Sports wrap

AFL: It is coming down to finals time. The Hawks have left it very late to try to avoid the ignominy of being the first premiers in a decade of missing the finals in the following season. It will not be any easier with Buddy Franklin having been suspended for the match against the 8th placed Bombers.

Can St. Kilda regain the form that saw them cruise to 18 straight wins in time for the finals? They certainly have not picked the best time to get the shakes (albeit having only lost the two games with missed goal kicks at the death).

The Pies, Bulldogs, Crows and Geelong have started to peak at the best time and will, short of mass injuries be the crucial players in the final series.

Cricket: If you have been asleep for the past 2 days, you would have missed Australia losing the Ashes for the 2nd time in 4 years. Ponting now has a memorable place in history as being the only Australian captain since Billy Murdoch in the late 1800's to lose two ashes series in England.

NRL: With two games to go, there are 11 teams vying for the top eight finals positions. At this time of year, all other rugby league transgressions are forgotten (and this year that is amazing to think, given there were plenty) and the main focus becomes the unusual finals system. People have more luck trying to understand Einstein’s theory of relativity than understanding the McIntyre system. Nevertheless, the outcome is that in early October one team will lift the premiership.

Rugby Union: After the bore that was the Bledisloe kick fest, union supporters should not expect too much more with the kick reliant Springboks about to touch down in Australia for the their Tri Nations match with the Wallabies. Having said that, if drop goals and place kicks are for you, you will be like a big kid in a cake store.

Tennis: The US Open is only just around the corner…

Athletics: Australia ran (4x400m team), jumped (Watt and Hooker) and threw (Samuels) their way to their best world championship results. And with Jana Pittman to come back from a toe injury (possibly sustained when she kicked ex hubby out of the house) Australia’s athletics team looks like it is in good hands come London 2012.

The main international news of the Championships was Bolt’s blistering sprints in the 100m (9.58s) and the 200m (19.19s)! The man has pushed the bounds of human speed more than Rick Astley did to pop music.

Of course the championships could not go without its share of controversy…enter the man/woman Caster Semenya! Not since the East Germans were competing have we seen bigger biceps, thighs and abs on a girl.

Soccer/Football: The English Premier league has kicked off again and what a start. The goals have been amazing and in bucketloads. Manchester United and Liverpool, both early favourites for the title, have come unstuck against less fancied teams. And maybe, just maybe, the bazillions sunk into Manchester City by the arab oil sheiks might actually pay off…

On the local scene, the A-League has also kicked off with a bang. The Gold Coast have walked the walk so far, Sydney’s European influence has paid immediate dividends, and North Queensland are by far the most dreadful team. Robbie Fowler must be thinking if only he was God he might be able to get himself out of there.

Ponting's burnt out ashes

Ricky Ponting not only has the unenviable title of being the first Australian cricket captain in a hundred odd years to lose two ashes series in England, he also has the scars to show it.

In 2005, his first ashes defeat, Ponting copped a rising ball in the cheek from Steve Harmison and was left with a lasting reminder of the English victory. Fast forward to 2009, his second ashes defeat, and Ponting's mouth was on the end of a fierce Matt Prior drive which left him with a bloodied lip that is unlikely to disappear any time soon.

Ponting can literally no longer turn the other cheek to any criticism, current or future, of the dual losses as he will be physically reminded of each loss.

There will no doubt be plenty of criticism and questions asked of Ponting's captaincy and also the Australian selectors. Questions such as Johnson's form, the lack of a quality spinner, Hussey's drastic drop of form over the past 20 test innings, Stuart Clarke's constant omissions, and Brett Lee's tour as a passenger will dominate the cricket airwaves with the Australian summer almost upon us and the West Indies and Pakistan ready to take advantage of any further instability. The little solace that Ponting can take from the series was his own form which whilst patchy was more than can be said for some of the other batsman in his team...stand up Mr Hussey.

With the arrival of a potentially second rate West Indian team for summer, Australia has a huge opportunity to rebuild the team and get selection right, but at the same point the West Indies may well be a huge banana peel for the established team members and selectors to slip and slide all over before crashing out of the national set up...

It will be very interesting to see how the ACB reacts to the above issues and tries to restore some confidence in the team to ensure solid turnstyle revenue from the upcoming summer. It will primarily need to deal with the issue of whether Ponting retains the 'C' next to his name or whether the 'Pup' is able to assume the position now.

It looks the summer could be a very interesting one, so stay tuned.

Back on board

Sorry for being absent people.

Just had delivery of the new laptop so I'm back on board. Sports news, views and info coming your way again.

Cheers

Cam

Bledisloe cup reminiscent of socceroos match

All the talk leading up to last night's game was about how many times the Gilbert ball would be put to the boot.

It was a little unfair that the return of Dan Carter and the sheer spectacle and tradition of the match was overlooked in favour of tabloid-like discussions relating to the the style of play.

Having said that, a sports success depends on the attractive nature of the game and clearly Carter and Giteau did not read 'all the talk' as the game consisted of more kicks than the Karate Kid and Bloodsport movies combined.

The Wallabies played anything like Robbie Deans old Canterbury Crusaders, and more like the style that has plagued them for the past 3-4 seasons. It was static, fragmented and reactive rugby. It was only when the All Blacks had scored 'the' try (there was only one in the whole game), that the Wallabies actually began to play running rugby. Up until that point it seemed that they had were stuck in a rut of trying to win no matter how unattractive (i.e. kicking goals and that's it). The irony of the style of play for the match was that the All Blacks, coached by the unpopular Graham Henry, played more like the Crusaders under

Nathan Sharpe was my pick for man of the match. He played a game that was reminiscent of John Eales. He was dominant in the lineout. He ran more than an African marathon runner. He was everywhere. With a bit more speed he could have turned his numerous line breaks into tries. So many times last night he was almost through to white line glory before he was cut down by an All Black back in cover.

As for the game well thankfully the All Blacks played a little bit of running rugby, care of their Fijian influences out wide and their man-make-up wearing centre, but all in all it was game that will not go down in the annals of great bledisloe cup matches.

The try by Nonu had essences of Horan to Campese in 1991 world cup, but it was a brief highlight in an otherwise tedious match. It was really only in the last 10 minutes where people actually really started paying attention to the match and that by virtue of the close scoreline, not necessarily because of the play on the field.

Carter stole victory from the Wallabies with a late penalty with the final scoreline reading 19 - 18 to the All Blacks.

Match Rating: Game to miss...3 out of 10

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/all-blacks-retain-bledisloe/2009/08/22/1250362261002.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8203840.stm