Sportsportsportpsortsport. What? You expected something else?
As of next week I shall be tweaking this report a little. While I shall include the scores, I shall be limiting the commentary and opinions… and adding some extra stuff about Australia in general. The one thing that people seem to ask me is ‘what do Australians think about this’? Where this is anything. So I’m going to add some more social commentary, less sport commentary and whatever else the hell I feel like.
Australian Rules Football
AFL Round 13
Split round, half the matches this week, half next.
Hawthorn 14.18 (102) def Essendon 13.8 (86)
Damn fine game. Essendon came from behind,. Took the lead, but then the Hawks clawed their way back to a solid win. Great stuff from both teams, but Hawthorn’s experience won out in the end.
Carlton 12.15 (87) def by Fremantle 14.12 (96)
Freo hit the mid-season break in the top four with a strong away win. They looked the goods all match and should give it a red hot go this year come September.
Brisbane 12.14 (86) def by Richmond 15.15 (105)
Richmond are coming good with yet another good win, this time away from home,. Brisbane’s up and down season has hit a new low now, losing at home to the hapless Tigers. There is much work to be done in Queensland over the break.
North Melbourne 19.15 9129) def Port Adelaide 14.9 (93)
Port’s downward spiral continues unabated. After such promise at the start of the season, they are sinking fast. North Melbourne, meanwhile, are on the cusp of an amazing resurgence. This dominant win sees them in touch with the top 8 and a good chance for a finals shot.
West Coast 9.5 (59) hammered by Western Bulldogs 17.17 (119)
The Eagles looked inept out there as the Bulldogs ran riot over them. They are heading for their first ever wooden spoon, while the Bulldogs are pushing to be legitimate finals contenders and a real threat to the flag.
SANFL Round 12
West Adelaide 10.5 (65) def Woodville-West Torrens 8.7 (55)
West got the jump on the Eagles early and kept their noses in front all day for a hard-earned win. But it was good match, and both sides played as if their season relied on it.
Port Adelaide 6.9 (45) def by Norwood 8.9 (57)
Tim Weatherald (a man I know personally and respect a lot) played his 300th game and it was his efforts that led Norwood to this victory. Not a great game with neither team scoring a goal in the first term, but it was certainly hard fought.
Central Districts 10.17 (77) hammered North Adelaide 5.3 (33)
The Bulldogs cruised through this match, and if they had kicked straighter (mind you, the weather was pretty appalling) it would have been even more of a shellacking. They did enough to win well, but that was about all.
Glenelg 14.11 (95) def Sturt 13.11 (89)
Surprisingly close game, showing Sturt are not out of finals contention just yet… they’re just not winning as often as they would like.
Bye: South Adelaide
A strong bye this week from the Panthers, the first thing they haven’t fouled up in over a month. Let’s hope this is the start of a wonderful resurgence.
Cricket
One Day International
Ireland v Australia
Australia 9/231; Ireland 192 (42 overs) – Australia won by 39 runs
Ireland lost this one. Against such a world force in cricket (/sarcasm), Australia struggled. Okay, it was only a warm up game before the meaningless matches against England starting next week, but there was not a lot here to keep Australians hopeful of regaining those Ashes or even beating England.
Netball
ANZ Championships – Round 14
Last round before the finals series, with teams still to cement their places in the finals…
WBOP Magic 53 def Thunderbirds 44
This gave the Magic third spot on the ladder while the Thunderbirds remained in second place, but this was not the result Adelaide wanted going into a desperate finals series.
Fever 67 def Firebirds 59
And thus the Firebirds season ends with a whimper. They could have snuck into the top four, but, no… This loss to bottom four side Fever destroyed their season.
Tactix 47 def by Mystics 58
Both teams played well and tried hard, but neither was in line for a finals spot and the whole game had a feeling of inevitability about it – this was their last game for the season.
Pulse 48 def by Vixens 49
The Vixens have finished a hugely disappointing season with a hard fought win. Too little, too late.
Swifts 55 def Steel 38
After a close first half, the runaway best team of the year so far ran away with it, giving themselves a nice hit-out before the finals series, which the Swifts will enter as clear favourites.
Soccer
World Cup
Ghana 1 drew with Australia 1
Okay, so there was a dodgy (very dodgy) referee call against Australia (again). But the Aussies did not look like they were going to win. This World Cup campaign is over, and the fact the Socceroos will go it with such a whimper will make Australia’s bid for the 2022 World Cup that much more impossible.
Rugby League
State Of Origin – Game 2
Queensland 34 def New South Wales 6
New South Wales shot themselves in the foot with the racism row, in fighting, poor selection policies and general arrogance, the likes of which really only exist in Sydney in this country. These games are supposed to be the best rugby in the world; this match was definitely NOT that.
NRL 2010 – Round 15
Brisbane 12 def by Penrith 22
A disallowed try was what swung the momentum against Brisbane, and so their 5-game winning streak was broken and Penrith take a share of the lead of the competition.
Canterbury-Bankstown 24 def by Gold Coast 25
Not a good game. There were a lot of errors from both teams and the Titans squeaked in with a just win after leading 24-6 at one stage.
Melbourne 58 crushed North Queensland 12
The Storm came back after a disappointing month with a totally dominant performance over the hapless Cowboys.
Manly 26 def South Sydney 25
Two late field goals did it for Manly in what was a great game from both sides.
Cronulla 4 def by St George Illawarra 22
The referee may have influenced the outcome of this game with a bad call in disallowing a try. But St George were the better team on the day anyway.
Wests Tigers 18 def Canberra 8
Don’t let the score fool you – this was a close game.
Newcastle 6 def Parramatta 4
A try and conversion in the 78th minute won it for Newcastle in a game of defence. I found it a dull spectacle…
Rugby Union
International – Test
Australia 20 def by England 21
An upset! After being thoroughly beaten in Perth, the teams shifted to NZ stadium and the English squeaked over the line. The problem is Matt Gitaeu scored all of Australia’s points, but had an off night with the boot. England had multiple scorers. Simple.
Australia is looking old; England have a heap of new young players. Australia’s union stocks are falling. The Super-14 and now internationals are looking more and more like pipe dreams for Australian teams.
Motorsport
V-8 Supercars
Darwin
Race13
1st Mark Winterbottom
2nd Jamie Whincup
3rd Shane van Gisbergen
Race14
1st Jamie Whincup
2nd Mark Winterbottom
3rd Shane van Gisbergen
This pushes all three of these driver sup the rankings and towards Courtney at the top of the leader board.
And that’s the View – June 15 through 21.
