off! You are out. This is why he cannot be captain. It is a really unfortunate habit that needs to be checked. 

However, it must be said he has the safest hands in world cricket. Nearly the same number of catches as Mark Waugh in 22 fewer tests! 21 short of Ponting too in a fraction of the time. His catching gets better with age. Now for more aggressive batting...!

Interesting how many more than Mark 'Tubby' Taylor he has taken. Taylor and Mark Waugh were perhaps the two best catchers in recent memory for Australia.

4. BBL Finals. The old classic in finals cricket...runs on the board are hard to peg back.

It is a bit hard to cop seeing the departure of common faces who have been there all year on the eve of the finals. It is a messy and mercenary game the T20 world tour. James Vince, Chris Lynn, Jamie Overton, Colin Munro, Laurie Evans all move to another more lucrative league in the dreaded Saudi sports investment program. Semis or no semis, the dollar speaks. 

A great win by the Strikers over the Scorchers, who uncharacteristically bow out without a finals appearance. In 13 seasons, the Scorchers (5 wins, 3 runners up) and the Sixers (3 wins and 3 runners up plus this year's effort) have been absolutely dominant! Very few imports. Lots of local blokes and no international reliance.

5. Cricket - Future. Interested to see Adam Voges listed as an Australian coach of the future too.

6. Australian Open Tennis. Iga Swiatek (number one seed) is unceremoniously dumped and another womens' winner looms. There is such rotation there now. Any women into the fourth round of a Grand Slam can win it these days, adding a fair bit more excitement to the games there. Azarenka will go close. What about the whining from Ostapenko... a nasty character.

7. Australian Open Tennis. Familiar names in the mens last sixteen...: Djokovic, Sinner, Rublev, Medvedev, Alcaraz, Zverev... The winner will come from this lot. Hard to see Djokovic not winning it all again for his 25th title! de Minaur is ranked in the world top ten, but quarter finals are for the best eight. He is getting closer, but the difference was evident last night.

8. Asian Cup. Socceroos v Syria 1-0. Great effort... they need to win the thing and stamp their reputation firmly on the map. Usbekistan next. Our 2015 win was pretty amazing really under Ange Postocoglou. How long does it all go? The final is on 11 February 2024! Qatar are the carry over champions from 2021! Japan losing to Iraq was a major upset this week.

9. 'Training the House Down and Never Looked Better and Wouldn't Look Out Of Place In An Origin Jersey'. This award goes to Bronson Xerri at the Bulldogs. High profile and reputational improvement sought. He can run but his hands and ball skills were appalling. Hopefully this is improving.

10. NRL Rule Change. Not a bad modification that you are not penalised with an attempt, but it should be only for kick offs. Not sure the drop out is high percentage enough granted that most teams give up points in their own red zone.

11. NFL - Baltimore Ravens. Surely rich favourites now for the title. A crushing victory v the Houston Texans. Big plays by the tight ends in both of our Sunday games. The loose defence in the Geen Bay Packers and 49ers game make the winning 49ers team outsiders for the title. Brilliant game in the pouring rain with a last minute interception securing the win. 

Chiefs and Bills will determine the Ravens' AFC Championship opponent, with the Super Bowl winner likely to come from that game. 

The winner of Detroit Lions v Tampa Bay will now play the 49ers for the NFC Championship next week. The Lions have been on fire in season 2023-2024, but the Super Bowl winner is unlikely to come from this conference.

12. Rory McIlroy. Winning in Dubai yet again (four times). Some sort of turn around. Rory's backflip re LIV golf is interesting too. Jon Rahme has milked every cent. Rory must be feeling like he wants this too. A LIV-PGA resolution will be emerging any day now... any day...

The Wrap - Why did he retire - or why doesn't he retire?

1. NFL - Bill Belichick. The New England Patriots coach had outstayed his time, departing this week as one of the most successful of coaches in world sport. Six Super Bowls is outrageously successful (and three Super Bowl losses). A winner in every sense, but unable to rouse the team in the past three -four seasons. He has struggled to be fair and the quarter back question is one that keeps arising. Brady was good, but better than Belichick? Nice to see the superstar quarter back, Tom Brady acknowledge the impact from his former coach on his own career this week.

