Okay, got something in the bag, late but here…
Cricket
English Tour
First Twenty20
Australia 4/145; England 2/4 (1.1 overs) – No result
Second Twenty20
No play due to rain; no result
The short form of the game is once again derailed by the English weather. With the Twenty20 World cup only a short time away both England and Australia have limited preparation and weather results like this are only going to hurt the cause for both teams. And the public who paid to watch rain win the day twice… it’s going to hurt future ticket sales. But with India holding the reins in world cricket, this format will eventually take over and the game we know and love will die a slow, agonising death at the hands of the sub continental money-grubbers.
First One-Day International
Australia 5/260; England 8/256 – Australia won by 4 runs
It seems I have some humble pie to eat as Australia played really well, as did England, in this enthralling encounter. This was a good match and well worth staying up until the early hours of the morning to watch.
Second One-Day International
Australia 8/249; England 210 (46.1 overs) – Australia won by 39 runs
Not as good a game as the first, but Australia still looked the goods and I think I have some words to eat.
Third One Day International
England 9/228; Australia 4/230 (48.3 overs) – Australia won by 6 wickets
This match was not a brilliant spectacle, as the players are all starting to look weary now. The moves on the field were not as crisp and the scoring was not as flamboyant. But that’s the way of modern cricket regimes, with greed/money making players play way too much for their own good. But my humble pie is growing…
Australian Rules Football
AFL Finals Week One
Another week, another legitimate tackle penalised ridiculously. Our game is unique and the bosses and powers-that-be are so spooked by lawyers they are making it into less of a contact sport than soccer.
Sooks.
And that is far better than thinking about the not good excuses we had for football matches in the first week of the finals.
Elimination Final One
Adelaide 26.10 (166) slaughtered Essendon 10.10 (70)
A training run for the Crows as they killed the Bombers. After a relatively even first quarter, Adelaide then ran away with it and are looking strong going into next week. Essendon are hence eliminated.
Elimination Final Two
Carlton 15.14 (104) def by Brisbane 16.15 (111)
Carlton had this game won. They led by 3 goals with ten minutes to go. And they lost it. Brisbane’s comeback was the stuff of sporting legend, but Carlton looked like they thought they did not have to try in the last quarter. The game itself was no great shakes, but that last quarter was something else. If you can catch that last twenty-odd minutes, do so. Great stuff. Sp Carlton are eliminated and Brisbane go through to the next week.
Qualifying Final One
Geelong 14.12 (96) def Western Bulldogs 12.10 (82)
Ugly game, with Geelong almost letting the Bulldogs in during a last quarter fade-out. Geelong have a week off while the Bulldogs face Brisbane next week.
Qualifying Final Two
St Kilda 12.8 (80) def Collingwood 7.10 (52)
The Saints started slowly, but rarely got out of second gear as they won comfortably. St Kilda now get the week off, while Collingwood gave to regroup after a series of losses to face in-form Adelaide this weekend.
SANFL Round Twenty-Three
Final round with one of the most even top-of-the-ladder tussles for years going into the finals.
Norwood 12.15 (87) def Central Districts 11.15 (81)
Something of an upset as one of the three premiership favourites was defeated. A tough, hard-hitting game, with Centrals almost making the comeback, but too little too late and they lost going into the finals.
Port Adelaide 10.13 (73) def by Sturt 20.11 (131)
A good hit-out for the double-blues before the finals while Port have gone out with a whimper.
North Adelaide 24.10 (154) def South Adelaide 15.4 (94)
Terrible game, emphasising that North are only making up the numbers in the finals and South still has a long way to go.
Bye: Woodville-West Torrens
Ladder
Glenelg
Central Districts
Sturt
Woodville-West Torrens
North Adelaide
And these are the teams that did not make it…
West Adelaide
Norwood
Port Adelaide
South Adelaide
Netball
Test Series
World 52 def Australia 43
The rest of the world side made Australia’s team look tired. Australia jumped to an early lead, but were pegged back until they lost by 9. The game did not reach the heights of the Trans-Tasman season, but the world team is a throw-together and Australia’s top players are exhausted after such a long, intense season. And I’m making excuses. Let’s hope the rest of the test matches are better than this one.
Basketball
Women’s International
Australia 97 def New Zealand 57
No more than a glorified training session for the Aussies here.
Soccer
International
Korea Republic 3 def Australia 1
A friendly with a second-string Aussie team shows that our real depth lies elsewhere. Australia were outrun and outgunned and looked lost at times. Not a good morale booster going into the World Cup.
A-League – Round Five
Melbourne 1 drew with Newcastle 1
Wellington 1 drew with Adelaide 1
Central Coast 2 def Perth 1
Gold Coast 2 def Sydney 1
North Queensland drew with Brisbane 1
Look, none of the games I saw were anything to write home about. The game does bore me, but these were dull, defensive affairs even by soccer’s low standards.
Rugby League
NRL Round 26
Wests Tigers 34 def Bulldogs 12
St George Illawarra 37 hammered Parramatta 0
Warriors 0 killed by Melbourne 30
Manly 38 def Gold Coast 4
Manly are hitting form at precisely the right time. Don’t count them out.
Cronulla 24 def by South Sydney 26
Close one… and if Souths had done this more often, they’d be in the finals this year…
Sydney Roosters 16 def by North Queensland 32
And it’s welcome to the bottom for the Roosters…
Newcastle 35 def Penrith, Full Time 0
Brisbane 22 def Canberra 10
Ladder
St George-Illawarra
Bulldogs
Gold Coast
Melbourne
Manly
Brisbane
Newcastle
Parramatta
These teams just missed out
Wests Tigers
South Sydney
Penrith
North Queensland
These teams never had a chance
Canberra
New Zealand Warriors
Cronulla
Sydney Roosters
Dally M Medal
This for rugby league’s best players. It is quite a night and a very prestigious honour.
Dally M Rookie of the Year
Jamal Idris (Bulldogs)
Coach of the Year
Kevin Moore (Bulldogs)
Dally M Medal Player of the Year
Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta)
Rugby Union
Tri-Nations
Australia 21 def South Africa 6
Yes, Australia finally won one against the strength team of the competition, gainign some pride and confidence in the process. There is enough there to work on over the next few years, but the selectors, coaches and players all have to be patient… and patience is something that is rather lacking in Australian sport…
Olympic Sports
An interesting development came up this week: athletes who potentially could represent Australia in their given sport/s look like being given a fast track by the Immigration Department officials to become Australian citizens. For most people it is four years of residency, spending the majority of the time in Australia. For people who play sport it is proposed they spend only two years of residency with no minimum time in Australia so they can compete around the world. It has been said that some rich Middle Eastern countries purchase athletes to bolster struggling national teams and Australia has condemned this practice; so what’s the difference here? And why not doctors (of which we have a shortage), scientists, police (of which we have a shortage of quality), other people willing to actually work and contribute to the economy? Oh, that’s right – gold medals are more important than having a strong country. Our politicians are morons.
Sporting Morons
End of season – this may grow unless some clubs pull their collective heads in. We’ll see.
Brent Renouf (Hawthorn , AFL): Jumping on cars while drunk.
Kade Carey, Aaron Ramsay (VFL), Dane Swan (AFL, Collingwood): Allegedly bashed a cleaner and finally faced court.
Jason Taylor / David Fa’alogo (NRL, South Sydney) – coach and player. Coach playfully punched player, player retaliated by decking coach.
Tally: 55
And that’s this week’s view.