2. BBL - Retirement Home. The retirements of Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Steve O'Keefe and Dave Warner in recent weeks are timely. The BBL has been cluttered by a fair few franchises unable to make firm decisions about past greats. No sentiment in success. Why did the Renegades sign Nathan Lyon? Never played.

3. The BBL. The Melbourne Stars are slipping into their usual pattern... lots of potential and lots of waste. Maxwell is a super talent, but he is frivolous too often. Trying to hit every ball for six is not going to win in the end. He really does not seem to care that much. This is why he has not played Test cricket. Attitude, not talent.

An abbreviated version of the shortened season in the end, but the usual customers - Heat, Scorchers, Sixers succeeding. The Dave Warner helicopter ride was very theatrical, but Kerry Packer was drying out pitches with his helicopter in the mid 70s!

The dud international recruit is a problem across the competition. Are they needed? Tom Curran (disgraceful and papers stamped), Crawley (so so), de Kock (MIA) and Alex Hales is done surely. Billings has been solid. 

4. Sydney Thunder. That pitch at the Sydney Showground is horrific. A complete dud. They have been dishing up that crap for years now and the end result? Zip. It either turns like the old SCG or is wet and slow. The Thunder have massive problems as fans walk. Or they play out of Canberra which is another poor pitch where fog, fire or flood impacts. 

There are too few runs scored by that underperforming team. Sams is not a batter. Repeat: Sams is not a batter. This creates imbalance in that team as they are always a batter short. They need a couple of decent middle order bats. Look at the Scorchers. They are doing it in fine style without Ashton Turner this year and have a pretty fixed formula. A batting keeper who is a dasher is the key.

5. Steve Smith. An interesting decision for Smith to replace Warner. He has become stodgy and boring in his style of late, which is very unusual, so maybe he can re-invent himself. His career is nearly over, so a last hurrah of sorts. The decision to take Renshaw in over other players is diabolical. He is the least talented of all the openers on offer - Harris and Bancroft. Hard to see what he offers. Versatility we are told? 12th or 13th man!

6. Jerome Luai. A saga and a solution. The Tigers will benefit, but so will the Panthers. The last 20 minutes in the 2023 Grand Final v Brisbane showed that the Panthers have benefit to be derived from a five eight who runs straighter and not someone who doubles back and runs in circles as much. No Luai or Yeo in that last twenty minutes was a huge statement. Having said that, the unpredictability of Luai is an absolute strength - as is his drive to support his team and create a positive atmosphere in the club. 

The feeding frenzy by other clubs is a sight to behold and a product of the salary cap of course. Hosking, Staines, Cogger, Burton, Leniu, Crichton... what price Matt Burton returning eventually? The signing of Paul Alamoti and Duane Laurie are great additions to their squad. Crichton will be missed most.

7. Novak Djokovic. No chance he will lose anytime soon at the Australian Open. He is evergreen and just continues to produce, no matter what challenge. The younger players need to really learn from him, but seemingly will not or cannot. High performance is uncomfortable. Iga Swiatek or Sabalenka in the womens' draw are a long way in front of their rivals too.

As an Olympic Games year in 2024, the chances are Djokovic (a former bronze medallist) could win every Grand Slam on offer and the Olympics as well! Past tennis winners at the more recent Olympics (no tennis at the games from 1924-1988) have been interesting (Andy Murray a two time Olympic Gold medallist!):

8. NFL Finals. We are ready for the cold conditions in northern America to play havoc with the NFL finals! Buffalo is a snow capital of the US and have had to postpone their game. Interested they offered their fans $20 per hour to help clean it up! The Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs both have had dominant wins.

9. NBL. The Sydney Kings look to have fallen off a cliff at present, stringing up the losses... what is going on there? New coach and all, but on the skids. A timely win v NZ yesterday, but Melbourne United are miles in front.

A big week for kings, Danish or otherwise.

10. Socceroos - Asian Cup. Is this a priority? We get excited about beating India (2-0), Libya, Palestine or Lebanon, but really? Graham Arnold is exceptional, but world club contests suffer massively. Growing the game internationally is critical however... The womens' game does not seem to have an equivalent.

A strong 2-2 result for Tottenham v ManU overnight. They should have won it really, missing a couple of simple headers from close range.